#5WomenArtists & Women’s History Month
Can you name five women artists?
Since 2016, the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) has been asking this question on social media each March during Women’s History Month. Using the hashtag #5WomenArtists, the campaign calls attention to the fact that women have not been treated equally in the art world, and today they remain dramatically underrepresented and undervalued in museums, galleries, and auction houses.
Each year, hundreds of cultural organizations and thousands of individuals take to social media to answer the challenge, sparking a global conversation about gender equity in the arts. For this year’s campaign, the Colorado Snowsports Museum continues to shine a light on female artists that have a connection to the snow sports industry, the mountains, and Colorado. For 2022, we’ll be celebrating ten female artists - in hopes of doubling awareness.
Artists Madeline Artac and Portia Wassick Collaborate with Melanin Mountain Project
Logo art designed by Portia Wassick.
Melanin Mountain Project is a grassroots organization dedicated to implementing and instilling core values and action within the Gunnison Valley of inclusion and equity through existing systems, community traditions, entertainment, and outdoor spaces for people of color.
Melanin Mountain Project has to create a positive social framework to support Black community members in Crested Butte with respect and understanding of their unique, individual culture and complex social, economic, and political circumstances. By fostering education, outreach, and understanding in the Crested Butte Community and Gunnison Valley the Melanin Mountain Project seeks to raise collective cultural awareness of the Black experience and increase Black Cultural Literacy of our community members so that our Black Community members may understand themselves to be valued individuals in our community’s eyes. It is by fostering a culture of empathy and cultural literacy that the Melanin Mountain Projects seeks to create a community open to POC, their unique perspectives, and industries. It is not the goal of the Melanin Mountain Project simply to “bring Black visitors to Crested Butte” but rather to foster a community in which Black visitors feel valid, understood, and valued. The Melanin Mountain Project seeks to bring Black roots in the alpine where the Black Community can flourish.
During this snow sports season, Chloe Smith (Melanin Mountain Project) worked with artists Portia Wassick and Madeline Artac to create a pair of leather mittens, sporting the Melanin Mountain logo. Portia designed the logo and Madeline hand painted the logo on the mittens.
The CSM chose to feature these mittens because, not only are they aesthetically pleasing artistically, but they also speak to larger issues of inclusion, accessibility, and historically underrepresented communities in Colorado’s mountain towns and beyond. These three women worked together to make art that integrates the outdoor space and the celebration of diversity – creating an opportunity to embrace differences in representation.
Madeline Artac, the woman behind the mittens, is a self-taught artist living in Crested Butte, Colorado. Madeline specializes in customizing clothing and accessories with acrylic paint, she is especially proud of her work on leather mittens. Madeline has also begun live painting at events and weddings in her valley. She is inspired by the scenery and creatures that thrive in the mountains around her. She enjoys making her art fun, playful and full of color. Madeline is working to expand her art business and make this her full time work. To work with Madeline, send her a DM or email her at maddy@madworldmagic.com.
Anna Tedstrom of Hoohah
As most of our patrons know, we are all about preserving and displaying snow sports fashion and believe that fashion is one of the best expressions of art because it is living art. This appreciation led us to Hoohah, a vintage inspired and up-cycled outdoor apparel company out of the Vail-Beaver Creek area.
Anna Tedstrom, the Founder and CEO, explains: “Skiing is seen as an intense or competitive sport that many women are uncomfortable participating in. I grew up in Edwards, Colorado and learned to ski as soon as I could walk. For me, skiing is an enrichment activity. A full day outside with friends enjoying the mountain views, sharing stories on the chairlift, and building confidence on new terrain.”
Anna studied product design at Parsons School of Design in NYC with an emphasis on soft goods and technical apparel so she could learn how to make better gear. While in New York, she fell in love with vintage shopping and started tailoring and fixing garments she would find. Anna started exclusively wearing vintage ski suits because she realized her outfit changed the mood of the entire day. It felt less intense, sillier and more carefree. One day, Anna came across a vintage ski set in emerald green and decided she could jazz it up by adding large flower patches all over the legs. She wore it skiing and people kept stopping her to ask where she got her outfit and if they could order a custom suit for themself.
The mission at Hoohah is to make skiing more approachable and appealing to more people by making colorful, fun ski apparel that you want to show off in. Hoohah aims to make you feel confident and inspired to get outside and just have a good time.
