Art in Motion is presented in partnership WE-cycle
Artistic Vision:
Aspen Public Art and WE-cycle are collaborating on the “Art in Motion” program, featuring the artwork of five Roaring Fork Valley locals on 30+ kiosks and 100+ pedal bikes in the Aspen WE-cycle system.
Art in Motion celebrates art as part of the rhythm of daily movement. By incorporating design into bikeshare infrastructure, this program reimagines public space as a gallery-on-the-go. With every ride, Aspen Public Art and WE-cycle invite the community to engage with art, celebrate place, and choose sustainable transportation. Art in Motion bikes will roll out in April (followed by the kiosks in May) and will remain on the streets through October.
Featured Artists
Five local artists were selected by a jury as part of a public call to artists, shining a spotlight on the deep talents of artists in the Roaring Fork Valley. Selected artworks are notable for their bold, vibrant designs with strong graphic impact that can be appreciated from a distance while also rewarding closer viewing with subtle details.
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Artist Biography
Molly Altman is a ceramic artist who works directly with her local floral ecology to create intricate porcelain sculptures. Molly obtained a BA in ceramics from Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont in 2019. Her experience includes Artist Residencies at Green River Pottery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Recipiente Estudio in Mexico City, Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology in Loch Lomond, California, and the Carbondale Clay Center in Carbondale, Colorado. She has taught and shown work nationally and internationally and her works are featured in private and public collections including the Bennington College Permanent Collection and the Minnesota Museum of American Art. Molly currently lives and works in Carbondale, Colorado.Artist Statement
Symmetry and chaos, ephemerality and ruthlessness, immediacy and age– these qualities of the natural world serve as guiding forces in my work’s process and aesthetic. Themes of environmental degradation, resilience, and impermanence are repeatedly evoked by my ceramic work, in which nature frequently steps beyond the role of inspiration and is brought into my studio to become a direct collaborator. My sculptural work often incorporates locally collected flora which I dip in porcelain and fire. Through this process, I deconstruct what is familiar—leaves, flowers, vines, grasses—reducing them to the roots of their forms, and then assemble them to create micro-environments which reflect their ecologies of origin. The work invites viewers to reframe their understandings of their natural environments and consider the fraught, symbiotic relationship between humanity and ecosystem. By vitrifying pieces of my surroundings, things otherwise predestined for decay at the hands of the seasons and human-induced climate change, I am reminded of the impermanence of our fragile ecosystems. In this way, the work is a celebration, and also an act of preservation– of freezing a moment in time as our landscape currently stands, granting acknowledgement to the idea that it is more or less impermanent.
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Artist Biography
The imagination of a child is perhaps the most formative time in one’s life of making the impossible, the possible. Already in a youthful mindset of a dream state in self discovery, one merely has to pick up the pencil, guitar, brush or camera and set forth on a life-long journey that gives a reason to ask why and what’s next. Daniel Bayer did exactly that with a camera at age 8 and has been doing it ever since. For the past 38 years, Daniel has also had the self made fortune to make it a living which gives the pursuit of the craft a sense of collaborative purpose, freedom of exploration and acknowledgment of being on the right path. From the literal launching of his career making images on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy in his late teens, to being a camera wielding multi-decade fixture at the Aspen Institute, Daniel lives inside and outside of his camera and darkroom, but invites everyone in through his photographs. Through the community of long time clients, a loving family and friends, Daniel Bayer continues to follow the path he chose early in life in making photographs in the boundless setting of the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond.Artist Statement
“Mirror Us” — Walking the ethnically vibrant and mural adorned neighborhoods that make up Mission Street in the heart of San Francisco, I spent the day with my medium format film camera making double and triple exposures on color negative film. Like a chess game, each click of the shutter was a move that had to be carefully considered as it greatly informed the ones that followed and the overall outcome of each completed image. As much as I painstakingly anticipated and assembled the collage-like photographs in my camera on the street, there were surprises once I looked at the developed film at home in Aspen. A theme emerged, I felt a sense of it all being a photographic hologram in that the people, the streets, the art and the moments were frozen in a carnival fun house of mirrors that went multiple directions within a single frame. Checkmate, my project thusly dubbed “Mirror us” was born. The colorful yet complex layers of life in these photographs pull the viewer in closer and closer as if to impart the notion of them being a scavenger hunt. But they also mirror our world in a way to pay homage to the age old notion of stopping long enough where one stands to take note of how big a role the little things play in life. Life is always in constant motion, spinning, bouncing, heaving and retreating. It’s my sincere feeling that the photographs in “Mirror us” could playfully invite the viewer and the WeCycle rider to realize that they too, are Art in Motion.
