Commonwheel Artists Art Festival

11/13/2024

It is time to celebrate and thank the artists who shared their artwork in Manitou Springs this year.
Please take a moment to look at the file and choose one you have most enjoyed seeing this year.
There are sculptures and murals to choose from to let us know which one is your favorite addition to the Art on the Avenue in 2024.
People's Choice Survey for Art on the Avenue - the winner of this survey gets an additional $1,000 (and this is a good way for us to grow our email list):
https://forms.gle/VW8Mx2ehs3AsNJq86
You don't have to live in Manitou Springs to vote for your favorite new art on the Street that was installed in 2025, but you do have to have actually seen the artwork in person when visiting Manitou Springs.

Please vote for your favorite new Art on the Avenue piece of 2024 - the winner will receive an additional cash prize of $1,000! CRANE is capturing email for responses only, we will not share your email. We will not email you unless you opt in below, and we will never spam you.

11/13/2024

The Renewal by Andersen company has sponsored a huge portion of the Waste-Wise cost of the Commonwheel Art Festival since 2017. This concept fits well within their goals as a company to help people create a more sustainable lifestyle. This company has a very "Green" approach to helping keeping energy costs down by installing windows and doors that are built with Eco-friendly materials. These doors and windows help keep warm air in the winter and cool air in the summer inside buildings. They offer a chance to win a a $35,000 make-over for some lucky person’s home. Many Festival visitors stopped to enter and chat with this helpful teams members to set-up appointments to learn about more ways they could reduce their utility bills by installing one of their products. the Commonwheel Art Festival wishes to thank this business for once again supporting our efforts to recycle waste to keep it out of landfills.

11/12/2024

The Commonwheel Art Festival was happy to be able to welcome back All American Gutters Protection who became a sponsor of the Art Festival in 2023. They had great responses to their representatives and were able to help many people find ways to avoid having to climbing ladders to clean their gutters all year long. As a fiscal sponsor of the Commonwheel Artists 50th annual Art Festival they helped cover the parking fees the Festival must pay for artists, musicians and volunteers to safely park near Memorial Park. The folks that were in their booth were cheerful and helpful when someone stopped by to learn more about their services. The Commonwheel Artists 50th Annual Art Festival team was very excited to be able to partner with them once again.

11/11/2024

The Commonwheel Art Festival had a wonderful new sponsors this year. All My Sons Moving and Storage team was amazing and so easy to work with getting the Festival items set up. Their team picked up the items needed for the Festival out of the Commonwheel storage area and set up on Friday! They hustled around the park setting up tents and getting tables and chairs to those tents. They moved heavy signs into place for us to uncover on Saturday.
All weekend long the greeted people from their sponsor tent at the Festival. Their friendly team members shared information with visitors about how they could help with moves around the area. We highly recommend checking them out if you have an upcoming move.
Then the full team returned on Monday afternoon to take down tents and load them along with parking cones, tables, chairs, and many boxes filled with items that the Festival used for the 3-day Art Festival.

11/09/2024

November is a time of Thanksgiving. The Festival committee and all members of Commonwheel Artists would like to give some special thanks to our wonderful Sponsors, the businesses that supplied prizes for the free drawings or loaned us their parking lots for artists to use on Labor Day Weekend. We hope you will visit the businesses that helped in a variety of ways. Visitors enjoyed music by the six groups of talented musicians who entertained art patrons on the stage all weekend. Commonwheel is especially grateful for the many community volunteers and our members who once again helped create the finest outdoor Art Focused Event in the Pikes Peak Region. THANKS! for making the 50th Annual Commonwheel Art Festival the best ever for all the artists who shared their creative art in Manitou Springs on Labor Day Weekend.
This image also captured one of Commonwheel’s founding members visiting the festival. Can anyone name him?

11/08/2024

Commonwheel Artists Co-op will be open from about 11am to 2 or 3 pm today. You might want to call if you are planing on arriving later today to be sure we are open. Holiday Market is in full swing in the Creekside gallery and the snowy weather may have the thought of finding Holiday gifts on your mind.

11/07/2024

Commonwheel will be closed again today . . . as it keeps on snowing. Stay warm.

11/06/2024

Due to the heavy snow today, the Commonwheel Artists Co-op will be closed today. Stay warm!

