About Our Team
Kelly Kirchmar-Heger, Creativity Director
Kelly can’t remember a time where creativity didn’t fuel her!
She is a proud native Coloradan and is very grateful to have grown up on the ski slopes and in the wildflower fields of Vail, Colorado as a second home.
Kelly holds a BS and an MA in Speech-Language Pathology and Communication Disorders from Colorado State University, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
As a Career Speech-Language Pathologist, Kelly has always utilized her ability to apply her creativity in unique and special ways in order to help others to find their own voices. She understands the importance of creatively expressing ourselves through play, words, humor, art, photography, writing, music and many other creative mediums. Kelly is a Certified Art Therapy Practitioner, a SoulCollage©️ Facilitator, a Hanen Certified Play Therapist, and professionally trained in iPhone Photography and editing.
Her workshops and retreats are filled with fun, humor, surprises and inspirational touches that will ignite your own sparks of wisdom and creativity.
She is the author of two books: “Living Happily Ever After…Every Now and Then,” and “Just Be.”
Kelly lives with her amazing husband, Steve, and her equally amazing Scottie dog, Sadie, in Denver, Colorado!
Lauren Merrill, Fine Artist Alpine Art Center
Lauren spent her childhood in Long Island, New York, and she was fortunate to have parents who exposed her to both art and skiing at a young age.
Lauren loved to do anything creative and this became her passion growing up. When it came time to select a college and a major, her family was incredibly supportive of her love of art and everyone brainstormed ideas that would allow her to pursue art as a career. There were many conversations around the dinner table that sparked the idea of opening an arts center someday!
Lauren attended University of Michigan’s School of Art and Design and she explored as many art mediums as she could fit into four years. After college, Lauren accepted a K-12 Art Teacher position at Vail Mountain School and moved to beautiful Vail, Colorado which quickly became home.
Her love of teaching, connections with families throughout the valley, and role on the board of Eagle Valley Artists Alliance sparked the idea to open Alpine Arts Center for the community. Lauren is thrilled to realize her lifelong dream and explore this journey as Alpine Arts Center’s owner and founder.
we are very grateful to have a Lauren joining us for another exciting creative surprise this year!
Donna L. Martin, Fine Artist
“I was born and raised in Colorado and I grew up loving the natural environment and the wild Rocky Mountains around me. It helped shape me as a person and as an artist.
As an extremely quiet and shy child, I felt as though I never had a voice. Throughout my life, art became my voice. And living in this amazing environment, whether experiencing the slow ripple of a stream or the wind whispering through the aspen leaves, provides a sense of calm and peacefulness. The beauty and mystery of nature became something soulful, deeply ingrained into who I am. I think this is why I am consistently attempting to capture the sense of awe and wonder that I feel from it. Although I am still shy, now I feel my artwork expresses my voice clearly.
Just like nature expresses itself differently each season, I too use different mediums for expressing myself through art. Mixed media, watercolors, and encaustic keeps my art growing in many different ways. I love to create the beauty of nature in my own unique style and hope to impart this sense of peace and joy on to my viewers.
I'm constantly learning about art and technique, through self-study as well as taking workshops. I'm honored to say that my work has been displayed throughout Colorado and resides in private collections both nationally and internationally.
Thanks for joining me on this journey and this adventure we call life and art!”
- d. l. martin
https://www.facebook.com/dlmartinfineart/
Beth Palmer, Fine Artist
Beth Palmer has been an art educator and concept designer for over 40 years. She’s currently 2023-24 North Carolina Art Educator of the Year, Emeritus Division.
For her, this means being able to share the joys and value of arts education, and even more about the Joy of Creativity and Lifelong Learning.
She spends much of her time visiting thrift stores and tag sales, looking for the next fun things, especially vintage wooden boxes, textiles, old sheet music and other ephemera to use in her mixed media paintings.
Teaching young children as an elementary school art teacher for many years,was a door into the imagination and daily childlike wonder which still permeates her work today. Every day is a new day and a new opportunity to learn, grow, and create!
Beth Palmer, Fine Artist
Beth Palmer has been an art educator and concept designer for over 40 years. She’s currently 2023-24 North Carolina Art Educator of the Year, Emeritus Division.
For her, this means being able to share the joys and value of arts education, and even more about the Joy of Creativity and Lifelong Learning.
She spends much of her time visiting thrift stores and tag sales, looking for the next fun things, especially vintage wooden boxes, textiles, old sheet music and other ephemera to use in her mixed media paintings.
Teaching young children as an elementary school art teacher for many years,was a door into the imagination and daily childlike wonder which still permeates her work today. Every day is a new day and a new opportunity to learn, grow, and create!
Surprise Instructor!
We can’t wait to let you in in the surprise!