Taos Ski Valley Raises More Than $29,000 for Women’s Cancer Support and Research

8 Mar

Taos Ski Valley raised almost $30,000 during its annual “Breast Cancer Awareness Day” which includes ski races, art auction and parties.

WEBWIRE – Wednesday, March 07, 2012
TAOS, NM – March 7, 2011 – Taos Ski Valley joined forces with K2 Skis and Studio Karina to host two fundraising events in February that raised more than $29,000 for the Anita Salas Memorial Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance for breast and cervical cancer services in New Mexico, and for Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC), a fundraising foundation whose mission is to increase awareness about breast cancer, the importance of early detection and the value of an active lifestyle.

February 25 was officially designated “Breast Cancer Awareness Day” at Taos Ski Valley and the day included a range of activities all designed to help raise money for and awareness of women’s cancer. The day began with excitement as local radio station KKIT broadcasted live from the base of the ski resort pumping up the crowd for the first ever K2 Bumps Challenge – a race in which teams skied or snowboarded Taos Ski Valley’s famous “Al’s Run” as many times as possible, generating charitable donations from sponsors for each trip. The winning team, named Straight Line, made 18 trips down Al’s Run in four hours and was awarded K2 skis, goggles, ski passes and more for their efforts. A list of additional winners in the individual, junior, fundraising and costume categories is available here. The K2 Bumps Challenge generated more than $14,000 for the designated charities.

Following the K2 Bumps Challenge was the Paint for Peaks art exhibit, which took place at the base of the ski resort in the Martini Tree Bar. The event exhibited spectacular handcrafted artwork by 15 local and national artists using snowboards as canvasses. In the evening, the snowboards were sold in the annual Paint for Peaks silent auction. Lucky winter sports enthusiasts and art lovers took home these valuable works of art and helped generate another $13,600 for cancer research. In addition, a raffle during the Paint for Peaks exhibit in which ski passes and other valuable prizes were offered generated almost $1,500 in additional funds.

“Supporting the Anita Salas Memorial Fund has become an annual tradition at Taos Ski Valley and we were thrilled to also add support to B4BC this year,” said Adriana Blake, administrative manager of Taos Ski Valley. “We are extremely grateful to our sponsors including K2 and Studio Karina, and to all the people who participated or donated their time and money to support this important cause. We plan to have a breast cancer awareness day and fundraiser each year, and we hope to continue to grow its popularity.”

Taos Ski Valley also donated a portion of ticket sales on the 25th to the Anita Salas Memorial Fund.

For more information about the Anita Salas Memorial Fund, please visit: [url]http://www.cancernm.org/bcc/anita-salas.html[/url]

For more information about B4BC please visit: [url]http://www.b4bc.org/[/url]

About Taos Ski Valley
With more than 305 inches of average annual snowfall and more than 110 trails, Taos Ski Valley is New Mexico’s premier skiing and snowboarding destination. One of the only remaining family-owned and operated ski resorts in all of America, Taos Ski Valley boasts a unique relaxed atmosphere, pristine scenery and unparalleled skiing and snowboarding. To learn more about Taos Ski Valley or to plan a vacation for the 2012 or 2013 season, please visit www.skitaos.org

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Taos Ski Valley Breast Cancer Awareness Day a Huge Success!

27 Feb

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Featured Snowboard by BJ Briner

23 Feb
BJ Briner

Snowboard by BJ Briner

Artist Philosohpy
For me, the primary purpose of drawing is basically functional. It is a means of asking very real and probing questions about form, proportions, line, darks and lights as they define and describe an object or thought. When I put the answer down on a piece of paper I have a drawing. The quality of the work depends solely on the depth of my questions and the truthfulness of my answers. The insidious element, which can confuse and obscure this private dialogue, takes the form of a preoccupation with what the whole thing is going to look like when I’m finished. The act of drawing must be a conversation with myself, which elevates the work to a more meaningful and less self-conscious attitude and approach.

More information about BJ and her artwork can be found at bjbriner.com

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Featured Snowboard by Gustavo Victor Goler

20 Feb
Gustavo Victor Goler

Snowboard by Gustavo Victor Goler

Gustavo Victor Goler was raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico among a family of Latin American art conservators and restorers. Goler’s early years were spent apprenticing in his family’s conservation studios where he learned wood carving skills by helping conserve and restore 18th, 19th and 20th century Saints from Latin America and New Mexico. Goler began carving Santos in high school as a hobby, creating a few pieces a year that he would give to family and friends. In 1986, he opened up a small conservation studio in Santa Fe, NM where he specialized in the conservation of Santos.

In 1988, Goler was juried into Spanish Market where he has continuously showed for the past twenty four years. His high level of craftsmanship and innovative design have garnered him 24 awards which include eleven first place awards, two Best of Show awards, the Archbishop’s award, the People’s Choice award, as well as numerous 2nd Place and Design awards. Among the carvers at Spanish Market, Goler is often sought after for his advice. He has mentored developing artists, and has instructed many carvers. He has taught classes regularly for children and museum docents, and for a handful of artists that have come to his studio for long term apprenticeships.

During the last twenty five years, Goler has been involved in in-depth research of New Mexico Santeros. His research and interest has led him to study both old and contemporary Santeros from New Mexico and around the world. Along with his study of artists and their history, Goler has immersed himself in the study of the history of Saints and their iconography. His technical ability as a woodcarver and his in-depth knowledge of materials has allowed him to create pieces that have a very individual style. He continues to challenge himself by pushing further toward the limits of his art form and is known for his high level of technical proficiency and progressive ideas.

