ASPEN, Colo. (April 18, 2022) – For the 2022 summer season, the arts and culture are booming with a  return to all in-person experiences. Always an integral part of the Aspen experience, Aspen is again a  haven for those looking to experience a summer of arts and culture. Aspen is one of the most culturally rich towns in the U.S., offering visitors and residents alike access to renowned art exhibits, theatrical performances, classical and jazz music, literary events, and more. 

The cultural heart and soul of Aspen emerged more than 60 years ago when Chicago industrialist Walter  Paepcke and his wife, Elizabeth, invited intellectuals, artists, and philosophers to convene in Aspen for the Goethe Bicentennial. Established in the wake of this event were the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the Aspen Center for Physics, which have confirmed this former mining town on the map of America’s intellectual communities.  

*This press release will be updated at Aspenchamber.org/media/press-releases as there are updates to the following information. 

Visual Arts 

Bayer Center: The Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies (“The Bayer Center”) will officially open in June 2022 with the inaugural exhibition Herbert Bayer: An Introduction. Established by the Aspen  Institute in dedication to the work of Herbert Bayer, the new Center will allow the Institute to preserve the art, legacy, and expanded contexts of the artist and designer, who designed the Institute’s historic campus and whose work represents the fullest expression of the Bauhaus movement in America. The  Center will showcase and exhibit its Bayer collection, borrow from major cultural institutions, and create new exhibitions that will educate the public about Bayer’s legacy in America and in Aspen. The Bayer  Center honors Bayer’s interdisciplinary perspective by promoting public understanding of art, design,  and media through exhibitions, public programming, community engagement, and educational initiatives. Upon opening, the Center will offer free admission to the public. 

Aspen Art Museum is a 30,000 square feet non-collecting institution in downtown Aspen which features contemporary art. Summer 2022 exhibitions include:

GAETANO PESCE: MY DEAR MOUNTAINS (May 27- Oct. 9) – My Dear Mountains, is a large-scale,  site-specific project by Gaetano Pesce, conceived especially for the Aspen Art Museum, which will cover the museum’s entire façade with a monumental inflatable structure with an image of the sun setting over a mountain landscape. This ambitious outdoor project is the artist’s first façade intervention and will be complemented by a display of Pesce’s furniture and sculptures within the museum’s ground-floor gallery. 

MOUNTAIN/TIME (May 27 – Sept.11) – Curated in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of  American Art and the Rosenkranz Foundation. Mountain/Time explores ideas of re-mapping,  migration, Black and Indigenous geographies, storytelling, and time, in themes inspired by the intertwined histories and geographies of the mountains and their ecological systems. The works in the exhibition explore re-mapping as a form of place-making through archival research,  collage, science fiction, language, dance, and music, in conceptualizations of time and knowledge that both excavate the past and re-imagine the future. 

PRECIOUS OKOYOMON: EVERY EARTHLY MORNING THE SKY’S LIGHT TOUCHES UR LIFE IS  UNPRECEDENTED IN ITS BEAUTY (Through Sept. 18, 2022) – Poet/artist Precious Okoyomon’s  AAM rooftop installation (which will have a new iteration for summer 2022) mixes sculpture and organic matter to embody a garden based on themes of pleasure, abundance, and desire; a live,  responsive, commission that literally grows and replenishes over time. 

Anderson Ranch Arts Center – Summer 2022 marks the return of full programming and events.  Anderson Ranch Arts Center will kick off summer by welcoming a number of high-profile artists to contribute new works to the Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition, such as Sanford Biggers, Nari Ward, Jessica  Stockholder, Tavares Strachan, and Virginia Overton, opening June 23.  

Visiting artist Yinka Shonibare will give a talk on July 13 and be honored with the International Artist  Award on July 14. “Summer Series: Featured Artists & Conversations” will again take place, with more details coming soon.  

Cultural & Heritage 

NEW Colorado Historic Opera Houses Circuit –The first-ever Colorado Historic Opera Houses Circuit, a  joint promotion of five mountain opera houses, including Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House, will feature a  map, website, and other promotions to attract visitors interested in history, arts and culture, live entertainment, and private event rentals. It will include practical information on how to visit the opera houses and will promote the destinations and related travel attractions in the rural cities where the opera houses sit. 

Aspen Historical Society – In addition to a full summer of walking tours and programs starting June 14,  the Aspen Historical Society will be introducing: 

• A new hike – The Midland Railbed trail, which explores Aspen mining and transportation history on an easy walk to the Holden/Marolt Mining & Ranching Museum alongside Aspen’s lesser-known railroad corridor. 

