As some of you may know, my name is Jordan Cleek, and I am the newest member of the Mixx Team. I'm kicking off our new blog with a brief overview of our February Art Walk. The show opening for 'Field of Vision' was complete with a meet and greet with the artist, Meredith Nemirov, cheese and wine, and a great turnout.

It is funny how things that feel as if they will never be normal again somehow click and start being normal again. Here at MiXX, we hosted our first tried and true Art Walk post-COVID this month. It was an evening that I was a little apprehensive about, but once the event started, it all just clicked.

The show itself is a miniature retrospective of Meredith Nemirov's work from 2006-2023. As a plein air artist based in Ridgway, Colorado, much of her work features the splendor of the Colorado landscape. As one visitor exclaimed on stepping into the gallery, "Oh wow! I feel like I am hiking on the Weibe right now!" I think that statement may be the most astute observation I have heard on the show; Meredith's ability to capture the Colorado palette and the feelings of each season really does transport you into an aspen grove. 

One of the series featured in the show is a collection of painted snapshots illustrating what the artist could see just by looking out of her studio windows. To me, this captured the feelings of my period of hermitude during the days of COVID quarantine. There were many days when I was sitting in my home in Telluride that the only thing I really could do was sit and look out my window.

My Art Walk morning started with making sure the cheese, meats, fruits, and truffles were prepared and ready to be plated before getting to the gallery for the day. The only real existential crisis I had during this task was trying to remember, “how do people eat communal cheese?!” 

The million-dollar question was: "Are napkins plenty to have wine and hors d'oeuvres, or are plates an absolute necessity?" I will be honest, it took three trips to Clark’s (the first to get the fruit... and forget both plates and napkins; the second to get napkins; the third to get plates, a mere 15 minutes before the event when I realized that people, in fact, do need plates) to get the entire cheese situation under control.

Once the cheese crisis was resolved, the evening commenced and people started flocking into the gallery and gathering around the hors d'oeuvres table. Quiet jazz was playing in the background while Meredith gracefully made the rounds to chat with our friends and patrons. It was a spectacular show opening and a great way to shake the dust off our hospitality skills. As the event concluded, the resounding feedback was that the opening of Meredith's 'Field of Vision' felt like the “before times” Art Walks, and we could not be more pleased!

After tidying up the gallery and tupperware-ing the entire 7 bits of cheese and two small bunches of grapes left on the table, the MiXX Girls were granted the pleasure of taking Meredith, her husband Jorge, and a few friends out for drinks and snacks to celebrate a successful opening. It was funny how easy it all seemed once the evening was over, and how silly I felt being nervous prior to the event.

While we understand COVID is still not over, and we are still faced with the uneasy reality of what post-COVID times mean, we are thrilled to have had the opportunity to congregate with our community once again. And for those of you who missed the opening, don't fret! One of our goals for the new year is to bring even more community events back to our space, so be on the lookout for some exciting announcements (and more blog posts) coming your way!