The Old Gallery in Allenspark, or T.O.G.A., will be organizing their first annual Peak to Peak Byway Art Drive on September 25 and 26. According to the organizers, The Peak to Peak byway is a 55-mile, “breathtaking scenic drive that stretches between Central City and Estes Park.”

Four art galleries along the Peak to Peak will be participating in the drive and will have special exhibits to offer to guests that stop by. Those galleries included The Old Gallery in Allenspark, The Glass Tipi Gallery in Ward, The Art Center in Estes, and Gilpin County Arts in Central City.

Kathy Banich is a local artist whose works can currently be seen in the Glass Tipi Gallery and T.O.G.A. She organized the drive to create something like a “Parade of Homes or a Boulder or Denver like art walk and how would that look for mountain communities, where we’re all scattered and yet we share all the same interests and desires, and it was like maybe we’ll do an art drive.”

The drive will stretch from the Art Center in Estes to Gilpin County Arts in Central City and will hopefully provide drivers a prime opportunity to see the fall colors. “It’s where we get a lot of leaf peepers every year,” said Banich. “It’s really a destination, if you go on Google, it’s one of our seven top areas to see the fall foliage.”

The inspiration gained from the drive combined with the beauty of installations at the galleries is looking to be well worth the visit. “We thought, well, it’s a time of celebration and inspiration for the artists,” said Banich. Let’s pull it all in and have a celebratory event.”

After contacting the galleries and having a couple meetings, the galleries were enthusiastic about participating in the event. “Hopefully they’ll be inspired by the artists. We’re going to be doing demos, we’re going to be offering free souvenirs and/or beverages,” said Banich, “anywhere from posters, postcards, water, coffee, those types of things.”

The hope is that the annual migration of people to the mountains to view the fall colors will also include touring local art galleries. “We’ll just see how it goes,” said Banich, “but it’s really kind of elbowing with Mother Nature, if you will, to have a celebratory event and bring summer to a close.”