Forget Skiing—This Summer, Aspen Is All About Art

In winter, Aspen is a monochrome, minimalist paradise—stark volumes and faces carved by time and the trails of avid outdoorsmen. In summer, the technicolor version of Aspen comes to life. It can feel almost dangerous to drive through so much beauty held in place by hairpin turns. It’s no wonder visionary businessman and longtime resident Walter Paepcke felt compelled to plant the seeds of culture in this dramatic landscape, founding the Aspen Music Festival and the Aspen Institute in the 1940s.

The area’s extreme nature has always attracted artists and independents, who make pilgrimages here in search of respite and higher learning—drawn by institutions like the ones Paepcke helped establish. Their passage to this far-flung Eden is enabled by the region’s long-standing commitment to arts patronage and its quiet, vast pockets of wealth. The same people who seek out radical landscapes apparently prefer their art the same way. And this summer, there’s more than ever on offer to meet that appetite. Here are a few highlights from the high season.

The Debut of AIR

The Aspen Art Museum has long set the tone for contemporary art in the region, presenting internationally recognized solo shows and site-specific commissions. This year, under the leadership of the Nancy and Bob Magoon artistic director and CEO Nicola Lees, the museum launched AIR: a multiday, interdisciplinary festival and artist retreat timed with the museum’s annual ArtCrush gala.

“AIR is a direct response to what artists have told us they need most: time, space, and resources for research and collaboration,” says Lees. “This is a 10-year initiative that will cultivate new thinking and work created by a multidisciplinary community that otherwise might not be in the same town or room together. It continues Aspen’s legacy as a site of experimental gatherings that ripple beyond the valley.”

This inaugural edition channels that spirit of experimentation, with a standout lineup of talks and performances. Expect keynotes by iconoclasts like Werner Herzog and Maya Lin, and landmark presentations by artists including Jota Mombaça and Matthew Barney.

The Return of the Aspen Art Fair

As the global art world reconsiders the scale and sustainability of its mega-fair circuit, regionally attuned events like the Aspen Art Fair offer a compelling alternative. Following a successful debut last year, the fair returns this summer with a modestly expanded roster and an emphasis on intimacy and access.

Staged in the historic Hotel Jerome, the fair brings together about 40 exhibitors—from blue-chip heavyweights like Marianne Boesky Gallery to next-gen spaces like Fernberger. With its manageable footprint and focus on galleries that maintain meaningful ties to the area, the Aspen Art Fair presents a tightly curated mix of accessible and high-end works that complement the region’s taste for the bold and beautiful. In true Aspen fashion, the fair also makes time for fun: think artist-led hikes, private collection tours, and programming that blends seamlessly into the rhythms of a summer retreat.

Summer Sessions at Anderson Ranch Arts Center

Just down the road in Snowmass, Anderson Ranch continues its second season of its dynamic Summer Sessions, produced in collaboration with Cultured Magazine founder Sarah Harrelson. Drawing on the Ranch’s deep ties to the creative community, this conversation series pairs headline-making artists, writers, and thinkers for intimate, often surprising dialogues.

This week’s pairing is one to watch: Johanna Fateman, musician, writer, and critic, joins painter-slash-pop musician Issy Wood. Both are sharp, genre-bending, and refreshingly unfiltered—expect a conversation that pushes far beyond small talk and into something more electric.

The Sculptures of Carroll Dunham

The rolling hills and ranch-size lawns of Aspen call out for ornamentation, and there is a rich history of heeding this call on both the private and public fronts. Carroll Dunham steps into this lineage with a solo presentation of five new sculptures at Baldwin Gallery. The show’s self-descriptive title, Five Sculptures, harkens back to the exhibition history it conjures—the days of Donald Judd and Richard Serra and the Castelli tower. Pulling gestures and passages from Dunham’s well-established visual vocabulary, these sculptures offer a new way for the New York-based artists to interact with the fields in which they roam.