This year at Green Box Arts Festival, the celebrated Bruce Munro will bring his expansive and colorful light sculpture works to the town of Green Mountain Falls. For thirty years Munro has studied the arts and infused influences from music, literature, and science into his installations. Seen all over the world, Munro’s Field of Lightinstallation, to be housed at Flagpole Park, will arrive at Green Box just in time to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of its conception. This massive celebration of light and natural landscape will feature 3,000 light stands representing the landscape of the Red Desert in central Australia. Munro’s second Green Box installation, Tepees, only its second time to debut in the United States, will feature interactive light combinations that flash so quickly the naked eye will never see the full tepee lit up. Drawing inspiration from the American west, these large fluorescent light tubes formed into tepees will be featured at Mountain Road Corner. 

“Every landscape is different.  But here, it's my first opportunity to create an installation in mountain terrain,” says Bruce Munro. “This area of the Rockies has a protective and intimate feel, very different to the wide open exposed vistas higher up. I hope festival attendees will take a moment and look, watch the landscape and the people. See others’ reactions, smile even. Tepees is an exciting piece. It exists on a different visual plane to Field of Light.  It’s hectic, frenetic even. You might even want to dance! I like that people who come to the Green Box Arts Festival will get to see two works that exist on different ends of the sensory experience to one another.”

Festival-goers will also enjoy the contemporary works performed by Houston’s METdance, led by artistic director Marlana Doyle. METdance will have Green Box Arts audiences leaping to their feet with powerhouse performances, dynamic dancing, and alluring stage presence. From comedy and humor to poignant and dramatic, from fierce athleticism to detailed minimalism, METdance brings to Green Mountain Falls its UNITED IN DANCE! performance. Featuring four works assembled by some of the most active and accomplished choreographers of this generation, UNITED IN DANCE! will take the audience on a thrilling journey filled with poignant emotion, humorous vignettes, and fierce athleticism.

The Green Box Arts Festival is also thrilled to welcome Denver-based jazz and swing band Joe Smith and the Spicy Pickles to the much-anticipated Fourth of July Block Party on Tuesday, July 4. Known for its high energy, quality musicianship and an authentic big band sound, Joe Smith and the Spicy Pickles’ performances will inspire participants of all ages to get up and dance. Their performance will be preceded by a swing dance class at the Green Box Arts Farm Stand.

Throughout the week participants are invited to participate in five ArtDeskConversations, a unique opportunity to sit and engage WITH some of today’s best contemporaries! These dynamic conversations are the best way to hear from the elite in their field and be a fly on the wall as they discuss their creative processes, vision, and impact on their vocation. World-renowned light installation artist Bruce Munro will discuss with art enthusiasts his process and inspiration for his experiential artworks. Celebrated composer Timothy Takach will join Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble’s Deborah Teske to talk about the world-premiere of his new work.  METdance’s Marlana Doyle will connect with Green Box Arts Co-Founder, Larry Keigwin, to converse about what’s new in the world of contemporary dance. Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of the Humane Society of the U.S. will discuss his work with animal rights and his recent New York Times bestseller, The Humane Economy: How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers Are Transforming the Lives of Animals. And, join some of our youngest budding artists from our first-ever Green Box Arts Camp to hear about their experience and takeaways from their art encounters amid the Aspen trees!

Festival attendees will also be excited to hear the best in contemporary music for a wide array of audiences. From bluegrass and swing to compline and symphonic performances, there’s something for everyone to enjoy, including a world-premiere of new music by composer Timothy Takach with the Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble. Green Box favorites are also back with our annual Art Walk, Nature Hike, Square Dance, and Bingo Benefit! Featured classes include sunrise yoga, culinary arts classes, bluegrass master class, astronomy & s’mores, dance clinic, teen photography, and more!

NEW THIS YEAR: Join ARTs14 and Green Box Arts for a 9-day children’s immersive arts experience in beautiful Green Mountain Falls! In partnership with Manitou Springs Arts Academy and Concrete Couch, the Green Box Arts Camp will work in the natural environment to create mixed age-group art installations, inspired by the Green Box Arts Festival’s 2017 featured installation artist, Bruce Munro, as well as printmaking, sculpture, fiber art, bookmaking, photography, and more!

The full schedule of festival events will be posted online June 1 at greenboxarts.org and on the Green Box Arts Facebook page. Most events are free to the public. Online registration is required for many classes and events, and FREE tickets are required for all dance performances at the Sallie Bush Community Building.

History of Green Box Arts Festival
The Green Box Arts Festival was founded in 2009, and is held in Green Mountain Falls each summer. The Festival’s goal is to provide artists and visitors an opportunity to nurture the creative process, and explore new artistic directions in the picturesque small town setting. A selection of past participants includes one of Patrick Dougherty’s famed stick sculptures, Footprint in Green, a musical art installation Musical Swings by Canadian design firm Daily tous les jours, the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony, Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band, Kyle Dillingham and Horseshoe Road, folk band Haunted Wind Chimes, sculptors Ben Roth and Jason Hackenwerth, performances by the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. Additionally, artwork from installation artist Tomás Saraceno, Spencer Finch, sculptor Olafur Eliasson and contemporary sculptor and photographer Kenneth Snelson have been showcased. 

The festival’s foundation was laid in 2006 when Christian Keesee, whose family history with the Pikes Peak area dates back to the 1900s, sponsored an artist-in-residency program with New York-based Larry Keigwin and KEIGWIN + COMPANY. An interest in diversifying and expanding activities quickly grew in the community, which culminated in the formation of the Green Box Arts Festival. Since that time, Keesee and Keigwin have continued their collaboration by forming a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Green Box Arts Project, with a mission to bring dance, installation art, music, and art classes to Green Mountain Falls each summer. Partnerships with the Town of Green Mountain Falls, MSSD 14, Church in the Wildwood, and Ormao Dance Company make the full range of activities possible. 

Green Mountain Falls Access and Area Attractions
At an altitude of 7,800 ft., picturesque Green Mountain Falls is home to various festivals and events year-round. Most notably, however, it is known for the nationally-acclaimed Green Box Arts Festival. Surrounded by Pikes Peak National Forest on three sides, the town is located near popular area attractions including the famous Cave of the Winds, the Cliff Dwellings Museum, Garden of the Gods, Pike’s Peak and the COG railroad. An extremely popular hiking destination, visitors also enjoy fishing, swimming, biking, tennis courts, and ice skating in winter, as well as the town’s unique restaurants, pubs, and shops. Green Mountain Falls is just minutes from the towns of Woodland Park, Chipita Park, Manitou Springs and Cascade.