The snow may still be melting in Mancos, but signs of spring are evident. Our 2023 residencies and events are in full swing. We hosted six residencies in March -- a writer, four musicians, and a painter -- and we plan a show by former residents at the Create Art & Tea Gallery in Durango for the month of April.
Shelley Silbert, former director of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, completed a one-week residency in early March. Shelley is a writer, conservationist, and naturalist who led public lands protection work in Arizona and Colorado for two decades. Shelley will present a writing workshop at Willowtail entitled Wild Places, Wild Mind on Saturday, September 30.
Joshua Mendrala recorded an album at Willowtail during his one-week residency at Willowtail. He will lead a 90-minute clinic at Fenceline Cider in Mancos on Thursday, May 18, where he will demonstrate ways to produce creative and exciting new sounds for guitar, utilizing tools like guitar pedals, modular units, re-amping and routing, and various technologies. He will perform several pieces utilizing the techniques and ideas taught. This will be an exciting clinic for musicians regardless of experience.
Left: Josh Mendrala, guitarist
Right: Ann Salviazul's watercolor warm-ups in the Studio
Ann Salviazul spent a week painting at Willowtail recently. She will present her work at Willowtail on Saturday, April 22. Ann has worked in watercolor, charcoal, and pencil or pen for over four decades. At Willowtail, she had the opportunity to explore and experiment with the medium of Gouache, challenging herself to transform her creative process. Because of a recent physical injury, she has been forced to use several changes to her stance and materials, which change her work. Ann’s artwork is typically representational and abstracted, conceived from everyday experiences and observations. She is inspired by the arid beauty of the desert and high mountain country and feels most at home in the southwest.
The woodwind trio, Windswept, plans a week of sight-reading new repertoire, rehearsing, and planning for future concerts beginning March 27. Ensemble members will also practice individually and pursue related interests such as reed-making, research, pedagogy, and arranging. A recording project is an additional possibility. Windswept consists of three principal players from the San Juan Symphony – Rochelle Mann (flute), Rebecca Ray (oboe), and Denise Turner (bassoon). The group first performed together in 2019 as part of the Third Avenue Arts Recital Series in Durango, the Southwest Recital Series in Santa Fe, and the East Mountain Music for the Soul Series in Edgewood, New Mexico. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of multiple performances, Windswept recorded a virtual concert for the Third Avenue Arts Concerts on the Couch series. Rochelle, Rebecca, and Denise are thrilled to be scheduled to play two live concerts again this May on Cortez, Durango, and Santa Fe.
Willowtail Springs is located on Diné Bí Kéyah, traditional Navajo land, near the escarpment of the northern sacred mountain, Dibé Ntsaa. It is also part of the open range of the Ute people, now living on the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Tribal Allotment reservations to the southwest and southeast. Additionally, Mesa Verde and the surrounding lands in Montezuma County and the Four Corners Region were occupied by the Ancestral Puebloan People a thousand years ago. We honor the past, present, and future indigenous people residing in this region and recognize them as long standing stewards of this land, amplifying our work by their historical presence and their living contributions to land preservation efforts across this region.
