Carbondale Creative District

09/01/2026

Join us for First Friday this week, in the heart of downtown, 5-8pm. September First Friday's lineup features extended hours and special events at local shops, galleries, and restaurants, plus live music by Mountain Jam, activities with community booths, food trucks, the Bonedale Flea Market and more!

🛍 Bonedale Flea Market | 4th Street | 4:30-8:30pm

🖼 Exhibitions "Tiny Print Showcase" and "You Don’t Have To Be Perfect, But You Could Try Harder" | Carbondale Arts | 5-7pm

🎶 Mountain Jam plays live | Chacos Park, 4th St Plaza | 5:30-8:30pm

🚒 🎧 Live DJ set with the Sunfire Ranch’s Fire Truck | Main & 2nd St | 5-8pm

🎵🍪 Live music by Harley Ellis and Youthentity Bake Sale | Mountain Tide Provisions | 5-8pm

🎨 Live painting of musicians | Kahhak Gallery | 6-9pm

🎶 🎻 Live music with Hell Roaring String Bands | Townline Trucks | 7-9pm

🎶 😎Live music on the patio with the Wowzers | Carbondale Beer Works | 8-11pm

🛑 Main Street is closed to thru traffic from Weant Blvd to 2nd Street. 2nd and 3rd Streets will remain open for cross traffic.

➡Full details at carbondalearts.com

08/21/2026

Craig Wheeless of Rainy Day Designs has played a significant role in shaping the visual identity of the Roaring Fork Valley. Through his work creating and developing brands for countless businesses, organizations, individuals, and schools, Craig has helped give the valley a visual language all its own. It’s only fitting to recognize him as someone who has quite literally left his mark on how this place sees — and presents — itself.

"We live in a small town, and we look out for each other. We genuinely care more about the collective than the individual. That's really the core of good design — people. Everything we do comes back to people. And because we're always changing as people, the work has to keep evolving with us, always circling back to what people actually need.

I honestly couldn't tell you what's coming next. But I know this: artists and creatives will be right up front, leading the way, making sure we're taking care of each other along the way."

Read Craig's interview here: https://www.carbondalearts.com/featured-creatives/building-visual-identity

06/29/2026

Kick off Independence Day weekend this week during July First Friday (7/3) from 5 to 9pm in the heart of the Carbondale Creative District! Check out what's happening below 👇 and remember that Main Street is closed to thru traffic from 5-9pm from Weant Blvd to 2nd Street, with 3rd Street open for cross traffic!

🎵 Busking with Bridger Langfur & Jeny Bets | Promenade, 5-9pm

🪑 First look at the Basalt Collection, a new furniture & live music by Hanna von Bernthal | Mountain Tide, 5-8pm

🎨 Live music and painting demonstrations | Kahhak Gallery, 5-8pm

🏔️ Mt Sopris Music Festival with The Jazzmonauts, The Incomparable Dan Sheridan, & Stray Grass | Chacos Park, 5-9pm

☕️ Carbondale Clay Center Reception of Clay National XVIV: Heirlooms | Main Street Gallery, 6-8pm

🎉 Exhibition closing party for Visceral Alchemy | Carbondale Arts, 5-7pm

🍧 Shaved Ice & Friendship bracelets making station | Nido Boutique, 5-8pm

🍦 Free ice cream cone with each burger order | Fatbelly Burger, 5-9pm

👯‍♂️ Street Dance Party with KDNK & Dance Initiative | Main & 2nd St, 5-8pm

🎸Live music by Stage Coach Rush | Townline Trucks, 5:30-10:30pm

06/22/2026

This month's featured creative is local multidisciplinary artist Matt Hays . Matt is in the midst of renaissance of sorts, or an excelled trajectory of his artistic journey. His recent projects include teaching and mentoring with The Art Base, completing the design for this year’s Strawberry Days, an installation at TRTC, a massive co-curated exhibition and mini tattoo convention with Carbondale Arts, an upcoming public art project with Town of Carbondale, all in addition to a busy career as a tattooer. With his diverse skill set and enthusiasm, he’s adopted the motto “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop”.

"When I first started making art I just wanted to make cool stuff. As I’ve aged and matured, both in life and in my practice, I’ve come to realize that art can be something so much more than purely aesthetics. It can be a mirror to be held up to society or a way to express things we may not have an adequate vocabulary for."

"Artistic collaboration with different groups and organizations is fairly new to me. It’s something that I’ve really only become involved in over the last three years and what I've been learning is that art, when practiced with community in mind, has the ability to strengthen, enrich and grow the community in a way that removes boundaries. It can unite people regardless of race, age, gender, orientation, etc. and bring them together under a common thread. When artists get together to create something, amazing things can happen for the community."