11/05/2024

Thanksgiving happens late in November. The Commonwheel Art Festival will be posting our Thanks to the many businesses and community members who helped make the 50th Annual Commonwheel Art Festival a huge success on Labor Day weekend.
Today we start by thanking all the people who visited the Festival. We know all the artists that shared their creative endeavors at the Festival are very grateful for the Art Patrons who came and purchased their art during the Festival. Many made connections that will last for many years or received commissions for art to be created after the Festival. We are so thankful for everyone who appreciates artistic creations and purchases them to beautify their homes or wear or carry them with them to express their unique sense of what speaks to their hearts.

11/03/2024

The Holiday Market at the Commonwheel Artists Co-op in Manitou Springs is filled with holiday gifts created by over 25 local artists. Choosing a gift that was handmade and very unique lets the person receiving the gift know you thought about what they would enjoy having. Just a couple of long views of the gallery space all decked out with a Christmas tree and lots of creative art gifts to explore.

11/02/2024

Saturday from 9 am - 3 pm, is the last day for the Estate Sale at Arlene Wood’s home. It is rumored that everything will be at half price on Saturday. Arlene Wood joined Commonwheel in 1978 and helped in many ways at the Art Festival. She was the inspirational person for Manitou's Carnivale. She and her husband Jim collected an amazing amount of art, books, classical music and so much more including furniture. She has now moved to Florida.
This link will give you an idea of what you might find there. So many books, CDs, ceramic art, furniture and useful items are waiting to find new homes. Not the best picture that comes up with the link. There are 70+ images of items that will be offered there:

View photos, items for sale, dates and address for this estate sale in Manitou Springs, CO. Ends Sat. Nov 2, 2024 at 3:00 PM US/Mountain Sale conducted by Augie & Bear

11/01/2024

There were monsters and aliens and sharks and bears, OH MY! roaming the streets in downtown Manitou Springs. I love the inflatable costumes. Some characters just made you smile, others had a scary edginess to them. Everyone was smiling as Teri and Julia handed out candy treats in front of the Commonwheel Artists Co-op on Halloween afternoon.

10/31/2024

The businesses in downtown Manitou Springs dress up and offer treats to kids in costumes on October 31st. It has been a fun tradition. Some will have been inspired by the Coffin Races costumes, but mostly they find an idea they like and dress accordingly. These are a few more images from the Emma Crawford Coffin Races.

10/30/2024

The Holiday Market at the Commonwheel Artists Co-op will have many invited guest artist and some members who have created beautiful holiday themed items opens this Friday. It's never too early to start picking up the perfect unique handmade gift or ornament for family or friends this year. Commonwheel is open from 10am to 6pm every day except some holidays, or on the off chance there is a blizzard, give a call before driving to Manitou on a snowy day.

10/29/2024

October 29th is National Cat Day!
The Commonwheel Art Festival has been coordinated by Julia L. Wright for the majority of its 50 years. She has feather art, arty decks of cards and some books she wrote in the Commonwheel Art Co-op. She also has an ETSY shop called HempEarthArt. For this special day you might want to check out the mugs and tote bags she has designed with the help of another artist friend featuring some cute kitty faces. The link is in the comments below.

10/28/2024

Arlene Wood joined Commonwheel in 1978 and helped in many ways at the Art Festival. She was the inspirational person for Manitou's Carnivale. She and her husband Jim collected an amazing amount of art, books, classical music and so much more including furniture. She has now moved to Florida and there will be an Estate Sale starting on Halloween and ending on Saturday. This link will give you an idea of what you might find there. Not the best picture that comes up with the link. There are 40+ images of items that will be offered there.

View photos, items for sale, dates and address for this estate sale in Manitou Springs, CO. Starts Thu. Oct 31, 2024 at 9:00 AM US/Mountain Sale conducted by Augie & Bear

10/27/2024

The Emma Crawford Coffin Races brings out some of the strangest concept that the teams create each year. Here are just a few that appeared in Manitou Springs on Saturday. Creativity is rampant for this event.

10/26/2024

If you are heading to Commonwheel Artists Co-op in Manitou Springs today, be aware that is it the day of the Emma Crawford Coffin Races and Festival. Traffic will be challenging. For details and parking suggestions visit the website before you leave home.
http://www.emmacrawfordfestival.com/