The Art Base

Hues + Brews - Create Your Own Blueprint: with Ethan Merritt
2026-05-26 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver) | The Art Base, 174 Midland Ave., Basalt, CO, 81621, United States
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
All levels welcome
Supplies included
Study and Sketch like an architect. Learn to draw and render plans and elevations. Perfect for beginners and experienced makers alike.
4th Tuesday LGBTQIA+ Art & Social Night On the 4th Tuesday of each month, local LGBTQIA+ community and allies gather to socialize, make art, network, and have fun—optionally with an adult beverage. Enjoy a rotating mix of creative projects in a variety of media; no art experience needed. Come as you are, meet new friends, and explore creativity in a welcoming, low-pressure space.

Register

Sponsored by ASPEN OUT

Bone to Blossom: with Laurie Doctor
2026-05-25 09:30 - 17:00, 2026-05-24 09:30 - 17:00, 2026-05-23 09:30 - 17:00
May 23 – 25, 2026
Saturday – Monday, 9:30AM – 5:00PM
Bone to Blossom invites you into a rare, protected studio space where inspiration can land. Through writing, painting, and simple bookmaking, you’ll explore how one breath of insight can unfold into form—bone to blossom. We practice uninterrupted creative time by leaving phones, watches, and other interrupters outside. Open to all experience levels, especially the warriors willing to make space, listen inward, and create.
Register Here
Materials List

Figure Drawing: with Mike De La Rosa
2026-05-21 17:30 - 19:30
Join our bi-monthly Figure Drawing Class!
Every 1st Thursday and 3rd Thursday
May 21, 2026
Thursday, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Open to all skill levels
Please bring your own supplies
Join us for a relaxed evening figure drawing session open to artists of all levels. Working from a live model, participants will explore gesture, proportion, anatomy, and expressive mark-making through a series of timed poses ranging from quick sketches to longer studies. This monthly class offers a supportive, community-focused environment to practice, experiment, and sharpen your observational drawing skills. Instruction and light guidance will be available, making this an ideal space for both beginners and experienced artists to draw regularly and stay inspired.
Register

Oil Painting: with Matt Hays (Session II)
2026-05-21 13:00 - 15:30, 2026-05-14 13:00 - 15:30, 2026-05-07 13:00 - 15:30, 2026-04-30 13:00 - 15:30
April 30 – May 21, 2026
Thursdays, 1:00PM – 3:30PM
Open to all skill levels
Supplied Provided
Explore the complete painting process from beginning to end, with special emphasis on using light to bring depth, atmosphere, and life to your work. Students will be introduced to surface preparation and why it matters, then focus primarily on underpainting, grisaille techniques, and the gradual build-up of color through glazing and finishing.
Through demonstrations and guided practice, participants will learn how to establish strong values, develop form, and harness light at every stage of the painting. Whether you are new to oils or looking to refine your process, this class offers practical tools, clear structure, and individual guidance to support your growth as a painter.
Register

Painting from Within: with Alissa Davies
2026-05-16 10:00 - 16:00
May 16, 2026
Saturday, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Open to all skill levels
Supplies Provided
Create a series of 12” x 12” abstract paintings using a rich mix of materials—including acrylics, graphite, oil pastels, collage, and charcoal. Learn how to prioritize process over product, using intuitive mark-making and layered surfaces as a pathway for emotional release and for uncovering your own unique artistic voice. Through demos, prompts, and supportive instruction, the instructor will gently encourage you to trust your instincts and listen to your inner (and wise) artist. As your paintings evolve through layers, you’ll bring in thoughtful attention to value, color, and design, refining what’s already emerging on the page.
Register

(Rescheduling for Fall 2026) Quickscapes - Landscapes and Libations: with Matt Hays
2026-05-14 18:00 - 20:00
May 14, 2026
Wednesday, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Supplies Provided
No experience necessary
Learn dynamic acrylic speed painting techniques to quickly create imaginative environmental landscapes in this painting class with Matt Hays. This class focuses on building scenes from your imagination using bold brushwork, efficient layering, and expressive color. Snacks and beverages included.

Art, Healing + Hope: with Sheri Gaynor
2026-05-09 09:30 - 11:30
May 9, 2026
Saturday, 9:30AM / 11:30AM
Open to all skill levels
Bring your own journal, all other supplies provided
Experience the power of visual journaling at The Art Base—an uplifting, FUN process for healing, stress relief, and decompression. Explore your inner world through paint, color, and images, making connections and drawing insight from within. All levels welcome; the focus is on process, not the end result. Bring a sketchbook/journal (or purchase one for $20). Supplies included. We can’t wait to see your creativity come to life!

