ML - Aspen Peak

2015 - Issue 1 - Summer

Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak

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PhotograPhy by Dan Davis A competition-wide dinner kicked off the Aspen Challenge in DC this year. right: Denver Mayor Michael Hancock addressed students of Denver public schools during last year's Challenge. Charity register Opportunities to give. Aspen Words summer soirée The Cause: Garrison Keillor, author, storyteller, humorist, and host of the long-standing public radio program "A Prairie Home Companion," is the featured speaker at this year's Aspen Words summer beneft. Aspen Words is one of the nation's leading literary centers and a stage for the world's most prominent contemporary writers. The Details: Wednesday, June 24, at 7 pm at the Doerr-Hosier Center. 845 Meadows Road, 970-925-3122; aspenwords.org Peter and the Starcatcher Premiere The Cause: Aspen Peak magazine is proud to be the exclusive partner of Theatre Aspen's exciting presentation of Peter and the Starcatcher, the prelude to Peter Pan's epic tale. One of Aspen's most cherished nonprofts will deliver an all-star performance as part of its four-production summer lineup. The Details: Thursday, July 16, at 7 pm at the Hurst Theatre. 470 Rio Grande Pl., 970-925- 9313; theatreaspen.org A FeAst oF music AFter-pArty The Cause: Celebrate live music with this Aspen Music Festival and School beneft. AMFS President Alan Fletcher will kick off the evening with a live jam, after which he will invite students and artists to join him onstage. The Details: Monday, August 3, at 6 pm at the Hotel Jerome. 330 E. Main St., 970-925-3254; aspenmusicfestival.com english in Action The Cause: Food Network star Susie Jimenez will present a mélange of her most popular creations during a fundraiser in support of English in Action and its goal of teaching English in the community and fostering intercultural friendships in the Roaring Fork Valley. Details: Wednesday, August 5, at 4:30 pm at Grey Lady. 305 S. Mill St., 970-963-9200; englishinaction.org ArtAspen opening night celebrAtion The Cause: The sixth annual ArtAspen 2015 Opening Night Preview—Aspen Peak's 'Sneak Peak'—is a beneft for the Paepcke Gallery at The Aspen Institute. Attendees will be among the frst to lay eyes on the fair's thousands of works from 30 of the top contemporary art galleries around the country. The Details: Thursday, August 13, at 5 pm at the Aspen Ice Garden. 233 W. Hyman Ave., 970-920-5141; art-aspen.com "young people can have a profound impact on their community when given the tools and support." —mike bezos For the students, such as Michelle Shayevich, a member of the first LA Taft High School team to win the Aspen Challenge in 2013, the program has been about constant evolution and growth. "To this day, I think it was one of the most memo- rable experiences of my life," Shayevich says of attending the Ideas Festival. During that first year, she says, much of the inspiration came from the speakers: former American astronaut Jeffrey Ashby, who discussed what it was like to travel in space; actress Anna Deavere Smith, who explained the challenges of growing up as a minority in a segregated school in the '60s; and Legend, who spoke on the impor- tance of failure and resilience in the achievement of success. Shayevich says they inspired her team to launch an initiative installing community gar- dens in local elementary schools. The plan was so successful that a new school club, Spreading Sprouts, was subsequently founded. Shayevich is president of the club, which has since installed 10 organic gardens in elementary schools across Los Angeles County. But even for those students who don't win the top prize and the chance to present in Aspen, the Challenge still gives them the opportunity to go beyond their communities and share their ideas with other like-minded, hardworking students. Isaacson says all this is just the beginning of a larger initiative in the works at The Aspen Institute. Eventually, he says, the Challenge will be just one arm of multiple programs, offered in partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation, engaging young people in their communities. "I think it's really important to get people work- ing as a team to do projects that make them realize they're going to be innovative, and they're going to be a part of something larger than themselves," he says. The Aspen Ideas Festival, June 25 through July 4, at The Aspen Institute. 1000 N. Third St., 970-544- 7955; aspenideas.org AP 84  aspenpeak-magazine.com PeOPLe spirit of generosity

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