Solar Oven Workshop

Solar Design Principles applied to making a solar oven.

For this evening workshop, Jeff Graeff, solar expert, will provide an overview of introductory solar principles. We will apply these principles to making a solar oven that you can take home with you.

Thursday, July 16, 6:30-9:30 pm at 6481 N 63rd St.
Call Zia at 303-530-1415 to register and for a materials list.

Jeff Graef lives in Denver, CO and is an avid Permaculture practitioner and designer. His business, Earth Rebirth, provides educational services, consulting and design in Permaculture. Jeff ran a solar design and energy education business for seven years, is a Journeyman Carpenter and worked in the biofuels and biomass energy fields for 15 years. He is experienced in food preservation and storage and gardening in a variety of climates. Jeff is a certified Permaculture Teacher and has completed the Basic and Advanced Permaculture courses, has a BA in Solar Design and Energy Education and an MS in Higher Education.

Offered through Willow Way Wellness 2009 PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE & WORKSHOPS.

LocalFest: Creating Sustainable Community - A Public Forum and Business Expo

DATE: Saturday, July11
TIME: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
LOCATION: Boulder County Courthouse lawn, and "on the bricks" of Pearl Street Mall; 1300 Pearl Street and Courthouse Plaza.

Come meet your community; check out the exhibits from Boulder's local independent business owners; attend the panel discussions; listen to music; meet your neighbors and learn how all of us together make Boulder County a great place to call home.

This is a Free Event!

Exhibits open at 10:00am. Join Boulder's local independent business owners as they present their contributions to the Boulder County community.

The Public Forum features five panel discussions on community sustainability, from 12:00 noon through 5:00 pm. Each panel of local experts leads a discussion of how we can keep Boulder County an economically vital, thriving community, even in the face of difficult times.

Hear from Brock Publishing, Boulder Weekly, KGNU, and Elephant Journal as they present "Local Media: Our Window to the World; Why Independence Matters"

Other Sustainable Living Panels include

Local Business: Foundation of a Resilient Community
Panelists: Wonderland Hills Development Company, Boulder Outlook Hotel, Namaste Solar, Boulder Community Hospital, McGuckin Hardware

Local Money: Redefining Wealth; Investing in Community Prosperity
Panelists: Boulder County Treasurer's Office, Author Joel Magnuson, CU Professor Marty Walter, Boulder Valley Credit Union, Community Foundation, Inspire Commerce

Local Food: How Local Can We Eat
Panelists: Transition Boulder County, Boulder County Farmers' Market, The Kitchen Restaurant, Red Wagon Organic Farm 

Local Transportation and Energy Sustainability; Life Beyond Fossil Fuels
Panelists: GO Boulder, Astralux Power Systems, Community Cycles

Free Tunes!

Boulder Creek Events, the Niwot Business Association and Bank of the West bring you Rhythm on the Rails from June 11-Sept. 10, with shows every Thursday at 6 pm at Whistle Stop Park in Niwot (located at Murray Street and Second Avenue just off the Diagonal Highway). The concert series includes performers such as the Rebecca Folsom Band, Danny Shafer & The Unknown Americans, the Strolling Scones and the Erica Brown Band. 303-449-3137.

Enjoy popular numbers at Twenty Ninth Street LIVE, a free concert hosted every Saturday at the Twenty Ninth Street shopping district from June 20-Aug. 8. The mall’s main drag becomes pedestrian-only as live music plays from 6-10pm. You’re surrounded by great eateries, plus a beer garden.

For the 12th summer, the 1300 block of downtown Pearl Street is the grooviest place in town every Wednesday evening from June 10-Aug. 12. Funkiphino kicks off the free concert series Bands on the Bricks, which showcases 10 bands playing dance delights from the Beatles to ’80s to Motown. Savor the sunset to music that lasts from 7-9pm. 303-449-3774.