Register

Textures of Topography with Savanna LaBauve
2026-05-08 17:00 - 19:00
Textures of Topography
A public art event with participation from the public
Friday, May 8
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
A part of Savanna LaBauve’s exhibition, Echoes, includes a participatory artwork and public event, Textures of Topography, on Friday, May 8, from 5 – 7 PM at the Art Base gallery. Visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.

Exhibition Details
On view: May 8 – June 6, 2026 Opening Reception: Friday, May 8 | 5:00–7:00 PM Location: The Art Base, 174 Midland Ave, Basalt, CO Admission: Free and open to the public
Public Events with the Artist:
Textures of Topography
Opening Reception Friday, May 8 From 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM Please join us the night of Savanna LaBauve’s opening reception, visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.
Art Lunch with Savanna LaBauve – Public Event
Thursday, May 28 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Free and open to the public Art Lunch is our routine excuse to gather around the table. Bring a bagged lunch and let conversation roam.
Closing Reception with Savanna LaBauve
Saturday, June 6
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Free and open to the public

About the Artist
Savanna LaBauve is a ceramic artist based in Carbondale, Colorado. With a background in painting and drawing, her practice has evolved over the past six years into a deeply tactile exploration of form, material, and process. Her work investigates repetition, memory, and transformation through hand-built ceramic forms that balance structure and fragility.
About Echoes
The Art Base is pleased to present Echoes, a solo exhibition by Carbondale-based ceramic artist Savanna LaBauve, on view May 8 through June 6, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 8, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, with an artist talk at 5:30 PM. Echoes is a sister show to Orbit, opening a few weeks later at Seesaw Gallery in South Denver; together, the two shows thematically explore the idea of constellations and their points of intersection. In LaBauve’s practice, echoes are the reverberations of previous choices and ideas, returning from somewhere else slightly anew — distorted by time and experience. The connective tissue is what gets left behind, and how that memory shapes what comes after.

This exhibition is sponsored by Karen White Interior Design, and we are grateful to our 2026 Annual Exhibition Sponsor, Alpine Bank.

Present in this exhibition are what LaBauve calls “portals” — rectangular forms built around a deliberate absence, a cut-out at the center that draws the eye inward. Some of these portals feel like longstanding caverns, others are suspended in their forward momentum, a snapshot in time. The portals carry a sense of struggle: to puncture primarily, but also to preserve the space between. As the mass around them presses in, there is a sense of vulnerability in how they resist the weight of the clay. The work suggests that an absence is contingent: a space can is best perceived when it is in danger of collapsing. These sculptures ask the viewer to consider the space as the subject — a thin threshold between what is, what was, and what could be. A recurring theme in the work is bifurcation, where one becomes two, like trees branching or rivers forking. In the series of pierced sculptures that resemble baskets, this plays out through a dialogue between object and shadow. A cyanotype, a sun-printed photographic record of shadow, captures the outline of one structure, and that shadow becomes the blueprint for the next. The process repeats, as each shadow inflects and distorts the form of the next sculpture— a process LaBauve likens to memory. Solid and inanimate become interchangeable, as the work moves forward, alternating between directions — the shadow sometimes leading the form for a change. For LaBauve, the work is formed by pinch and touch, a slow process of mark-making with an emphasis on remaining a physical record. The exhibition opening also includes a participatory artwork and public event, Textures of Topography, on Friday, May 8, from 5 – 7 PM at the Art Base gallery. Visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.

Opening Reception: Savanna LaBauve "Echoes"
2026-05-08 17:00 - 19:00
Exhibition Details
On view: May 8 – June 6, 2026Opening Reception: Friday, May 8 | 5:00–7:00 PMLocation: The Art Base, 174 Midland Ave, Basalt, COAdmission: Free and open to the public
Artist Talk/Interactive Public Art Event: includes a participatory artwork and public event, Textures of Topography, on Friday, May 8, from 5 – 7 PM in the Art Base gallery. Visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.
Public Events with the Artist:
Textures of Topography
Opening Reception Friday, May 8From 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Please join us the night of Savanna LaBauve’s opening reception, visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.
Art Lunch with Savanna LaBauve – Public Event
Thursday, May 2812:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Free and open to the publicArt Lunch is our routine excuse to gather around the table. Bring a bagged lunch and let conversation roam.
Closing Reception with Savanna LaBauve
Saturday, June 6
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Free and open to the public

