“When Kate served as Executive Director for Telluride Arts, we worked together on the Telluride Transfer Warehouse – an iconic structure with historical significance located in the core of town.  The building lay dormant for over forty years with a collapsed roof.  The vision was to see the structure rehabilitated and transformed into a cultural hub, requiring years of planning, the collaboration of many, and a strong foundational partnership.  Kate led that process … she saw that vision turn into action.  A remarkable person, a brilliant collaborator, and an achiever with a proven track record.”

Greg Clifton, Former Town Manager, Telluride, CO.

”Kate Jones brings a rare combination of visionary leadership and grounded execution to every project she takes on. Her work on the Telluride Transfer Warehouse stands out as a model for how community-driven, culturally significant projects can align with statewide goals. Through thoughtful planning, inclusive engagement, and strategic partnerships, Kate has helped elevate Colorado’s creative economy in meaningful, lasting ways. She’s a trusted collaborator and a powerful advocate for the role of arts and culture in community development.

Margaret Hunt, Director, Colorado Creative Industries, Governor’s Office of Economic Development  2013-2022

Starting from a shaky foundation of confusing and sometimes conflicting goals, Kate quickly got about the business of coalescing the Arts Council Board while personally conducting hundreds of hours of interviews with community leaders of all sorts: cultural, political, historical, and the genuine characters that give the town much of it’s character. Out of this came a clear vision of what the arts council should and could become, and started the transformation from a misunderstood organization into the cultural leader that quickly garnered State of Colorado recognition as a certified Cultural District, and a renaming to Telluride Arts.

Todd Brown, Board Member, Community Leader

“As the Town Manager of Telluride, Colorado, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Kate regularly, and her passion for arts, culture and community-building were infectious. Her leadership and vision greatly advanced the Arts in Telluride and she led both large and small initiatives that really had a profound and positive impact on our mountain community which will last for years to come.”

Scott Robson, Former Town Manager, Telluride, CO. Executive Director, Crested Butte Film Festival

“Anytime I am asked about my experience with Telluride Arts, I immediately start raving about Kate Jones.  My career as an artist would not exist without Kate, her support, and all she did during her time as the Executive Director of Telluride Arts.  I am immensely grateful for Kate, her warmth, her knowledge, and her love for supporting artists like myself. Kate Jones is one of a kind and has made such an impact on the art community in Telluride.”

Emily Ballou, Artist

“I had the pleasure of working with Kate Jones during her tenure as ED of Telluride Arts District. In the four years we worked together, I found Kate to be both a reliable thought partner and a visionary leader. We were able to accomplish a lot in that time and I attribute much of our success to Kate’s ability to balance her big picture thinking with her ability to manage and support all its myriad pixels. Her leadership always felt fair and considered, which was no small feat considering how many hats she was forced to wear. More than any of her particular professional attributes, I just found Kate to be a kind, present, and authentic person.”

Alex Paul, Musician, Augment Music Project

“Birthed in 1971 when Telluride was still tie-dyed town, Telluride Arts was the region’s first nonprofit. Its mission: cultivate and  enhance the cultural economy. By the new decade, Telluride’s art scene was indeed buzzing, but the foundational nonprofit itself, not so much – until Kate Jones showed up in town. Equally and uniquely gifted in vision and execution, over the next 14 years, I watched Kate rebrand and otherwise revive Telluride Arts, transforming the nonprofit into the beating heart of the region’s cultural life. In short, during her tenure, a Dodo became a Phoenix.”

Susan Viebrock, Publisher and Journalist

“Kate Jones did one helluva job as arts council director in Telluride: making us a state arts district, providing a critical arts venue for events large and small, and working on plans and fundraising for a major arts center in the middle of town. She provided gallery space on the town's main street, increased outreach and communication and upped the arts ante for artists and organizations in countless ways. As a former arts council director myself, I was in awe of the great work Kate did for our arts community. Consulting with her would be working with the proven professional best.”

Art Goodtimes, poet, former newspaper editor and five-term San Miguel County, CO commissioner

“Kate is skilled at moving a community need from vision to fruition. Her successes are many: from creating long-running festivals to raising tens of millions of dollars to resurrecting historic buildings for public use. Through her leadership, supporting the arts and an arts-based economy has become a core value in Telluride.”

Ann Hurley Barker, Former Development Director and Event Manager, Telluride Arts

Have something to say about our work together? I’d love to hear from you!