In times of boom (mining and skiing) and in times of bust (the Depression, the Transition) Telluride has provided a home for fine arts and the performing arts. Exemplified by a African American woman, with two degrees in music, who played piano in the high-class brothel at the turn of the last century to locals’ productions of Gilbert & Sullivan at the Sheridan Opera House in the 1950s to today’s Telluride Repertory Theatre’s production of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”, this community provides education, sustenance, encouragement and audiences for a range of artistic endeavors -- painting, sculpture, choral music, clay classes, jewelery design, and yes, Festivals, to name a few -- to be enjoyed by creative participants of all ages.