Join artist Savanna LaBauve at the close of Echoes for an artist talk and the unveiling of Textures of Topography. During the opening reception, the community was invited to leave their barefoot mark on a large slab of clay — that piece has since been fired and returns to the gallery transformed. Come see what we made together, hear more about the ideas behind the show, and celebrate the close of the exhibition.
About the Artist
Savanna LaBauve is a ceramic artist based in Carbondale, Colorado. With a background in painting and drawing, her practice has evolved over the past six years into a deeply tactile exploration of form, material, and process. Her work investigates repetition, memory, and transformation through hand-built ceramic forms that balance structure and fragility.
About Echoes
The Art Base is pleased to present Echoes, a solo exhibition by Carbondale-based ceramic artist Savanna LaBauve, on view May 8 through June 6, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 8, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, with an artist talk at 5:30 PM.
Echoes is a sister show to Orbit, opening a few weeks later at Seesaw Gallery in South Denver; together, the two shows thematically explore the idea of constellations and their points of intersection. In LaBauve’s practice, echoes are the reverberations of previous choices and ideas, returning from somewhere else slightly anew — distorted by time and experience. The connective tissue is what gets left behind, and how that memory shapes what comes after.

This exhibition is sponsored by Karen White Interior Design, and we are grateful to our 2026 Annual Exhibition Sponsor, Alpine Bank.

Present in this exhibition are what LaBauve calls “portals” — rectangular forms built around a deliberate absence, a cut-out at the center that draws the eye inward. Some of these portals feel like longstanding caverns, others are suspended in their forward momentum, a snapshot in time. The portals carry a sense of struggle: to puncture primarily, but also to preserve the space between. As the mass around them presses in, there is a sense of vulnerability in how they resist the weight of the clay. The work suggests that an absence is contingent: a space can is best perceived when it is in danger of collapsing. These sculptures ask the viewer to consider the space as the subject — a thin threshold between what is, what was, and what could be.
A recurring theme in the work is bifurcation, where one becomes two, like trees branching or rivers forking. In the series of pierced sculptures that resemble baskets, this plays out through a dialogue between object and shadow. A cyanotype, a sun-printed photographic record of shadow, captures the outline of one structure, and that shadow becomes the blueprint for the next. The process repeats, as each shadow inflects and distorts the form of the next sculpture— a process LaBauve likens to memory. Solid and inanimate become interchangeable, as the work moves forward, alternating between directions — the shadow sometimes leading the form for a change.
For LaBauve, the work is formed by pinch and touch, a slow process of mark-making with an emphasis on remaining a physical record.
The exhibition opening also includes a participatory artwork and public event, Textures of Topography, on Friday, May 8, from 5 – 7 PM at the Art Base gallery. Visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.

Exhibition: Savanna LaBauve "Echoes"
2026-05-08 11:00 - 2026-06-06 17:00
Exhibition Details
On view: May 8 – June 6, 2026 Opening Reception: Friday, May 8 | 5:00–7:00 PM Location: The Art Base, 174 Midland Ave, Basalt, CO Admission: Free and open to the public
Artist Talk/Interactive Public Art Event: includes a participatory artwork and public event, Textures of Topography, on Friday, May 8, from 5 – 7 PM in the Art Base gallery. Visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.
Public Events with the Artist:
Textures of Topography
Opening Reception Friday, May 8From 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Please join us the night of Savanna LaBauve’s opening reception, visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.
Art Lunch with Savanna LaBauve – Public Event
Thursday, May 28 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Free and open to the public Art Lunch is our routine excuse to gather around the table. Bring a bagged lunch and let conversation roam.
Closing Reception with Savanna LaBauve
Saturday, June 6
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Free and open to the public

Join artist Savanna LaBauve at the close of Echoes for an artist talk and the unveiling of Textures of Topography. During the opening reception, the community was invited to leave their barefoot mark on a large slab of clay — that piece has since been fired and returns to the gallery transformed. Come see what we made together, hear more about the ideas behind the show, and celebrate the close of the exhibition.

About the Artist
Savanna LaBauve is a ceramic artist based in Carbondale, Colorado. With a background in painting and drawing, her practice has evolved over the past six years into a deeply tactile exploration of form, material, and process. Her work investigates repetition, memory, and transformation through hand-built ceramic forms that balance structure and fragility.
About Echoes
The Art Base is pleased to present Echoes, a solo exhibition by Carbondale-based ceramic artist Savanna LaBauve, on view May 8 through June 6, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 8, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, with an artist talk at 5:30 PM. Echoes is a sister show to Orbit, opening a few weeks later at Seesaw Gallery in South Denver; together, the two shows thematically explore the idea of constellations and their points of intersection. In LaBauve’s practice, echoes are the reverberations of previous choices and ideas, returning from somewhere else slightly anew — distorted by time and experience. The connective tissue is what gets left behind, and how that memory shapes what comes after.

