Gary Zeff
After a 27-year career in sales and marketing with Eastman Kodak, Gary accepted an early retirement offer at age 48 and decided to move on to a new venture. Hoping to leave San Diego to find a smaller community, he and wife Nancy explored areas including Seattle, Bellingham and the San Juan Islands, Santa Fe and Ashland, Oregon. Boulder, however, was their first choice.
Gary enjoyed woodworking and woodturning since the 1980s and wanted to continue this endeavor while using his marketing experience to help local artists promote themselves. Researching programs in other cities, he found the Open Studios concept, which began in San Francisco, flourishing in northern California and other cities. After discussing the possibility of starting such a program in Boulder with artists, patrons and local businesses, Gary planned the first event.
“Nobody knew what to expect,” Gary recalls when the first Open Studios premiered in the fall of 1995 with 84 artists opening their private studios to the public for two consecutive weekends. Visitors could meet artists in their own studios and get a behind-the-scenes look at where and how art was created. They could ask artists about their inspirations, learn more about art and watch the creative process come alive!
The non-profit art event was received enthusiastically and achieved overwhelming success. For 15 years this annual Fall event has featured up to 144 artists- painters, weavers, ceramicists, woodworkers, glass blowers, stone sculptors and more. In addition to the thousands who attend, many K-12 art teachers require their students to visit artists and to write a report on their experience. Similar events have started in other local cities, but Open Studios in Boulder remains the largest.
In 2008, Gary added a second annual event, the Open Studios Juried Art Fair, where over 50 Boulder County artists display their work in a street festival environment at the Twenty Ninth Street Mall. This new venture promises to become another premiere art event in Boulder.
After retiring from Open Studios, Gary is volunteering for MESA (Moving to End Sexual Assault) as a phone counselor.
To learn about more about Boulder's 'New Pioneers', check out our previous Award Winners page.
