Some people know they are artists from a young age. For others, art arrives like a rescue rope dropped into the dark pit where they've been trapped. Regardless of how it emerged, creative expression enabled these innovators to share morsels of magic—one creation, one note, one laugh at a time.
Mike Jordan
Therapeutic Improv Instructor, Drama Coach
Everything changed for Mike Jordan the day he put a microwave in his classroom. The Escalante Middle School students were told to put their completed assignments in it. Baffled yet intrigued, they complied. In the ensuing weeks, participation, engagement, grades, and giggles rose.
Injecting comedy into the classroom was equal parts teaching tactic and self-help strategy. Jordan explains, “I ended up depressed and anxious. And what got me through a lot of it was my friends in the improv group. It didn’t necessarily solve anything, but it helped.”
The improv group was Durango Dot Comedy, which Jordan co-founded with Darrin Stevens and Jonathan Hunt. The group provoked chuckles and guffaws for 16 years. Knowing he lived in a place where people struggled with mental health in the Rocky Mountains, Jordan designed a therapeutic improv class in 2019. Six years later, it’s a fixture at the school. Key components include listening, yes-and attitudes, building relationships—and laughter.
The class alleviates anxiety and depression. Neurodivergent students thrive as they acquire skillful social and learning tools. Forced to improvise, Jordan notes, “You go places you’ve never gone before. You create things you never thought you would. You can impress yourself.”
John Baxendale
Luthier, Owner of JC Baxendale Guitars
When John Baxendale crafts a handmade, traditional-style guitar, he’s actually time-traveling. First, he dives 100 years backwards to replicate luthier techniques honed before the Second World War.
Baxendale began woodworking as a teen. “Through high school, I actually wanted to be a furniture maker. But my dad was a luthier, so I just kinda fell into it.”
Twenty years later, Baxendale boasts a two-year waitlist on custom orders—these in addition to guitars brought to the shop for repairs. The work is meticulous and painstaking. Baxendale explains, “Nothing on a guitar is flat. The top is domed, and the back is domed even more. There are angles to everything. If you have [the back and top] perfectly parallel, the sound will bounce back and forth and not travel. You kind of want it more erratic so it’s going out of the hole as fast as it can.”
If built correctly, Baxendale’s time travel will launch him a century forward. He notes, “I really want to make something that lasts longer than me. I wanna make something someone will see 100 years from now and think: That’s really good craftsmanship.”
Jason Lemon
Guitarist, iAM Music Instructor
Jason Lemon is a unique musician because he is a patisserie-trained guitarist. He states, “I spent many years working in professional kitchens and playing music mostly as a hobby.” Now, the tables have turned. Between teaching at iAM Music and performing with The Quarks and The Bulldoggers, music takes center stage.
High-end patisserie taught Lemon the difference between artistic craft and artistic expression. Arranging elements and ingredients for maximum intrigue and excitement is artistry; whereas replicating the arrangement on 200 more plates is craft.
And if music be the food of love, Lemon is currently enjoying a wildly diverse diet. He delves into funk, soul, and rhythm and blues with one band before switching to swing and swamp country for another. Thanks to his students, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift are in his repertoire.
Despite belonging to a musical family, music never struck a chord with Lemon—not all the old-timey stuff his elders adored. But then, a guitar instructor showed him how to play the genres that he loved. The more he played what he loved, the more he embraced new styles. Lemon aims to pass that infectious musical awakening to his audiences, noting, “I hope that it makes them want to open up to a variety of sounds.”
Adam Caver
Jeweler, Owner of Caver Jewelry
It happens like water. Flowing currents. Zero tension. That is what making jewelry feels like for Adam Caver.
“When I was doing ceramics—I loved ceramics because it was a challenge and I wasn’t good at it. I was like: Oh my god, I want to be able to do this! And then with jewelry, it’s just natural. There’s no resistance. I can look down, look back up, and it’ll be eight hours later.”
Caver began making beaded bracelets as a boy. He dabbled in watercolor painting, ceramics, and woodworking as a teen. He explains that after graduation, “I went searching for my medium. I went to a community college and took a jewelry class and was like: Okay, this is what I’m doing. I found my passion.”
Caver received a degree from the Gemological Institute of America and is a certified jeweler, gemologist, and stone setter. From his new shop and gallery on Main Avenue, Caver provides custom-designed wedding rings, prêt-à-porter pieces ready to buy, hat bling, and repairs.
Caver hopes his creations can wash away people’s inhibitions. “I hope [my jewelry] makes them feel more comfortable in their own skin. Make yourself feel better. Amplify your energy,” he says.