School Outreach
We are thrilled to initiate our partnership with the Creede Consolidated School District and support the creativity of local students. This winter, Director of Programming Allison Quiller will bring her Linoleum Cut Printmaking class to Creede High School, offering students a hands-on introduction to this expressive art form. Students will get an overview of the printmaking art form, and each will design, carve and print their own linocut on a variety of professional western and Japanese printmaking papers.
Later, we will introduce our flagship program, Illustrated Stories, to middle and high-schoolers. This multi-week unit invites students to explore the intersection of visual and literary arts, guiding them through storytelling, illustration, and collaboration. Students will pitch story ideas and be paired with another student illustrator to create a unique pairing of style, genre and visual storytelling. The program will culminate in a one-of-a-kind student-created anthology, celebrating their voices, imagination, and artistic growth.
For summer 2026 we are also partnering with the Creede Early Learning Center, and are proud to be providing weekly creative engagement for Creede’s youngest artists!
Arts Collaborations
Creede Center for the Arts is proud to be collaborating with many of our incredible community organizations in 2026. In January, we kicked off the year with our annual Winter Writer’s Workshop, a joint effort between ourselves and the Creede Community Center. This year, award-winning poet Alicia Cook will step in for a special session with our writing group, part of her upcoming Creede residency alongside composer Evan Mack through the Creede Musical Arts Collective. This writing class is also geared as a platform to encourage local writers to submit to the Creede Arts Council’s literary magazine, The Willow Creek Journal.
Later this summer, we are partnering with the Creede Repertory Theatre for a special camp for youths ages 12+. Writing for Screen and Stage will guide young writers through the process of developing characters, building structure, and finding tone, while exploring the subtle nuances of writing for the screen versus stage productions.
We’re also working on an exciting new collaboration that brings together all of Creede’s arts organizations: Kids’ Guide to the Arts in Creede. This free sketchbook and “passport” will be available to all young people in the Creede area and is designed to inspire youth to explore and engage with Creede’s vibrant arts scene. Stay tuned for more details!
To learn more, reach out to our Education Director, Allison Quiller:
Stephen Quiller and The Quiller Gallery
Stephen Quiller first came to Creede in 1968 after graduating from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Art Education. At that time, it was an active mining town, but the downtown was empty with very little tourism or other activity. He taught art in the secondary schools in Oregon for three years while spending summers in Creede, where he opened an art gallery in one of the vacant downtown buildings. The gallery first opened in 1970 and in the fall of 1972, Stephen moved to Creede full-time to paint. 2020 marks the 50th year of the gallery and his tenure in Creede. He has been an active member of the community, working with the schools, helping develop the chamber of commerce, teaching workshops, creating annual events for the community, helping found the Creede Arts Council, coaching and raising a family. He teaches three fine art painting workshops annually in the Creede area. These workshops attract painters from all over the world. Living in this beautiful remote mountain region has helped him to develop a unique and distinctive style of painting.
In the past 50 years he has developed an international reputation for his water media paintings. He has written seven best-selling books on the subjects of color and water media. He has received many awards and recognition, including the Gold and Silver Medals of Honor at the American Watercolor Society’s International Exhibitions in 2014 and 2018. He has conducted workshops throughout the United States and internationally including Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Belgium, Italy, Canada and Costa Rica.
See select watercolor portfolio below.