This exhibition is sponsored by Karen White Interior Design, and we are grateful to our 2026 Annual Exhibition Sponsor, Alpine Bank.

Present in this exhibition are what LaBauve calls “portals” — rectangular forms built around a deliberate absence, a cut-out at the center that draws the eye inward. Some of these portals feel like longstanding caverns, others are suspended in their forward momentum, a snapshot in time. The portals carry a sense of struggle: to puncture primarily, but also to preserve the space between. As the mass around them presses in, there is a sense of vulnerability in how they resist the weight of the clay. The work suggests that an absence is contingent: a space can is best perceived when it is in danger of collapsing. These sculptures ask the viewer to consider the space as the subject — a thin threshold between what is, what was, and what could be.
A recurring theme in the work is bifurcation, where one becomes two, like trees branching or rivers forking. In the series of pierced sculptures that resemble baskets, this plays out through a dialogue between object and shadow. A cyanotype, a sun-printed photographic record of shadow, captures the outline of one structure, and that shadow becomes the blueprint for the next. The process repeats, as each shadow inflects and distorts the form of the next sculpture— a process LaBauve likens to memory. Solid and inanimate become interchangeable, as the work moves forward, alternating between directions — the shadow sometimes leading the form for a change. For LaBauve, the work is formed by pinch and touch, a slow process of mark-making with an emphasis on remaining a physical record.
The exhibition opening also includes a participatory artwork and public event, Textures of Topography, on Friday, May 8, from 5 – 7 PM at the Art Base gallery. Visitors are invited to make barefoot impressions in clay, adding their marks to those already there. Over the course of the event, these layers will overlap and change one another. The finished piece will be fired and returned to the gallery later in the exhibition, creating a shared record shaped by many people.

Figure Drawing: with Mike De La Rosa
2026-05-07 17:30 - 19:30
Join our bi-monthly Figure Drawing Class!
Every 1st Thursday and 3rd Thursday
May 7, 2026
Thursday, 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Open to all skill levels
Please bring your own supplies
Join us for a relaxed evening figure drawing session open to artists of all levels. Working from a live model, participants will explore gesture, proportion, anatomy, and expressive mark-making through a series of timed poses ranging from quick sketches to longer studies. This monthly class offers a supportive, community-focused environment to practice, experiment, and sharpen your observational drawing skills. Instruction and light guidance will be available, making this an ideal space for both beginners and experienced artists to draw regularly and stay inspired.
Register

The Art Base Community Open House
2026-05-02 12:00 - 17:00
We’re opening our doors wide to welcome YOU, our community, for a special day of art, connection, and creativity at the Art Base on Saturday, May 2, 2026.
The Art Base, established in 1996 (formerly the Wyly Community Art Center), has been dedicated to fostering creative expression in the visual arts for all ages and abilities for 30 years. This event is our way of saying thank you and sharing the joy of what we do.
Join us for the full experience or drop in when you can!

The Art Base Community Open House
Saturday, May 2
12 PM – 5 PM

12 – 4 PM
🎨 Hands-on Art Making
🖍️ Crafternoons
🖌️ Button-Making
🖼️ Collaborative Mural
✏️ Chalk Art

12 – 2 PM
🐾 Sticker Tattoo Station

3 – 3:30 PM
🗣️ Bilingual Guided Tour

4 PM
📣 Public Talk and Champagne Toast
with Founder Deb Jones and artist, Reina Katzenberger

All-day activities!
Fun for all ages and abilities!
Free and open to the public!

We hope you’ll join us!

Saturday, May 2 - Crafternoon with Open House at the Art Base
2026-05-02 12:00 - 15:00
A Special Crafternoon runs alongside the Art Base Open House!
Our Open House event will celebrate the Art Base’s 30th Anniversary. Stay tuned for more details.

