Open Studios Preview Exhibition

BOULDER’S “OPEN STUDIOS TOUR,” a beloved 28-year-old fall tradition, is thriving and expanding in the post- pandemic environment. The 2023 Tour marks the first time since its founding in 1995 that its footprint is growing beyond its previous geographical limits by expanding throughout Boulder County.

The Open Studios Tour is a self-guided, all-ages, FREE tour of the working studios of many of the best of Boulder County’s visual artists. Held noon to 5 pm, Saturdays and Sundays, on the first three weekends of October, the event attracts over 8,000 art lovers from the Front Range and beyond each year.

NAVIGATING the needs of artists and the nonprofit organization throughout the pandemic inspired Executive Director, Mary Horrocks, to create an Open Studios’ Membership platform. The membership now provides expanded support for working artists, arts enrichment for all members of the public, and art-based outreach services for schools and underserved subcommunities throughout the county. It naturally followed that the Open Studios Tour would expand to include artists’ studio locations in all towns—Boulder, Erie, Hygiene, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville, Lyons, Nederland, Niwot, and Superior—as well as studios in unincorporated portions of the county.

To participate in the Tour, artists must apply and undergo professional juried review. This year, the 165 artists featured in the Tour will host the public in 112 studio locations, running the gamut from private homes and outbuildings on farms, to garages and warehouse spaces, and to established artist collectives. In addition to artists with years of Open Studios Tour experience, whom patrons look forward to visiting year after year, the 2023 Tour includes 53 artists who are participating for the first time.

Incorporated in 1995 as an educational arts nonprofit organization (501-c-3), Open Studios emphasizes visual art education in all that it does. On the Tour, each artist does their part to fulfill that mission. Some create self-guided tutorials for patrons to learn about their art-making tools, materials, and techniques. They may offer hands-on activities for Tour visitors, both young and old alike. Others will have continuously looping videos of their artistic processes available to view. ALL Tour artists will post a short list of “Pro Tips” in hopes that their visitors leave their studios knowing a bit more than they did when they entered, about how the artist produces their work.

AND there will be lots and lots of incredible artwork to peruse and to purchase.