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Artist Biography
Emily Chaplin is a full-time working artist with a studio in Aspen, Colorado. Originally from North Carolina where she attended UNC Chapel Hill, Emily Chaplin has called the Roaring Fork Valley home for the past 15 years. An oil painter working in expressive color and painting primarily with palette knife, Emily’s vibrant impasto renderings of the natural world have caught the eye of private and corporate collectors from around the United States. Her original works reside in more than twenty US states. Her work is currently represented by Elliott Yeary Gallery of Aspen and Wilde Meyer Galleries of Scottsdale & Tucson, AZ. For the past five years, Emily has exhibited her work each summer at her booth at the Aspen Saturday Market and for the past three years at the Aspen Art Festival in Paepcke Park. She enjoys contributing to local organizations and has donated work to Wilderness Workshop, the Buddy Program, the Snowmass Rotary and The Art Base.Artist Statement
Ever since moving to the Colorado Rockies, I have been drawn irrepressibly to the natural surroundings of these mountains, particularly the wildflowers and aspen trees that flourish here. In their company I have found my refuge, inspiration, joy and artistic muse. Colorado’s wildflowers hold a special place in my heart, and feature prominently in my work. I hold enormous admiration for these determined beings, which return year after year to grow and share their beauty without needing tending or care from humans. Every July I hike the West Maroon Trail from Aspen to Crested Butte, and back, marveling in awe at the vast tableaus of wildflowers and compiling an endless collection of inspiration along the way. On my canvases I strive to convey the joy I experience in the presence of this extraordinary landscape. In my mountain landscape work, I often paint from the perspective of the flowers. My intention is to juxtapose the ephemeral, delicate wildflowers with the grand, resolute mountains and lend them equal visual prominence and importance. Before I began painting aspens, I spent years observing them closely and photographing them in detail. I strive to create paintings that capture the feelings I experience when I am in their presence. I view each new individual work as a part of an ongoing body that viewed together create a forest of paintings honoring the beauty of this tree and of the natural world. Aspen trees to me also serve as a metaphor for the essential human need for community. An individual aspen is only a part of a much grander being – a stand of aspen being the largest living organism on earth. Likewise, while human individuality is to be celebrated, we need one another to survive, to create and to evolve.
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Artist Biography
Born and raised in the hills of Bridgewater, VT nestled among fresh produce and hardwoods, she grew up a visual learner and was fascinated by the natural world. At age 11, inspired by her community needs, she co-founded with her twin sister, Change the World Kids, a teen run non- profit dedicated to making the world a better place free of charge. There, a conservation project was born, conserving and restoring habitat in Costa Rica for neo-tropical migrants and endangered species. Migration patterns and connectivity were key concepts she learned from a young age. She received a degree in Studio Art and Environmental Studies from Mount Holyoke College where she focused on visually representing landscapes in terms of systems through printmaking, paper-making and mixed media. Her thesis, titled Interconnectedness: How do we form a relationship to a changing landscape, incorporated elements of both the man made and natural world through installation pieces and large 2 demential work. Her work was chosen for several shows including, the Arches Student Print Exhibition, and the National Collegiate Handmade Paper Art Triennial. During these college years she visited New York City and Boston countless times to learn from the Urban working art communities. Instead of immediately pursuing a career in art, she served as an AmeriCorps member for the Green Mountain Club, a trail organization in Vermont. Here she was introduced to long distance hiking. Inspired by animal migrations and her curiosity of landscape, she hiked over 12,000 miles connecting communities and ecosystems. She went on to set Fastest Know Times on the Vermont Long Trail and the Colorado Trail. Between hikes she worked in her family restaurant, as a trail crew member, as a backcountry caretaker, and environmental educator. She moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2018 where she returned to her art career. Her current process incorporates plein-air watercolor painting as a way to deeply observe her environment. She collaborates with local non-profits and organizations. She is a proud resident artist at the Red Brick Center for the Arts and is the head coach for the DEVO nordic ski-team at AVSC.Artist Statement
I am a watercolor, mixed media and plein air artist living and working in Aspen, Colorado. My current body of work is inspired by moments that are full of wild beauty, change, silliness, and demanding challenge. Imagination, curiosity, migrations, wild places, and the interconnectedness of this world inspire me to dream big. Many of my current pieces are inspired by over 12,000+ miles of hiking across the United States or 1000s of feet of climbing connecting communities, landscapes and ecosystems. I am drawn to representing places that are not always the most beautiful landscapes but those that are important to understanding connectivity, climate change and human experiences. Through mix media pieces, primarily combining watercolor, ink and thread, I juxtapose landscapes and use lines to illustrate energy and paths of movement. Many of my pieces are painted in the plein air style outside onsite. This process allows me to slow down, focus and see my environment more deeply. I received a degree in Studio Art and Environmental Studies from Mount Holyoke College where I focused on visually representing landscape in terms of systems through printmaking, paper making and mixed media. Along side my art making, I am the lead coach for the devo nordic ski team at AVSC and still hold the Female Fastest Known Self-supported Time on the 500 mile Colorado Trail.