Rashelle Stetman Collaborates with Icelantic Skis and the 10th Mountain Division Foundation
Rashelle Stetman is a full-time Fine Artist//Commission Artist. While building her career in the fine art world, she creates custom pieces for private and commercial clients worldwide. She graduated from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in 2014 with a BA in Fine Arts/Painting.
Rashelle specializes in creating custom pet portraits, hand illustrated logos, tattoo designs, and western art. While mainly working in dry medias like color pencils, graphite and pen, she also paints in oils and watercolors.
Rashelle’s work caught our eye at the Colorado Snowsports Museum when she worked with Icelantic Skis, out of Golden, Colorado, to create a pair of Limited-Edition Nomad 105 skis that pay tribute to the iconic 10th Mountain Division. Using Icelantic’s most popular shape, this ski has all the qualities people love with the regular Nomad 105. The skis feature a 10th Mountain graphic designed by Rashelle Stetman, showing the mountain trooper holding skis, in arctic camouflage.
The Colorado Snowsports Museum proudly displays these skis and enjoys the conversations they spark when visitors come into the Museum.
You can purchase these skis HERE.
Photo Credit: Holly Cole
Meet Six Women with the Vail Valley Art Guild: Tara Novak, Melissa Nelson, Margo Thomas, Lynn Feiger, Joann Levy, & Beth Levine
The Vail Valley Art Guild VVAG is dedicated to enriching lives by fostering and promoting artistic growth and building awareness of the visual arts in Eagle County. Their members share a common tie to both the visual arts and the snow sports industry. Their desire is to serve the Vail Valley guests and community through outdoor and visual experiences and their personal art reflects the passion they have discovered living in this Valley and enjoying the mountains. Below, we’d like to shine a spotlight on six women and their mountain inspired work.
Tara Novak
“My abstract paintings depict the textures and ever-changing colors in the mountains and waterways of Mother Nature’s landscapes”
Tara Austin Novak has been a resident of the Vail Valley since 1994, when she moved here to teach snowboarding and enjoy the mountain town lifestyle. She quickly began entering amateur slopestyle and halfpipe competitions and did quite well as a female in a very “new to the scene” sport. Within another season Tara started picking up sponsors and entering pro series competitions, traveling around the resorts of the US and Australia. Being a full-time private instructor at Beaver Creek, training for comps, and traveling to competitions was Tara’s world for several years. She loved the adventure and camaraderie being involved in the snowboard and ski community, helping grow her beloved sport, that has not always been well received.
Once the injuries became too cumbersome, Tara went back to her roots of art and design. Wanting to stay in the Vail Valley, she built a business of furniture restoration, hand finished wall designs, and custom artwork, working in the booming housing construction business of the early 2000s. With a successful business and a growing family, Tara made her long-term home in the Eagle County, raising her kiddos on skis and snowboards and continuing to adventure on our mountain slopes and trails, while also expanding her business into the fine art realm.
Tara has many fine art pieces hung in homes and business locations throughout the Valley. She has had ARTSPaCE workshop+gallery for seven years now, where she has her own studio and also consigns for several other local artists. This project led her to start ARTwalk on Broadway events, bringing artists, businesses, and community together for over three years. This past year, she was awarded “Best Artist” and “Best Gallery” in the Vail Daily’s annual Reader’s Choice awards. Be sure to check out the six decoratively adorned benches Tara painted in Avon…One of them has a silhouette of a snowboarder catching air…just like she used to!
Melissa Nelson
With an Art History minor in college, Melissa Nelson embarked on a career as a writer and editor, followed by 15 years in Finance, then by 20 years as Executive Director of several nonprofit organizations. During all these unlikely careers she took art classes at night or on weekends at the Denver Art Museum, Metro State College, and the Art Students League of Denver.
Finally retiring in 2014, she was able to join the fledgling Vail Valley Art Guild’s workshops and began painting and drawing with many talented (and becoming talented!) local artists. The Guild gave her the opportunity to show her work in four galleries, all Eagle County libraries, and at Colorado Mountain College in their annual juried fine art show.
While working full time as Executive Director of the Eagle River Watershed Council, Melissa spent three years as a ski instructor at Beaver Creek. The Board decided to give her a “health benefit” which was a ski pass so she could resign from teaching and devote more time to research, education, and projects within Eagle County’s rivers and streams. Key to our rivers’ health is the snowpack and, while not a recognized sport, snowmobiling to our reservoirs in mid-winter and monitoring water quality and fish health in barely melted snowy rivers sure felt like some kind of a wonderful outdoor sport to Melissa. After retiring from the Watershed Council in 2014, she joined the newly formed Vail Valley Art Guild.
