WHAT: ArtCrush 2013
WHEN: July 31–August 2
WHERE:Aspen Art Museum, 590 North Mill St., 970-925-8054
Equal parts community builder, networking fete, educational event, and fund-raiser for the museum’s soon-to-open Shigeru Ban–designed building, ArtCrush kicks off with WineCrush, featuring phenomenal pours of Tenuta di Biserno by new partner Marchese Lodovico Antinori. Along with informal dinners and outdoor excursions, this Aspen summer confab for the globe’s art elite will culminate with a seated soiree and spirited auction sponsored by Sotheby’s. The museum’s 2013 Aspen Award for Art honoree is Teresita Fernández, whose perception-tweaking sculptures inform the event’s theme of “opticality and illusion.”
Cover image: Summertime splendor in Aspen, Colorado -- Courtesy of Hotel Jerome via Facebook
Sure there’s the food, but at this restaurant, which shares a home with the Wheeler Opera House, cocktails get the standing ovation: The 28-page menu, bound in reclaimed Time-Life Old West leather hardcovers, boldly employs house-made tinctures and syrups, rare liquors, and deft techniques to rival those of any big-city mixology den. Try a barrel-aged Manhattan with mole bitters or a brew of Aspen Blonde beer spiked with applejack, peach liqueur, Chinese five-spice syrup, and lemon bitters.
328 East Hyman Ave.
970-429-8192
The St. Regis’s culinary crown to its lavish $40-million Gilded Age retrofit embraces foodies with a giant open kitchen and an evolving menu from Food & Wine’s annual best new chefs list — next up will be Jason Franey, Viet Pham, Bryant Ng, and Missy Robbins. Resident executive chef Didier Elena ties it all together with his own seasonal specialties like suckling pig and a buttery, briny Santa Barbara uni spaghetti. Save room for picks from the dessert trolley, especially the Verona tiramisu.
315 East Dean St.
970-429-9581
Whether you buy into the “nutritarian” philosophy of chef Martin Oswald — also the main caterer for ArtCrush — you can’t argue with the simple deliciousness of Pyramid’s mostly vegetarian and often gluten-free and vegan fare, nor the serenity of its sun-drenched Victorian dining room tucked above Aspen’s only bookstore. Standout dishes rock seasonal ingredients like marinated kale with strawberries, goat cheese, and hibiscus syrup, or hemp seed hummus, all paired with a glass of biodynamic red wine.
221 East Main St.
970- 925- 5338
Aspen’s bigwig gallery always brings it forward for ArtCrush. This summer, a new series of surreally erotic mixed-media sculptures by George Stoll (“garden of earthly delights”) join Matthew Ritchie’s show “Slow Light,” in which diagram-like monotone wall decals connect framed paintings so that the underlying patterns erupt in a celebration of color and light. Both open July 26.
209 South Galena St.
970-920-9797
Through September 15, the white walls of Aspen’s newest contemporary art gallery reflects back the town’s mix of celebrity and beauty via Australian-born photographer Russell James’s exhibition of fashion art photography. The nudes and backstage outtakes in "Russell James | A Short-Lived Tyranny" have been culled from his commercial assignments around the globe.
525 East Cooper Ave.
970-925-7117
This cattle ranch turned bucolic five-acre arts commune and world-class collaborative incubator (known for all disciplines but especially famed for its ceramics) will heave with activity this summer when more than 140 weeklong workshops augment its fall and spring residencies. A free 20-minute bus ride from Aspen drops you a block from the complex. Tour its thriving studios, gorgeously hewn from historic barns, and shop the one-of-kind gift shop. On August 10, the center will hold its annual auction and community picnic.
5263 Owl Creek Rd., Snowmass Village
970-923-3181
Filling a niche for secondary-market post-war and contemporary art, this outpost of Chicago’s Casterline|Goodman will swap out its Damien Hirsts and Keith Harings to focus on “Masters of Minimalism,” running August 1–31. The curated stock will showcase original pieces by John McCracken (Dream II, 2001), Carl Andre (50 Triangles Forming a Square, 1969), and Robert Ryman (Core IX, 1995).
611 East Cooper Ave.
970-925-1339
After an easy one-hour, 20-mile bike ride on the Rio Grande Trail — don’t worry, it’s mostly flat or downhill; take a taxi bac — travelers deserve a drink. Opened this past March by collectors Mary and Pat Scanlan, the distillery's tasting room offers tours and cocktails, as well as bottles of small-batch whiskey, pear eau-de-vie, and premium stobrawa potato vodka from produce farmed nearby. Art tip: The bathrooms are cheekily outfitted with David Levinthal and Tim Hailand provocations.
60 Sunset Dr., Basalt
970-279-5110
Cowboy style can often veer into kitsch, but locals swear that Kemo Sabe is legit haute yee-haw: hand-smithed sterling silver and gold filigreed belt buckles, rugged wool blankets, custom hats, and boots made of such exotic leathers as elephant, caiman, and ostrich from the likes of Lucchese and Old Gringo.
434 East Cooper Ave.
970-925-7878
Susie’s Limited
In a new location since April, Aspen’s oldest consignment shop has dispensed with housewares and much of its men’s wear to focus on a democratic treasure horde of women's wear, shoes, and accessories at populist prices. Mass brands share rack space with luxury heavyweights Missoni and Diane von Furstenberg and stock rotates every 30 days.
600 East Main St.
970-920-2376
The stately 94-room Jerome was downright dowdy after 123 years, but after a multimillion-dollar total renovation by Todd-Avery Lenahan, the butch glamour of Aspen’s frontier heyday is back. Vintage studded belts line the elevator panels, pony hair and pinstripes gussy up chairs — not to mention curtains of cashmere, and lighting fixtures that are both Deco and organic (silver-painted tree stumps). The entire effect is rugged luxe, a mash-up of masculine details, right down to the cowboy hats on the porters, black spruce-scented soaps, and the complimentary jerky in the mini bar.
330 East Main St.
970-920-1000
Rates: from $455
Aspen Skiing Company’s perennially chic see-and-be-seen clubhouse entices oligarchs and outdoors enthusiasts with a new range of adventure excursions (think Orbea road bikes, helicopter fly-fishing, and overnight horse pack tours). For the most buzz, book a Mountainside room, plushly carpeted by Holly Hunt in muted cream and gray-blues with barn door closets and a gas fireplace. Or, at the very least, book a dinner at Element 47, the city’s freshest paean to modern American cuisine, with a 20,000-bottle wine cellar.
675 E. Durant Ave.
970-920-4600
Rates: from $595
The Rocky Mountain’s original design hotel, just a seven-minute free shuttle ride from downtown, brings to life the Aspen Institute’s idea of unifying mind, body, and spirit on its serene 40-acre wooded campus. Herbert Bayer’s Bauhaus architecture melds gorgeously with the public art (like Andy Goldsworthy’s Stone River). The 98 light-flooded minimalist suites bear furnishings by Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, and Herman Miller, and the resort includes such amenities as a retro-cool gym, an outdoor heated pool, and tennis courts.
845 Aspen Meadows Rd.
800-452-4240
Rates: from $319
Summertime brings a Rocky Mountain high of cultural festivals to Colorado’s tiny, tony alpine town, yet none with the combined clout and elite engagement of the Aspen Art Museum’s annual ArtCrush.