View more works by Gustavo Victor Goler, www.victorgoler.com

Gustavo Victor Goler

Gustavo Victor Goler, New Mexican sculptor and santero works with traditional carving methods and materials

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Featured Paint for Peaks Snowboard by Christina Sporrong

19 Feb
Christina Sporrong

Snowboard by Christina Sporrong

Artist Statement:
I was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1969, and spent the first half of my life living in Europe and Asia. I graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York City with a BFA in Illustration. While I was in New York I met sculptor Linus Coraggio who showed me how to work in steel. Learning how to weld and forge completely changed my focus from editorial illustration and photography to sculpture. Working with metal became my passion. After graduating from college I moved to Seattle, Washington and enrolled in an independent study program in steel sculpture at Pratt Fine Arts. My work became a mixture of mediums, combining steel, glass, paint, photography and found objects.

When I moved to Taos, New Mexico in 1996 I opened my own commercial metal fabrication shop and smithy, Spitfire Forge. To de-mystify metal and empower other women with this medium I started teaching workshops. I have held many local Women’s Welding Workshops since 1996 in addition to annual national courses. Sometimes I flee the cold Taos winters for San Francisco, where I have worked at The Crucible , a metal arts education center in Oakland. I am a member of IATSE Local 480, and get to fabricate a variety of interesting structures for movie sets.

Somewhere along the way I found the Circus, and use aerial dance, fire arts and a range of self-made props and constructions to create unique and thought provoking performances. I have choreographed several pieces including “Amortec “, a dance between a woman on stilts and a six legged robot. The sculptural and performative process intersect for me on many levels, as witnessed through my sculpture The Heron Project . Currently I am creating custom apparatus for aerialists at Spitfire Aerial Equipment, as well as continuing to build large scale interactive sculptures for various festivals.

-Christina Sporrong

Learn more about Christina at her work at www.spitfireforge.com

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Featured Paint for Peaks Snowboard by Dan Vigil

19 Feb
Dan Vigil

Snowboard by Dan Vigil

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini by Dan Vigil

Inspired by the song
“Itsy, Bitsy, Teenie, Weenie, Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini”
 Brian Hyland (Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss)

She was afraid to come out of the locker
She was as nervous as she could be
She was afraid to come out of the locker
She was afraid that somebody would see
One, two, three, four, tell the people what she wore

It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow polka-dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today
An itsy, bitsy, teentie, weenie, yellow polka-dot bikini
So in the locker she wanted to stay
Two, three, four, stick around we’ll tell you more

She was afraid to come out in the open
And so a blanket around she wore
She was afraid to come out in the open
And so she sat bundled up on the shore
Two, three, four, tell the people what she wore

It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow polka-dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today
An itsy, bitsy, teentie, weenie, yellow polka-dot bikini
So in the blanket she wanted to stay
Two, three, four, stick around we’ll tell you more

Now she is afraid to come out of the water
And I wonder what she’s gonna do
Now she is afraid to come out of the water
And the poor little girl’s turning blue
Two, three, four, tell the people what she wore

It was an itsy, bitsy, teenie, weenie, yellow polka-dot bikini
That she wore for the first time today
An itsy, bitsy, teentie, weenie, yellow polka-dot bikini
So in the water she wanted to stay
(From the locker to the blanket)
(From the blanket to the shore)
(From the shore to the water)
Yes, there isn’t any more

Taos artist, Dan Vigil, is known nationally and internationally by contemporary collectors and galleries for his abstract impressionist paintings and monoprints.

Learn more about Dan and his works at Wilder Nightingale Fine Art

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Featured Paint for Peaks Snowboard by Erin Currier

18 Feb
Erin Currier

Snowboard by Erin Currier

Gabrielle Maiden by Erin Currier
Mixed media and acrylic painting on board
Gabrielle Maiden is the world’s first black female competitive snowboarding champion. This piece is an homage to her.

Part portraiture, part collage constructed of disinherited consumer “waste” collected in thirty six countries, part sociopolitical archive, but wholly humanist, Currier’s work has been featured in numerous solo shows, including a major exhibition at the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Embassy in Washington, DC. Her work is exhibited and collected internationally. She lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Artist Statement:
What began as a natural integration of my socio-political beliefs with a sheer joy of art-making, has since developed into a full-fledged artistic praxis by which I integrate the human realm I come in contact within the course of my travels- its individuals, cultures, and struggles- with its refuse, in order to comment on and participate in the issues I feel most passionate about. I have travelled to nearly 40 countries, immersing myself, to the best of my abilities, in the daily life of countries like Nepal and Nicaragua, cities such as Istanbul and Caracas, studying languages, getting around on foot or by bus, sketching, documenting extensively, making friends, and collecting disinherited commercial “waste”, after which I return to my studio to create series of works. Aesthetically, Latin American Muralist traditions, Eastern Spiritual Iconography, and Social Realism inform my work. In addition to drawing its subjects from the so-called developing world, my work often draws its aesthetic from the “Global South,” as well as its philosophical influence, in the form of Paolo Freire, Eduardo Galeano, Augusto Sandino, and Edward Said.

The more I travel, the greater my sense of urgency as an artist to address social inequality and economic disparity through my work. Above all, I am a humanist artist, politically active and unapologetically narrative in my repertoire of practices, and for whom art and the social world are inseparable.

-Erin Currier, 2011

Erin Currier is represented by Parks Gallery in Taos, NM and Masottatorres Arte Contemporaneo in Argentina. More information can be found at www.erincurrierfineart.com.

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