Read Matt's full interview here: https://www.carbondalearts.com/featured-creatives/matt-hays-cant-stop-wont-stop

06/01/2026

This week is June's First Friday | LOCAL PRIDE, in the heart of the Carbondale Creative District! Enjoy extended hours and special events at local shops, galleries, and restaurants. Plus a 🏳️‍🌈 Pride Parade, 🎶 live music, 🍔 food trucks, 🎨 street activities, and 🎯 games with community booths. June 5, 5-8pm.

Here's the deets:
🌈 👨‍🎤 Local Pride Street Party & Live Music by Emotional Rescue | Main & Snowmass 5:30-8:30pm
🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Carbondale Pride Parade | Main & Weant | Line Up, 6pm & Parade, 6:30pm
🌱🚙 CLEER hosts an EV Ride & Drive | Carbondale Town Hall, 4-8pm
🏳️‍🌈🍹 Pride drink specials, Surfside giveaway, and live music | Carbondale Tavern, 4-6pm
🌈 👯 Two-Part Drag Show with Roaring Fork Divas | Sprazzo, 4:45pm ; Beerworks, 5:30pm
🌈 🪩 KDNK Volunteer DJ Spin Live | Main & Weant Blvd, 5-8pm
🎉 🍩 One-year Anniversary Party with Aspen Mini Donuts, special tastings, and live music | Mountain Tide Provisions Co., 5-8pm
💜 🍻 Member Appreciation Party & Gallery Exhibition Visceral Alchemy (with live tattooing) | Carbondale Arts, 5-7pm
🏳️‍🌈 💜 Rainbow friendship bracelet creation station, photo booth, & Human Rights Campaign benefit | Nido Boutique, 5-8pm
🕺💃 Street Line Dance & Jam with Dance Initiative | Main St., 5-8pm
🎉 🍸 Viva Marble Anniversary Party with live music, dance, paella and a streetside mechanical bull | Marble Distilling, 5-10pm
🏳️‍🌈 🌮 Pride Patio Party with live music and fantastic food trucks | Townline Trucks, 5-10pm
🥂 Reception of Pairings | Carbondale Clay Center, 6-8pm
🏳️‍🌈🕺 Pride Parade After Party with live DJs | Beerworks, 6-10pm
🎸🎶 Live music by Brooklyn-based band Mojohand | Steves Guitars, 8pm
🎨 Art Around Town | Self-Guided Sculpture Tour

🛑 Main Street is closed to thru traffic from Weant Blvd to Snowmass Ave. 2nd and 3rd Streets will remain open for cross traffic.

Full details or sign up to volunteer at https://www.carbondalearts.com/upcoming-events/june-first-fridayhttps://www.carbondalearts.com/upcoming-events/june-first-friday

05/27/2026

Most of us have frequented "Carbondale's Living Room" also known as Carbondale Beer Works , who also just celebrated a decade of serving the community. As this month's District feature, we hear from owner Patrice Fuller on gained insights and highlights of business ownership.

"I always knew that when I owned my own business I would use my platform to help others. Being open to using my business to help others makes people feel comfortable asking me. It's easy to write a check, but I prefer hosting an event to help. That way you can hear the story of the person or group needing assistance. Everyone feels more connected to and involved in the process."

Read the full interview here: https://www.carbondalearts.com/featured-creatives/serving-community-for-a-decade

05/19/2026

Farewell 2025 sculptures, the new rotation has started getting installed! The Town of Carbondale Public Art Commission's annual "Art Around Town" Art Walk & Artist Reception is coming up on Thursday, June 4th, 5:30-7:00pm.

The Art Walk begins at Town Hall. The walking tour to the new 15 sculptures, located along the Rio Grande Trail as well as Main Street, will be newly displayed with many of the artists in attendance to highlight their work. An artist reception follows at 7:00pm at Marble Distillery.

05/18/2026

Keep your eye out for the new sculptures!

The first sculpture of Carbondale’s 2026 Art Around Town Artwalk was installed Wednesday at the intersection of Fourth and Main streets, marking the beginning of over a dozen new installations scheduled for the next month. ...

05/11/2026

On display through the end of June, check out new paintings by artist Robert Burch at Bonfire Coffee in Carbondale, a rotating art program partnership with Carbondale Arts

Robert Burch [b. 1991] is an experimental artist unbound by medium or physical location. He creates wherever he is; the mountains of Colorado, New York City, Asheville, Barcelona etc. As a life-long skateboarder and creative, he is an engaged participant in counter cultural worldviews and artistic practices. His work is rooted in analog processes however, Robert completed a degree in graphic design [School of Visual Arts, NYC, 2022] and has since combined motifs developed across mediums to carve out a style and voice for himself. He has lived in Carbondale off and on since 2007, and has probably consumed over 1000 Dos burritos.

Learn more about Robert at RobertGBurch.com.

04/27/2026

Dance Initiative brought back Folklórico dance classes to the Roaring Fork Valley this month after the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet ended the longstanding program. Now, some of its old students are stepping up as the next generation of teachers.