Friday night, the Arts Council opened a new exhibit "The Mask Show." It was attended by lots of art lovers, a chance to chat and snack.

This show will run through November, followed by a Members' Show. If you are a member of the Arts Council, bring your work down and you can be in the last show of the year. Then Saturday, Jim and I drove up Echo Basin road into the San Juan Forest. It seemed everyone was up there to enjoy the spectacular fall colors - bicyclists, hikers and people with dogs. All had cameras to capture the colors, even the hounds. Then on Sunday night, the first annual Community Pot Luck sponsored by the Grange and the town of Mancos. The plan was to line Grand Avenue with tables, but the wind moved inside to the Cultural Center. The food overflowed, the folks sat and ate, and the kids were busy with art and games. What a wonderful weekend indeed!

Cortez Cultural Center

From Oct. 6-25, Tom Walters "Wacky Zoo" will be on display at the Gallery. Tom creates with found objects and bits of metal. Fun and whimsical! Don't forget that Life Drawing classes continue on Thursday nights - this is a do-it-yourself event.

Re-Excavating the Past: New Work with Ancient Textiles, Baskets, Wood, and Hides from Southeastern Utah, On Wednesday night, Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m. at the Cortez Cultural Center, you don't want to miss this fascinating slide presentation and information by archaeologist Dr. Laurie Webster. Four years ago, Dr. Webster began documenting the textiles, baskets, hides and wooden artifacts excavated by early collectors from cliff dwellings and rock shelters in Grand Gulch and other drainages in southeastern Utah during the 1890s. Her research builds upon the work of the Wetherill-Grand Gulch Project which traced the museum locations of most of these collections and compiled their field documentation.

In this fascinating presentation, Webster will discuss her 2014 work and will be showing a slide presentation of some of these amazing textiles, baskets, hides, feathers, wood and other perishable artifacts in these little-known collections and their journey from alcoves in SE Utah to the current museum repositories.

Rim to Ruins art show

Mesa Verde Foundation 2nd annual art exhibition and sale will feature works of art from 31 nationally recognized Western artists. In May, these artists gathered at Mesa Verde NP for three days of painting throughout the park and within the ruins. The exhibition and sale will be at the Wildlife Experience Museum in Denver on Nov. 5 this year. Rims to Ruins will add two new features this year with sculpture and a "Small Walls." The works of art range from the ruins of the Ancestral Puebloans to the spectacular Southwestern landscapes capturing the magic and grandeur of the park. Proceeds will go to the Mesa Verde Foundation and Mesa Verde NP.

Happenings in Durango

An Enduring Wilderness Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act An annual non-juried DAC members exhibition Oct. 24-Nov. 15, 2014 Opening reception: Friday, Oct. 24, 5-7 p.m. Illuminating the splendor and the grandeur, the fragility, the vulnerability, the overwhelming magnificence of our natural world. The ArtWalk on Thursday nights closes out the season in October this Thursday.

At the library

On Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014, at 6 p.m. Mancos Public Library presents the film, "GMO OMG." A community discussion will follow the film and information about the Mancos Seed Library, Right to Know Colorado, and Prop 105 will be available. Snacks from Zuma Natural Foods will be provided.

"GMO OMG" follows director and concerned father Jeremy Seifert as he searches for answers to questions such as: How do GMOs affect our children, the health of our planet, and our freedom of choice? And is it even possible to reject the food system currently in place, or have we lost something we can't gain back?

Performing arts in farmington

Get a glimpse of the lives of three legendary Latin American Women: Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, Salvadoran peasant activist Rufina Amaya and Agentinian poet Alfonsina Storni. The show features a wide stylistic range of music, including popular and folk songs of Mexico, El Salvador and Argentina with vocal and instrumental tangos accompanying powerful storylines. It plays on October 18th at the Little Theater at San Juan College. Sounds interesting.

All contributions to the column are most appreciated. Send them to my email dhlaw4367@gmail.com See ya soon.