About Weehawken

At Weehawken Creative Arts, we are in the business of changing lives, nurturing dreams, and helping kids and adults in Ouray County and neighboring communities discover their creative potential through the arts.

We offer transformative, individualized arts education programming led by extraordinary instructors, as well as a variety of art-inspired events. More than that, we offer a place for you to find your very own community of kindred spirits, wherever your artistic passion lies.

Weehawken Creative Arts was founded in 2004 by Susie Opdahl, a creative dynamo who retired to Ouray from Oregon with her husband, Jim, in the late ‘90s. Susie had a vision to actively engage her new community and help it prosper by creating a program that would offer arts education opportunities for locals and visitors alike. With the help of a dedicated board of directors, her idea found fertile ground and soon grew from dream to reality in the form of a new nonprofit organization.

Today, our programs are offered in Ridgway, Ouray, Montrose and Silverton and we regularly draw students from those communities and beyond for both classes and our signature special events.

Mission & Vision

The Mission of Weehawken Creative Arts is to provide high-quality arts education,  personal growth programs and cultural events while playing a leadership role in the arts within our communities year round.

Our Vision is that Weehawken Creative Arts is a sustainable organization that acts as a conduit for creativity within our community.

Board of Directors

  • Jen Feeser President
  • Courtney Meyers Vice President
  • Sandy Kern Treasurer
  • Rhea Bothe Secretary
  • Mary Aliota  Member at Large
  • Nick Coman, Member at Large
  • Marti O’Leary Member at Large
  • Lissette Riviere  Member at Large

Interested in serving on our board or other active participation with Weehawken?

970-318-0308 (ask for Ashley)
questions@weehawkenarts.org

The Sherbino Theater/Ridgway Chautauqua Society Partnership

A serious movement is afoot within Ouray County for arts organizations to cooperate in the areas of event planning, scheduling, marketing, coordination, and event staffing. Willing to lead, Weehawken-RCS/Sherbino took the spirit of collaboration a step further and entered into an Agreement for Collaboration, Cooperation & Cost Sharing (MOU) in the fall of 2014.

Having completed a successful first year, Weehawken Creative Arts and the RCS/Sherbino now share a staff of three, share space and systems, are developing mutually beneficial programming, and are taking advantage of economies-of-scale efficiencies wherever possible.