Collage Project, A Creative Workshop for Moms: with Angilina Taylor
2026-04-30 17:30 - 20:00
April 30, 2026
Thursday, 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Open to all skill levels
Supplies provided
Turn your kids’ art into a modern collage you’ll be proud to hang. As mothers, we save these little masterpieces to honor creativity and hold onto milestones—yet they often end up tucked in boxes or binders. Let’s slow down together. Join other mothers for an afternoon of reflection, mental fitness, and creativity as we explore the intersection of motherhood and well-being, then transform 20–30 saved pieces into meaningful new artwork. Bring: 20–30 pieces of your kids’ art.
Register

Thursdays - Youth Art Academy (Printmaking)
2026-04-30 15:30 - 17:00, 2026-04-23 15:30 - 17:00
Printmaking: with Sarah McMahon (4 Classes)
Thursdays, April 9-30
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Ages 9+

This is a beginner friendly printmaking class designed just for kids – no experience needed! Young artist will design, carve, ink and create their own original prints in a fun hands on environment. All materials are provided, and kids will get to take home their own unique prints.
Register

Art After School (Wednesdays - April)
2026-04-29 15:30 - 17:00, 2026-04-22 15:30 - 17:00
This after-school art class is a creative playground for middle school students who love to make, experiment, and try new things.

Hues + Brews - Spring Linocut Printmaking: with Maya Abraham
2026-04-28 18:00 - 20:00
Tuesday, April 28, 2026
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
All levels welcome
Supplies included
Linocut Printmaking back by popular demand! Learn the basics of linoleum carving and block printing—safe tool use, simple carving techniques, inking, and printing—to create your own cards or prints. Perfect for beginners and experienced makers alike.
4th Tuesday LGBTQIA+ Art & Social Night On the 4th Tuesday of each month, local LGBTQIA+ community and allies gather to socialize, make art, network, and have fun—optionally with an adult beverage. Enjoy a rotating mix of creative projects in a variety of media; no art experience needed. Come as you are, meet new friends, and explore creativity in a welcoming, low-pressure space.

Register

Sponsored by ASPEN OUT

Art After School (Tuesdays - April)
2026-04-28 15:30 - 17:00, 2026-04-21 15:30 - 17:00

Drawing Intensive: with Megan George
2026-04-25 10:00 - 13:00
April 25, 2026
Saturday, 10:00AM / 1:00PM
In this fun, fast-paced 3-hour crash course, you’ll learn how to draw what you actually see—not what your brain thinks it sees. Through simple, confidence-building exercises, we’ll cover proportion, measuring and sighting, contour and shape, values (lights/darks), and a few “artist tricks” that make drawing feel doable right away. We’ll work from still life objects and/or photo references, with step-by-step demonstrations and individual guidance. Perfect for beginners and anyone who wants a refresher—come ready to practice, loosen up, and leave with new skills (and a drawing you’re proud of).
Register

Oil Painting: with Matt Hays (Session I)
2026-04-23 13:00 - 15:30
April 2 – 23, 2026
Thursdays, 1:00PM – 3:30PM
All Skill Levels
Supplies Provided
Explore the full painting process from start to finish, with an emphasis on using light to create depth, atmosphere, and life. Learn surface prep and why it matters, then dive into underpainting, grisaille, and the slow build of color through glazing and finishing. With demos, guided practice, and individual feedback, you’ll strengthen values, form, and luminosity at every stage—great for oil beginners or painters refining their process.
Register

Watercolor Techniques, Methods & Creative Exploration Series: with Rebecca Stirling
2026-04-22 10:00 - 12:30
April 1, 8, 15, 22, 2026 (4 classes)
Wednesdays, 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
All Skill Levels Welcome
Supplies Provided
Discover watercolor’s versatility in a skill-building, creatively rich course. Learn wet-on-wet, wet-on-dry, salt texture, and wax resist, plus paint handling, layering, and composition. Build confidence with guided exercises, then create finished pieces: a landscape, floral portrait, and expressive watercolor collage. All levels welcome—experiment, refine your style, and deepen your understanding of watercolor as a medium of personal expression.
Register

Gelli Block Prints - Celebrating Earth Day (Level 2): with Pam Porter
2026-04-21 09:30 - 14:30
April 21, 2026
Tuesday, 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Open to all skill levels
All Supplies Provided
Create a series of nature-inspired Gelli Block Prints and take your process further. This workshop is designed for students who have taken the beginner class with Pam and are ready to expand their skills.
Build on your knowledge of layered printmaking using Gelli plates, hand-carved linoleum blocks, and custom rubber stamps. Begin by creating vibrant, more intentional background prints with acrylic paints, stencils, and textured materials. Then, design and carve nature-based images into linoleum and soft rubber, exploring more developed imagery.
Learn how to layer with greater depth, experiment more confidently with composition and texture, and create prints that feel cohesive and expressive. Finish the day with a small collection of beautiful, layered Earth Day–inspired prints
Register
