Photo by Cliff Grassmick

Local artist Anna Holland, who will participate in this year's Open Studios tour, makes multicultural jewelry at her business, Dorje Designs.

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Once a year, Boulder County artists pull back the curtain on their creative spaces, giving local art lovers an insider's view of their workshops.

The event, Open Studios, has been giving the public a peek behind the artists' curtain for 14 years. One-hundred-and-twenty-five local artists will open their studio doors for this year's event, which runs Saturday, Sunday and Oct. 11 and 12.

Stephanie Rudy, a member of Open Studios' board of directors, says it is a one-of-a-kind art experience, featuring painters, sculptors, weavers, jewelry makers and more.

"The general public has the opportunity to see art in museums and galleries and hanging in other people's homes," she says. "You really don't have the opportunity to go into a studio and ask people how they make their art, to look at a piece and ask, 'What were you thinking? What was going on?'"

Patrons purchase a copy of the Open Studios guidebook, a two-year calendar featuring the artwork of participating artists and a map to their studios. (The guidebook costs $15.95 and is available at 10 Boulder County locations, including area Whole Foods.) On tour days, from noon to 6 p.m., patrons can use the guidebook to access the various locations marked on the map, where a yellow-and-blue Open Studios sign identifies participating studios. (Bicycling to the studios is encouraged, and Full Cycle is providing Open Studios bike tours.)

"I think it's equivalent to going to a live performance," says Kathleen Sears, a member of Open Studios' board of directors and interim executive director. "When you meet the artist live and in person, you have a special connection to that piece of artwork or that technique."

Last year, Open Studios attendance dropped significantly for the first time in its history, with attendance down an estimated 13 percent. Rudy attributes this to poor weather on one of the days and fewer outlets to sell the guidebooks due to the Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger that was going on at the time.

She expects attendance to rebound this year, anticipating 50,000 studio visits. But due to the nature of Open Studios, she says it's difficult to calculate an official turnout.

"It's hard to tell how many people go to Open Studios because we don't sell tickets," she says.

Purchasing the guidebook makes it easier to locate studios, but admission is free to any studio with an Open Studios sign in front.

"We think we'll probably have a lot of people because it's a wonderful family event that doesn't cost anything to attend," she says.

The economy could also be a factor. A financially uncertain future could result in fewer sales -- or possibly an increase. At the Open Studios in 2001, less than a month after 9/11, Rudy says there was a spike in sales.

"Sometimes what happens, when the country seems to be in a bad place, people buy art," she says. "They need something beautiful. ... We would like people to believe that this is something they can do to get away from their troubles."

It's been a year of change for Open Studios. Gary Zeff, the tour's founder and executive director for 13 years, retired in April to focus on his family and artwork. In addition, Open Studios moved into new offices, partnered with Clementine Studio to provide art education classes and in May debuted an open-air fair at the Twenty Ninth Street mall.

The educational component is a particular emphasis of the organization.

"Our school systems don't offer a lot for creative children," Sears says. "Because it's expensive to do the creative arts, it's the first thing that gets cut."

Open Studios is hoping to pick up the slack by offering a series of children's and adult education programs at Clementine, including free classes for kids from a nearby low-income housing project.

"The mission of Open Studios is education," Rudy says. "We think this is a perfect thing for us to do: Teach kids art, which the schools aren't doing anymore."

The adult programming is also filling a gap.

"There's hardly any outlet for adults to learn art, especially visual arts, unless you want to pay big money to take a college course," Sears says.

The Open Studios event is an educational opportunity itself, as artists demystify some aspects of their work.

"For people who are interested in doing art themselves, it's an opportunity for them to get information from the artist," Rudy says. "I think Open Studios offers a unique opportunity that you don't get in a lot of other places."

It's not just the patrons that benefit from the interaction.

"People are exposed to your art and they remember you. They might not be ready to purchase right then, but I always get phone calls and people come back," says Anna Holland, who makes ethnic or tribal jewelry out of beads and artifacts from all over the world.

She participated in Open Studios in 2006 and says more than 400 people came through her home studio.

"I think it's a great venue for artists to demonstrate their work and make it available for the rest of the community to look at and enjoy and become aware of," she says.

Dan Friedlander, a ceramic artist who creates white and glazed tiles of repeating forms, agrees.

"I think Open Studios is a tremendous program," he says. "It supports artists, and it provides the public with a way to actually meet these people.

"I get a lot of feedback. I get to meet people. I get to sell my art," he adds. "It's good economically and it's good socially, I would say."

It's even good for charity. All the proceeds of guidebook sales go to Open Studios and help fund the nonprofit's education programs. One of the participating artists, Elaine Nixon, is donating 20 percent of all her sales to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which raises money for breast cancer research in the Denver area and provides grants for underinsured breast cancer patients.

"When my sister died this year I decided that I would try to raise money for breast cancer research," Nixon says.

Nixon makes hand-woven tapestries and has been weaving for 30 years. She will also have a loom set up for kids during Open Studios. Last year she had roughly 20 kids weaving a piece in her studio. Many of the artists participating in Open Studios will have arts and crafts activities for kids.

"It's always interesting just to go in and listen to the kids," Rudy says.

"The kids don't want to leave those studios. It's a great family thing."

Joan Wolfer, a fiber artist specializing in surface work on canvas, agrees.

"You meet a lot of different people," she says. "I have just enjoyed the whole thing overall."

Open Studios artists are also on display at the Boulder Public Library. A piece from each artist will be exhibited through Oct. 12. The preview exhibit opens with a reception at the library at 6 p.m. Friday.

But a gallery exhibit can't capture the interaction of Open Studios.

"If you show in a gallery, you're never there," Rudy says. "You hang it and you go away. This is an amazing opportunity for them to get feedback on their work and have people respond to it."

Wolfer agrees.

"I look forward to the people coming in," she says. "It's always fun to have people say that they like my things. It always keeps you going for another year."

Contact Vince Darcangelo at vdarcangelo@yahoo.com.