I have taken several classes at the BSOFA during the last two years and have learned so much. I…read morehave mostly taken watercolor classes and also gouache and felt that the pace was good. The first class we spent time with some techniques and our instructor, Ninel, was patient and attentive to everyone, even (sometimes) with a very large class. I've had some experience with watercolor (mostly watching YouTube channels) but the in-person experience has been valuable. Ninel allows each person to go at their own pace, and she encourages each of us to develop our own style. But when we need help, she is ready with words of encouragement. She's a wonderful instructor, with that balance of knowing when a person might be struggling, yet encouraging them to stick with it and not give up. I'm pretty new to gouache, but she has made it a fun and interesting class, providing opportunities to try different styles and giving helpful steps for polishing our skills.

Very disappointing experience. There is an old adage: Just because someone knows how to do…read moresomething doesn't mean that he knows how to teach that skill to others. BSOFA is a prime example. A teacher, who, though pleasant, has no ability to teach. I took a beginner's class. (Though except for myself, there were no other beginners in the class. They clearly all had some level of experience.) The teacher would do a twenty-second demonstration (no exaggeration) of something, then expect everyone to immediately know how to do that thing perfectly. It was beyond frustrating. First class, I could tell that I wasn't executing the skill correctly. It was exceedingly obvious that my canvas looked nothing like the other, experienced students' canvases. But though the instructor walked around the table looking at the canvases, for multiple hours, he never said a word about mine. Never proactively provided any constructive criticism. He just let me flounder around for hours without any guidance. (He did interact more with the students who were doing better. There were about eight of us total.) Next class, I decided to make him provide some feedback. (Unsuccessfully, as it turned out.) I would stop him as he walked by, ask him to look at my canvas, and ask for feedback. He was non-committal. (Pleasant, but not helpful.) I would then point out something on the canvas, and say, this isn't right, is it? And he would sort of agree. But he never offered to show me how to do the skill correctly, or provide anything but a vague comment. During that class, I must have stopped him a half-dozen times, if not more, to ask for feedback, but received essentially none. By the third class, I had mostly given up. I listened, trying to glean as much as possible from the twenty-second demonstrations, but unfortunately accepted the reality that the teacher had no ability to actually teach. Again, the teacher was pleasant. But he was also a passive, low-energy person who clearly had zero ability to teach a skill to students. And, oddly, the less experienced the student, the more uncomfortable and non-interactive he became. In a beginner's class. BSOFA makes no sense. Do they not understand? People take classes because they want to learn. They pay good money to attend classes because they want to learn. Allowing a beginner to flounder, with minimal guidance, in a beginner's class is not only unacceptable, but actually a little cruel. BSOFA takes a positive, eager, happy-to-be-there student, and turns her into someone who never wants to experience any of it ever again.

The Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras provide a variety of opportunities for young musicians to…read moredeepen their musical skills and passion and to engage the community through performances of the highest possible artistic level. Like most youth orchestras, this is a non-profit organization set up to further supplement the band or orchestra experience in public or private schools. Kids who participate in this really enjoy music and appreciate the fact that their peers practice and want to play and explore challenging and beautiful pieces together. Here's what I love about this group - Unlike some club sports (soccer, etc), this group encourages and even requires kids to remain involved with their school musical organization (thus they don't strip players from the schools). - The instructors/conductors are OUTSTANDING, they are funny, patient, really insightful and creative. They play a fair share of world premieres, pieces composed by local composers or kids, great classics, etc. I don't know how they did it but GBYO has a terrific staff starting from their manager Brian Jack, a super friendly, funny and thoughtful world class bassoonist. - The rehearsals are on Monday night and are fun, but efficient. This organization recognizes that students are busy and have a lot to do and really honors their time. They have a growing mentor program so not only do the kids play in a full ensemble, sectionals (for example wind and brass break off to play their own pieces), but they even break down to small groups led by U of Colorado mentors (often graduate students). There are also chamber opportunities, etc. - Performances are usually in the Macky. This is kind of a cool, exciting venue for the kids to play in. - They key players into all kinds of playing and listening opportunities around Colorado. Anyway, we're super psyched that we found this organization. GBYO rehearsals are easily my child's favorite part of the week.

From the owner: The Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras provide a variety of opportunities for young musicians to…read moredeepen their musical skills and passion and to engage the community through performances of the highest possible artistic level.

I graduated from the Contemplative Education program in 2007. It was an awful experience due.to…read morerampant, unchecked transphobia. The "school's" diversity statement has changed since my day, and now includes transgender protections, so maybe today's students have a tolerable experience. The degree itself opened the way to a PhD program, but never enhanced my employment prospects or improved my understandings of the world. Really, my entire time at Naropa "University" was a big waste of my time and money.

Neat little private university. Came here for my brother's thesis. He was doing a performance as…read morepart of his thesis. It was a small auditorium but perfect setting. Sound and visual was excellent. My brother did an amazing performance and I can watch it again. Thank you for the wonderful experience. My family and I was humbled.

I love this school! I have sent both of my sons there and the lessons (life and curriculum related)…read morethey have learned there have been OUTSTANDING. Not only do I have to drag my 4-year old off the playground every afternoon, he is READING and doing multiplication! There is a reason this school has been in the community for the past 30 years, they are hard-working, committed professionals dedicated to the success of our childrean. Highly recommended.

