Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
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S uperlatives PEOPLE, CULTURE, TASTE, STYLE VIEW FROM THE TOP Wood Warrior A NEW LOCAL MUSEUM PAYS HOMAGE TO INTERNATIONAL ART STAR JAMES SURLS. BY JENNIFER DEMERITT PHOTOGRAPHY BY BROOKE CASILLAS W James Surls stands in wood shavings at the chopping block in his Aspen studio. The carved petals are for a new major corporate commission. hen asked about the James Surls Museum opening in Carbondale in two years, the sculptor who is its namesake becomes vehement: "The correct name is the Surls Center for Visual Art," he says. "I make a big distinction between those two titles. I didn't think it would work calling it the James Surls Museum. That's paring it down to one thing; you can't sustain life paring it down to one thing." In addition to celebrating Surls—whose large-scale, organically shaped sculptures have been displayed at MoMA, LACMA, the Guggenheim, and dozens of other museums and galleries around the country—the center will showcase the work of other artists and, if Surls's vision for the space pans out, will become a hub for the Roaring Fork Valley's artistic community. "When there's a space that will say yes, then all of a sudden the complexion of the community changes," he says. "There's a certain hum, a vibration. Dialogue starts to be built…. The neighborhood gets excited, the region gets pumped up. That's my attitude about what the [Surls Center] can do." The initial concept was much more humble. "It started off with me looking for space to store [my] sculpture," says Surls, a 70-year-old Texas native who has lived in the Valley with his family since 1997. "Then I thought, if we're going to store it in town, let's make it where people can see it." Jim Calaway, a local continued on page 72 ASPENPEAK-MAGAZINE.COM 071-072_AP_SP_VFT_WIN13_SPR_14.indd 71 71 10/30/13 12:17 PM