Round out your dancing schedule at Millennium Harvest House’s Friday Afternoon Club Rockin the Gardens. The family-friendly event fills the lavish gardens every Friday through Aug. 28, from 5:30-9:30 p.m. In addition to free music in many genres—such as contemporary country band Raising Cain, bluegrass group Blue Canyon Boys, and ’50s “doo wop” Rolling Tones—you can enjoy mechanical-bull rides, magic shows and face painting. Even your dog is welcome at the garden’s new Yappy Hour. The hotel is located at 1345 28th St. 303 443-3850.

Pictured: The Indulgers perform at Twenty Ninth Street LIVE on July 11. Gorgeous celtic rock not to be missed!

Find more summer music events on the GetBoulder.com website.

Review: 3rd Law Dance/Theater’s “Till We Wake”

Quick — reread T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” (1917) and run over to the Dairy Center for the Arts for 3rd Law Dance/Theater’s “Till We Wake,” a new work co-produced with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. While the complex, evening-length dance, spoken-word and audiovisual piece is not easy to understand, it’s a feast for the ears, the eyes and the mind. CSF Producing Artistic Director Philip C. Sneed speaks the entire poem as Eliot wrote it, but in a “deconstructed ... improvisational and free manner.” At one point, for example, he utters the passage “... I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be ... “ four times in a row with four different intonations. Choreographic highlights include a duet danced on tabletops, clocklike movements that underscore the poem’s many references to time, and repeated appearances of the coffee cups and spoons with which Prufrock has “measured out [his] existence.” A large screen at the back of the stage speeds us through a century of sobering historical milestones, from Queen Victoria’s funeral cortege and the Russian Revolution to the stock market crash of 1929 and the presidency of George W. Bush. Early 20th-century costumes are by CSF Costume Designer Clare Henkel. 3rd Law’s artistic directors are Katie Elliott (who also takes a prominent role as a dancer in this work) and Jim LaVita.

8pm at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., May 8 & 9. For tickets, come to the box office one hour before curtain time, call 303-444-7328, or visit thedairy.org.
—Mary Jarrett

Create Inside The Box

The new art exhibit at CU's University Memorial Center Art Gallery invites visitors to think outside the box by creating INSIDE the box...the Big White Box.

"Painting the Big White Box," a community art project, asks visitors to contribute to this living exhibit by bringing in their artwork to hang, or making art directly on the walls. The exhibit so far is filled with everything from photographs to pottery to sculptures–and there's room for more!

Visit the gallery to enjoy the constantly-changing display or to contribute your own art (some supplies are provided). The exhibit runs through May 1 at UMC Art Gallery, Room 225, University Memorial Center, University of Colorado campus, 10:30am-5:30pm Monday-Friday. Event details. The opening reception is April 9 from 4:30-6:30pm. (Photo by Marty Caivano)

Hidden Treasures

There are many places around Boulder County to find hidden treasures and uncommon art. Logan's Cafe at 3980 Broadway St. in North Boulder comes to mind. You're always sure to find something interesting, quirky or simply beautiful adorning the walls.

Saxy's Cafe at 2018 10th St. in downtown Boulder also offers everything from stark black and white photography to retro '60s hippie art. It's a comfortable, eclectic hang, where fun art complements the wood-and-marble, chandelier-and-rough-hewn-brick decor.

One little known treasure is the gallery at Boulder Shambhala Center, 1345 Spruce St. in downtown Boulder. BSC features paintings, photographs and mixed-media art usually created by members of the Shambhala meditation community. This Friday, April 10, BSC opens a new exhibit of photographs of India taken by local Boulder artist Julia King. The twenty-something, world-traveled King has an eye for the quirky and creative, and her photos are sure to capture the imagination. Art opening and reception is from 6-8pm.

Know of other great out-of-way places to see uncommon art? Comment below!

Visit our website for a complete listing of shows and exhibits at Boulder County Galleries and Boulder County Museums through May 31.