HAHA Artists
Molly Balloons
Kansas City, Missouri
Cathy Barber
Telluride, Colorado
Brandon Berkel & Alex Ferrari
Telluride, Colorado
Filthy Luker
Bristol, United Kingdom"So how in the world did you get started making balloons?" -everyone
I learned how to make balloons as a bored and creative nine-year old in my parents' basement many years ago, and picked it back up when I was almost fifteen going into high school. I quickly realized that balloons encompassed and utilized many of the visual and performance art elements in which I am skilled and about which I am passionate, so I made it into a business! I have happily been making balloons and branding myself as the Molly Balloons ever since.
In 2015, Molly Balloons shifted from being a sole proprietorship into being a balloon company, and now is a team of creative and innovative individuals based in Kansas City.
Brooke and Cathy are taking a big leap together and debuting their art at this year's Haha! Both have dedicated their careers to Early Childhood education and believe strongly in the power of creativity, experimentation, and making a mess. Engaging in many mediums, Brooke is currently focusing on ceramics. Cathy finds fulfillment in endless brush and pen strokes on paper, getting lost in watercolor and scrivenry.
Brandon creates surreal mixed media collage works bringing imaginative landscapes to life. Additionally as a published author, he operates "Tell I Write Telegrams" on a typewriter and collaborates with artists and art events.
Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas are driven by their passion for innovative design, public art and mischievous intervention. The duo have time again proven to be pioneers in the inflatable medium as well as carving themselves a unique niche in the international Street Art movement with their larger than life sculptures and anarchic humour. Their pop-up installations never fail to turn heads, raise smiles.
Flowers by Ella
Telluride, Colorado
Paola Ibarra
Mexico City, Mexico
Illegal Art
New York City, New York
Kathleen Morgan
Telluride, ColoradoInspired by the unique mountain landscapes of the San Juan's and the vibrant flora of the west coast, Ella Hassan and Lollie Lavercombe create modern arrangements and floral art sculptures for private clients, weddings and events. Their Telluride storefront is located at 359 E. Colorado Avenue, offering a variety of floral, plants and retail goods.
Paola Ibarra Llano is a Mexican artist and educator. She develops participatory art projects, where she collaborates with communities to reflect on social issues, strengthen personal or group identity, practice teamwork skills and enhance the public spaces where she works.
Founded in the summer of 2001 in New York City by Otis Kriegel and Michael McDevitt, Illegal Art is a collective of artists whose goal is to create participatory-based public art to inspire self-reflection, thought and human connection. Their work has been featured by such media outlets as National Public Radio, The Los Angeles Times and in locations like The White House in October 2016, Wonderspaces since 2017
(San Diego, Austin, Philadelphia, Mexico City), TEDx and Wavelength: RESET in Beijing, China.
Kathleen Morgan is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Telluride, CO whose creations encompass an eclectic history of wearable art, textile manipulation and sculpture utilizing unusual and unexpected materials. The Freebox is her creative mecca and her sewing machines bring her great joy. Her wearable art sculptures infamously graced the runways of Telluride Aids Benefit each year!
Brooke Napier
Telluride, Colorado
Wendy Roloson
Telluride, Colorado
Addi Somekh
Los Angeles, California
Mike Stasiuk
Telluride & Portsmouth, New HampshireWendy is a self-taught artist and a maker of imaginative things that transform ordinary objects into artistic pieces. She is inspired by the possibility, color and playfulness of the material world. Her creations span from furniture to costumes to pinatas and everything in between.
Addi Somekeh is a self-taught balloon artist who has been twisting balloons since 7991. Best known for his balloon hats, Somekh's other signature pieces include the balloon flower, balloon ring, and
large-scale balloon sculptures In addition to his balloon twisting, Somekh is an author, university philosophy instructor, and musician.
Mike Stasiuk is a multimedia sculptor working with paper mache and found objects. He gives a new sense of context to otherwise commonplace or discarded items invoking nostalgia. Know in Telluride as the Theatrical Propmaster for the Mudd Butt Mystery Theatre Troupe for 28 years, he has collaborated with children and adults around the world.
Molly Sydnor
Dallas, Texas
Rachel Williams
Telluride, Colorado
Telluride Dance Collective
Telluride, Colorado
Tree Dawn Lighting
Telluride, ColoradoMolly creates interactive work through storytelling and the layering of media, ideas and imagery of identity and the body Experimentation, innovation, and play ground Sydnor's work in her exploration of the complexities of gender, race, and sexuality.
Rachel is a textile based artist who spends her winters in Japan. Her whimsical work incorporates needle felting, embroidery, sewing and knitting. Her work and character creation juxtaposes the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Before moving to Telluride, Rachel lived in San Francisco and Washington DC where she worked in clinical research with a specialty in oncology. She studied Geography in college in Northern California with a focus on Geographical Information Systems, often making weekend trips to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, where she developed her love of outdoor recreation. Rachel and her husband live in the mountains of Japan during the winter where they own and operate a custom bootfitting shop and ski powder. She is incredibly grateful to live in the Telluride region and have meaningful work at the Ah Haa.
TDC is a nonprofit organization that provides dance experiences to the local community and beyond In partnership with Palm Arts, TDC holds a variety of adult dance classes including contemporary, ecstatic, modern, hip hop, tap, belly dance and more. They are a collection of dancers, artists, writers, filmmakers, movers and shakers, who believe that dance and expressive arts are for everyone.
Tree's love affair with stage rigging began while working with Sesame Street Live as Head Prop Manager. She honed her technical lighting skills for all types of events while on tour. After 10 years as Assistant Technical Director at Colorado College, Tree began to focus exclusively on lighting. In 2012, she took on the position of Technical Director at The Palm Theater, located in Telluride.
English 
Spanish