ML - Aspen Peak

2015 - Issue 1 - Summer

Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak

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The Aspen Ideal LISSA BALLINGER Two years ago, The Aspen Institute brought on Lissa Ballinger to cocurate a Herbert Bayer exhibit in the Resnick Gallery of the Doerr- Hosier Center. Today, the exhibit is permanent, with on-loan rotating pieces, and so is Ballinger, as the Institute's art registrar. She's since formed her own art advisory firm called Walnut5, a nod to Aspen's 925 telephone prefix; serves as the curator for the Institute's Aspen Meadows property; and is coordi- nating the campus's summer exhibit, "Guns in the Hands of Artists," featuring 33 commissioned works of actual firearms confiscated on the streets of New Orleans. "Aspen has the most amazing visual arts history, beyond Bayer and [ John] Powers," she says. And Ballinger, 40, has positioned herself in the middle of that history, preserving the arts via the Institute and curating new art scenes as a manager for private art collections. Although she moved here pursuing gallery work after earning her master's degree in arts manage- ment from Columbia University, it's Aspen's outdoors that locked her in. "I tell people to take classes indoors here so they can be stronger outside," she says. Ballinger teaches more than 15 fitness classes each week in Pure Barre, MOi cycle, high-intensity interval training, and BodyPump, and plays outdoors on the week- ends, regularly competing in the 40 -plus-mile Grand Traverse ski and mountaineering race and in multiple ultra-marathons. She's also a local mentor through the Buddy Program's in-school initiatives. Indeed, when it comes to Aspen, she isn't going anywhere. "One of the most empowering things [in] my life was figuring out where home was," she says. "I couldn't imagine living anywhere else." —C.B. Sleeveless stretch leather dress, Maison Ullens ($2,625). 445 E. Hopkins Ave., 970-429-4170; maisonullens.com. 14k natural druzy and sapphire necklace, Deborah Gaspar ($695). Bandana Aspen, 107 S. Mill Road, 970-429-0880; bandanaaspen.com. Rose-gold Patrimony Traditionnelle Self-Winding watch, Vacheron Constantin ($30,000). Meridian Jewelers, 525 E. Cooper Ave., 970-925-3833; meridianjewelers.com Styling by Faye Power Makeup by Elizabeth McGuire of Bizzy Lizzy's One Stop Shop Hair Styling by Rita Bellino of Queen B Salon Shot on location at the Residences at The Little Nell

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