Why Not Niwot? Closes Out Its 15th Year

This year's Why Not Niwot? juried art show wrapped up on September 11th with an awards night that doubled as September's First Friday Art Walk. The evening opened with the Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band performing at the Frank Bader House, home to Dignity Counseling & Wellness, before NCAA President Biff Warren announced the winners between sets. From there, the crowd moved to Niwot Hall for refreshments and a final look at all forty entries.

This year's judges were photographer and NCAA board member Phil Yates, Niwot Hall board member Vicky Dorvee, and former NCAA board member Michelle Henzel.

The Grand Prize went to Jason Taittinger for "Slow News Day," a mixed media piece showing the former Niwot Tribune building on Second Avenue with a red fox crossing in front. Taittinger noted the building hasn't actually housed a newspaper since 1958, hence the title, and said he wanted the fox to be the one truly colorful element against the otherwise muted, black and white scene.

Second place went to Valerie St. Marie's watercolor "Vintage Niwot," a portrait of Wise Buys Antiques that draws on her memories of Niwot's antique shop era in the 1980s. Third place went to Eileen Dolbeare's "No News From Home," a photograph of a mounted cowboy outside the Tribune building that judges said carried the feel of an old Western film.

A new honor this year, the Niwot Legacy Award, went to Lee Tripi for the oil painting "Left Hand." The piece depicts Eldred Poisal, a descendant of Snake Woman, sister of Chief Left Hand, for whom Niwot is named. Snake Woman survived the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, the same attack that took her brother's life, and her family line carries forward to Poisal today.

People's Choice voting closed at 7:30pm, with St. Marie's "Vintage Niwot" taking that honor as well, a rare case of the judges and the public landing on the same favorite.

In total, this year's show featured 40 pieces from 20 local artists. The Grand Prize piece is now available on prints, cards, and a wine label at Osmosis Gallery, with proceeds benefiting the NCAA. Why Not Niwot? is presented by the Niwot Cultural Arts Association, with funding support from the Niwot Local Improvement District.

Read the full write-up from Kevin Schoonover at the Left Hand Valley Courier: "First Friday Art Walk culminates with Juried Art Show awards," September 16, 2026.