My son is 4.5 and has been at Boulder Montessori School since he was 18 months old. He has thrived…read moreunder the care of the wonderful teachers at BMS and with the Montessori principles. Our younger son will start at BMS when he reaches 18 months and we are thrilled to have him benefit from all things BMS. Some aspects of BMS which contribute to our satisfaction: 1) tenure of teachers - several teachers & administrators have been with BMS since founding in the 1970s. many others have been with the school for 10-20 years. 2) sense of community - BMS embraces its families as their own. 3) empowering children - Montessori gives children the power to thrive in independence. From serving their own food and clearing their own dishes, to finding a sense of order in how kid's structure their "work", our son finds extreme happiness in managing his own little world.

My beloved alma mater. Housing about 2,000 students, the building itself is pretty funky. A product…read moreof the 70's, built on a slant on the top of a hill, there is reputed to be only one room in the whole building with four 90 degree corners; all the other spaces are octagonal, hexagonal, or just bizarre. The view from the school, though only taken advantage of in the newer library, is unparalleled. Fairview is known for its excellent academics, art and athletics programs. Fairview's academic prowess consistently earns it grades of "Excellent" on the CSAP. FHS is one of only a few High Schools to offer the International Baccalaureate Program, which consists of classes based on internationally standardized curriculum. The closest comparison would be Advanced Placement classes, though I have to say, I took lots of AP classes and my friends in the IB program definitely worked a heck of a lot harder. Also, if you're just too smart for high school classes you can take classes at CU to supplement your high school education. Plenty of people did this for math classes (having finished AP Calc 2 sometime their sophomore years!) but you can also arrange this for "elective" classes. My brother, an artistic genius, took art classes at CU when he outgrew the FHS art department. Fairview's fine and performing arts programs are what made high school so great for me. The choir program in particular can kick any other choir programs metaphorical heiny. After Fairview, I went to CU where I took choir and *hated* it. Even with 90% of the class being music majors, the skill of the singers and the difficulty of the music didn't even hold a candle to the choirs at Fairview. Seriously. I also worked on every theatre production produced during my 4 years at FHS. Everything from sets, costumes, make-up, lighting, props, sound and music, is done by students. We even rigged it to rain on stage for Singing in the Rain. In short, nine choirs, four jazz bands, nine jazz combos (together creating the biggest jazz program in the state),a concert and a marching band, a renowned orchestra, and a top notch theatre program make Fairview's fine and performing arts program one of the best in the nation. Fairview's 5A athletic program has won 25 state championships in the school's history, the most recent going to the 2006 girls' cross-country team. A starring sport at Fairview, the girls' cross-country team was ranked 10th in the nation in 2006. Sports such as football and basketball regularly compete in state tournaments and more often than not make it to, and beyond, the Sweet 16. Go knights!

The water slides were broken and the wave pool had bandaids in it. The ice cream was melted and the…read morechanging room had mold

Mainly, madelife is an event venue.. Finally tonight after hearing about it for months I got to go…read moreto an event there. I love the black box room, a state of the art performance venue with an excellent sound system and great acoustics. Those who utilize this space for their events can bring their own refreshments potluck style.. I could only be there for less than an hour and definitely look forward to going to another event at madelife.

This space filled with various local artists. From jewelry to hanging art to furniture, you're…read morelikely to find a piece to fall in love with. Open and enormous windows give lots of natural light on this clean and modern space which made it easy to spend close to a half an hour oo'ing and aww'ing at the unique finds. We were greeted by the nice dude who was working and felt welcome.Shipping prices on some art pieces were a little steep - next time I'm in Boulder with a car, I'll go to town!

My daughter has grown in her artistic skills. She produced this incredible sculture for me and…read morepainted it so amazingly to name one piece. She is only 9. I can't believe the skills she has acquired. But most importantly she loves Art Tank so much.

From the owner: ART TANK like a THINK TANK is both, simultaneously, an arena and body of individuals who together…read morehold a space in which to explore and create art. In our case, on one hand, ART TANK the container, for which expression is housed is our Studio. On the other hand ART TANK is also comprised of the bodies who gather, the group, the Artists from where expression is birthed and explored. Our purpose, when together is aimed with the intention to collectively hold and embody the artistic space of creation; essentially our intention is to become the ART TANK.

We've been sending our kiddo to Rainbow since August of 2019, and I strongly recommend it. Karen…read morehas done a spectacular job of curating an amazing team of professionals that love what they do, and they run the place very smoothly. Both their old location (near Table Mesa and Broadway, where they hope to return in a few years after renovations) and their new location (next to the East Boulder Rec Center) are so kid friendly. The spaces are open, well organized, clean and fun. There is so much to do, my kid is never bored. I appreciate that this childcare center serves food! This means that my picky eater is exposed to a lot more options than he would have been if we'd been packing his lunch. During the summer months, they have local farm fresh food delivered and they cook using those ingredients. My kid is excited to go to Rainbow every day, and I know that a big part of that is the relationship he has with each of the teachers. They are fond of him (even when he's... you know... 4) and they manage to keep impressive patience and gentle discipline. If you are looking for a childcare center for your potty-trained (or almost potty trained) kiddo, definitely go check these guys out and take a tour! You'll love it.

What a safe, warm, loving second home for my kids. What a blessing it was for my kids and our…read morewhole family. Karen and the rest of the staff are personal, professional, and care so deeply and so well for the kids!