• A new adult education series called History in Your Backyard will debut in September and explores the history of familiar places in the Aspen area.

Performing Arts 

Theatre Aspen – Celebrating its 39th season, running from June 28 – Sept. 15, Theater Aspen will showcase two musicals as well as Solo Flights, a Cabaret Series, and a collaboration with the Aspen  Music Festival.  

• Gypsy, A Musical Fable (June 28 – July 23) 

• Jersey Boys, The Story of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (Aug. 3 – Aug. 24) • Solo Flights (Sept. 10 – 15), the developmental one-person show festival 

• Theatre Aspen Summer Cabaret Series with dinner and performances (July 10, Aug. 7 & 14) at  the Hotel Jerome.  

• Theatre Aspen and the Aspen Music Festival will present The Sound of Music in Concert on July  25 and July 26 in the Benedict Music Tent. 

Aspen Fringe Festival is committed to bringing exceptional performing arts and artists to Aspen and the  Roaring Fork Valley; to providing opportunities for local performers, artists, and audiences to collaborate with them and be stimulated by their work. June Fest will take place June 10 – 11 at the  Wheeler Opera House with two evenings of live performances featuring the following:  

• Heisenberg by Tony Award-winning playwright Simon Stevens, featuring Aspen locals as well as a post-show talk by the playwright. 

Music  

Aspen Music Festival and School is planning for a spectacular in-person 2022 summer from June 30 – Aug. 21 with daily performances at the Benedict Music Tent, as well as performances at Harris Hall. The summer season will feature renowned artists including Opera Bass-Baritone Bryn Terfel, pianist  Matthew Whitaker, saxophonist Jess Gillam, violinist Melissa White, and many more.  

• Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS (AOTVA) program, under the co-artistic direction of  Renée Fleming and Patrick Summers, will launch their first in-person season and will include performances of VERDI’s Falstaff and Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Wheeler Opera House.  

Jazz Aspen Snowmass (JAS) – has announced an exciting summer program with its June Experience, JAS  Café series in July and August, and the much-loved Labor Day festival in September. o June Experience (June 23- 26) offers one pass with access to more than 40  performances at ten different venues including Belly Up, Wheeler Opera House, 39  Degrees at W Hotel, Limelight Hotel, Sterling Lounge, Here House. 

o The JAS Café Summer Series will kick off July 1st and continue until mid-August with all shows taking place rooftop at the Aspen Art Museum. 

o Labor Day Experience (Sept. 2- 4) is an outdoor festival at Snowmass — with headliners  Stevie Nicks, blues singer-songwriter Leon Bridges, and country star Chris Stapleton. 

Belly Up Aspen, an intimate 450-person music club will be offering a vibrant summer of live music with highlight shows from John Fogerty, Shakey Graves, Flight Facilities, and more to be announced soon.  

Intellectual 

Aspen Ideas Festival – The 18th annual Aspen Ideas Festival returns to the Aspen Institute campus from  June 25–July 1 for an in-person convening. Guests will reunite for stimulating and invigorating conversations with some of the brightest, most interesting thinkers and doers. Leaders from around the 

globe and across many disciplines will engage in deep and inquisitive discussions of the ideas and issues that shape our lives and challenge our times. This year’s event will be broken up into two sections, June  25-28 and June 28 – July 1, with Ideas Health taking place June 22-25.  

About Aspen, Colorado – Aspen, Colorado is an authentic, historic mountain town that is renowned for its year-round outdoor lifestyle, cosmopolitan cultural calendar, and charming downtown ambiance. With an endless array of arts, culture, dining, and nightlife, Aspen is defined by an urbane feel that belies its small-town charm. An Aspen vacation is an experience that energizes the mind, body, and spirit, whether soaking in mountain beauty and 300 days of annual sunshine learning a new skill, feeding a  fascination, or simply absorbing the mountain spirit. Located 18 miles east of Independence Pass, Aspen is nestled in the heart of the White River National Forest at the confluence of the Roaring Fork River, Hunter Creek, Maroon Creek, and Castle Creek, and encircled by the peaks of the Elk Mountain Range in the central Rocky Mountains. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport (ASE) is conveniently located only three miles from downtown Aspen. For visitor information, a complete calendar of events, or to book an Aspen vacation, visit www.aspenchamber.org, or call 1.888.290.1324 or 970.925.1940.