Margo Thomas
Margo Thomas began her art career about 20 years ago, studying human figure and contour drawing at the Art Students League of Denver. In the last five years, she has focused on abstract landscapes, reflecting on the beauty of Eagle County. Her works blend acrylics, oils, digital, mixed media, alcohol ink, and shou sugi ban on wood, canvas, and paper.
Recently she's painted outdoor electrical boxes, has works placed in local galleries, and has won awards at juried art shows. She hopes her art provides harmony, balance, and joy to all.
Margo first arrived in our Valley in 1982, barely knowing how to ski! Over the years she has become a passionate skier, holding various positions with Vail Resorts, most recently a ski instructor at Beaver Creek. Back in the 1980s she created one of the first computer applications for capturing World Cup race results to broadcast real-time in the Lodge at Vail’s international media room. Those were the days when Gerald Ford would stop by the command center to thank everyone for their hard work.
Her commitment to our Valley continues by serving our guests and community through outdoor and visual experiences.
Lynn Feiger
Lynn Feiger has a series of paintings based on ski maps and another on skiing creatures. Skiing has been important to her for most of her life and her love of the mountains -- the physical freedom one experiences in skiing has been a central theme for Lynn in much of her art as well.
Joann Levy
Joann Levy is a long-time Vail resident originally from western New York where she learned to ski at age 5 in Vermont and in the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec. Although she does her fair share of abstracts her first love is painting Plein Air - where she paints what is front of her; mountains, rivers, streams, ranches in Eagle County. She is particularly attracted to what is disappearing from our Valley and capturing this change. She spearheaded a two year Ranch Project for the Vail Valley Art Guild where painters and photographers visually documented 16 Eagle County ranches; ranches that are disappearing from our Valley. This season, her intention is to concentrate on water. Joann’s favorite art mediums are oil and pastel.
She co-founded the Vail Valley Art Guild in 2014 with the intent of uniting the artists within our Valley and giving them a place to exhibit their art, offer advanced instruction, and outreach to the community in the visual arts. Joann has been in retail management in the ski industry for 30 years and presently is a retail consultant for Pepi Sports. She orchestrated the Crystal Ski Ball, now the Black Diamond Ball with Sheika Gramshammer for 18 years; proceeds that helped bring the World Cup Races to Vail while also benefiting Ski Club Vail and the US Ski Team.
Beth Levine
Beth Levine has lived in Eagle County for 35 years and has enjoyed the Colorado outdoors and snow sports. She chose to paint local athletes, images of the 10th Mountain Division troops, and our great surroundings in the Vail Valley.
As part of her portfolio, Beth has done a series of four images that represent the 10th Mountain Division. She had an opportunity to interview Sandy Treat, World War II 10th Mountain Veteran and Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame inductee, and, as seen in the series above, the soldier depicted is Sandy. She talked with him to better understand what he thought were the most important images from the 10th Mountain troops.
In addition, she has painted a number of the local Olympians and did a series of four images with the letters “VAIL” for a poster – both can be seen above as well.
More About the National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. With its collections, exhibitions, programs, and online content, the museum inspires dynamic exchanges about art and ideas. NMWA advocates for better representation of women artists and serves as a vital center for thought leadership, community engagement, and social change. NMWA is located in Washington, DC.
Although our mission at the Colorado Snowsports Museum might differ from NMWA, we share the common goal of celebrating stories that inspire and educate – including those of women. Through the lens of snow sports, we hope these stories were able to inspire you to seek your own adventure.
About the Colorado Snowsports Museum and Hall of Fame
Founded in 1975 and located in Vail, Colorado, our mission is to celebrate Colorado snow sports by telling stories that educate and inspire others to seek adventure. The priceless artifacts we collect and display tell the story of the birth, rise and explosion of skiing and snowboarding in Colorado. The Museum features displays including “Climb to Glory” about the 10th Mountain Division, “Vail’s DNA,” The Colorado Snowboard Archive, and The Colorado Snowsports Hall of Fame, among many others. Learn more and consider supporting the Museum by becoming a member: https://www.snowsportsmuseum.org.