Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Artists from West Steamboat to Hayden will be featured Saturday in the seventh annual Steamboat Springs Arts Council Studio Tour.

The self-guided tour will feature 18 artists in 13 studios across West Routt. The event kicks off with a continental breakfast at 9 a.m. at the Depot Art Center in Steamboat, and studios will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the tour. Hayden restaurants Creek View Grill, Wolf Mountain Pizza and the HiWay Bar will offer discounted lunches for tour participants.

Pam Roemmich, an Arts Council volunteer who organized the tour, said all the money from ticket sales - minus costs related to advertising and the breakfast - will benefit the council.

"The money goes to the Arts Council to keep the Depot open and running," Roemmich said.

Tickets cost $20 in advance and $25 the day of the event. They are available at the Depot Art Center at 1001 13th St. A map showing the studios' various locations is included with a ticket.

Susan Schiesser is a Steamboat painter participating in the tour, which focuses on a different part of the county each year. Schiesser said the tour has become a tradition for her, as her studio has moved quite a bit recently and always seems to land in the path of the tour.

Schiesser, whose work is on display in galleries in Paris, Geneva, Madrid, Hamburg and San Francisco, does not have any art on display locally because her gallery in Ski Time Square closed earlier this year. She said the tour will help let people know where she is. Schiesser will have some pieces for sale during the tour, but said the event is not about making money.

"I like to support the Arts Council," she said. "I think it's more about arts awareness."

While Schiesser has participated in the tour before, many artists will be taking part in the tour Saturday for the first time. Roemmich said artists look forward to the event.

"Once they get roped in, they get really excited," Roemmich said. "It's a fun event for everyone."

Craig Tomke of Hayden is a wood craftsman participating in the tour for the first time. Tomke and his wife, Karen, own the Yampa Valley Log Furniture store in Hayden, which sells Tomke's lodgepole pine furniture. He said he has a couple hundred pieces of furniture in stock that will be on display Saturday. Tomke also does custom work and recently completed a "bear bed" with four bear carvings serving as posts.

"You give me a drawing, I can make it," Tomke said.

Tomke said he is looking forward to the tour.

"I think it will give us more exposure," he said. "It will be good."