Leah Potts
Leah Potts is an Aspen artist whose journey in watercolor painting is as much about craft and media as it is about heart and soul. Known for her animal portraits, she celebrates the spirit and character of animals in ways that reflect both their nature and hers.
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Artist Biography
I’m Leah Potts, an artist whose journey in watercolor painting is as much about craft and media as it is about heart and soul. I've found healing and strength through each brushstroke. My work explores more than just vibrant animal portraits it tells a heartfelt story of perseverance, love, and rediscovery; one that I hope will resonate deeply with you. Years ago, life threw me a curveball that could have ended everything. Fresh out of Central Missouri State University with a fine arts degree in hand, my dreams were suddenly sidelined by a devastating skiing accident that left me paralyzed from the neck down. The doctors didn’t offer much hope, but I knew deep inside that this wasn’t how my story would end. Adapting to my new reality wasn't easy. Yet, amid countless challenges, my artistic spirit refused to be silenced. After 20 long years without touching a brush, the void within me became impossible to ignore. That’s when I made the life-changing decision to pick up where I had paused, teaching myself to paint all over again with my non-dominant left hand. To my astonishment, the same expressive line that I had witnessed with my right all those years before slowly began to re-emerge. Each brushstroke felt like breathing life back into both my art and my soul. Today, my watercolor paintings blend life like realism with a touch of impressionistic freedom, celebrating the spirit and character of animals in ways that reflect both their nature and mine. Launching my pet portrait business and selling original watercolor paintings, cards, and prints has not only been a professional triumph but is also an avenue through which I share my passion for wildlife. When not nestled in my studio, I can often be found outdoors, relishing adventures with my rescue dog, Evie, as we ski, bike, and embrace the sheer joy of living unfettered by barriers that once seemed impossible. Our experiences echo my desire to live a full life, creating unique opportunities, building community, while embracing my friends and family. I believe life is worth living even in the struggle.Artist Statement
After a debilitating skiing accident that left me paralyzed, I find adventure in my paintings and the creative process. In a world where my body lets me down, I can escape the madness, go into the wilderness and connect with nature. Art saves lives, and painting wildlife fills my soul, helping me move through a disability and creating positive solutions. The pure elegance of nature’s palette, textures, and wildlife has become a constant source of inspiration for my watercolor paintings. Learning to paint with my non-dominant hand challenges me but also frees my brush strokes, giving me a blend of realism and impressionistic style, enabling me to capture the spirit of the animal. My art begins with a simple idea and grows from there. In my paintings, I hope you can see but, more importantly, feel the essence of the animal through their eyes. With each brush stroke, the animals comes alive, and I am set free. The spirit of the animal fills my heart and inspires me through the tough times, pushing me through the struggle. While painting, I’m not alone. I have a purpose, I’m needed. I’m new to the art world as I’ve only been painting for the last 5 years; grateful for the support of this community, I’m eager to see where my artistic journey takes me as I explore new mediums, different techniques and new subjects. I ponder, I hope and I pray, not afraid to put myself on display; me, my art, wild but free.