Collaboration is Key
The primary purpose of these monthly features is to shine a light on the people who make Carbondale not just cool, but also unique.
Corey Summers is often one of the people behind the curtain, an essential ingredient of the secret sauce, and someone you definitely want on your project team. You may have noticed the giant (and super cool) skeleton that watched over the Mountain Fair stage last summer? Yep, Corey was part of that collaboration, and has more exciting work to debut for the upcoming Carbondale Arts Fashion Show.
You are a Corey-Of-All-Trades, can you share your artistic background with us? How does your craftsmanship lend itself well to new avenues of creativity?
“I sort of fell into the arts backwards. My father owned a wood mill in Carbondale from the early 90s until 2019. I spent my whole life trying to avoid "taking over the family business". When I returned to the valley after dropping out of college, I worked at my fathers shop on and off and noticed a new machine in the corner collecting dust. It was a small hobby shop CNC machine my father couldn't figure out how to run. I spent the next 5 years with my head down and many nights that turned into mornings, saying yes to every possible project I could. I was a heavy participant in the music and art festival world at this time so it was not long before I found myself doing projects for festivals. My friend Wylie and I took one of our first bigger projects to Burning Man, and that quickly turned into building stages and large scale art professionally. And with large scale art comes a lot of different skills that really help to have. Everything from 3D modeling and rendering to soldering and coding for LED lighting to full scale stages that require 3d animation, professional show files, engineering wind load calculations and heavy machinery to build and install.
It was my passion for live art and musical performance that drove me to learn a variety of different skills to be able to implement what I wanted to build. And those skills led to my current business Pika Furniture Studio. We specialize in high end boutique furniture for clients here in the Roaring Fork Valley.
I was able to fuse together the traditional woodworking skills I learned from my father and the digital skills I learned through stage and art design into a business making purpose built artisan furniture along with other big and small scale art.”
The Mountain Fair skeleton this past summer was next level! What was the process in bringing that idea to life?
Do you often work in a collaborative environment?
“The skeleton was a big team effort, as is every year for Mountain Fair. I have never considered myself a big "ideas" guy. But I am really good at bringing ideas to life. The broad stroke stage ideas for the Mountain Fair stage always come from Carbondale Arts crew with an interpretation by Loren Wilder. Loren has a magical way of looking at the world and expressing ideas. The physical drawings and art were done by Brett Haynes of Bonedale Tattoo. He's an incredible artist and when I saw Loren's idea, I knew his art would fuse well with the overall project. When it comes to the actual custom video that brings everything to life, I always turn to my best friend Wylie Chenoweth. Wylie and I have been building art together since the beginning. So once I got the broad idea from Loren, the artwork from Brett, and video content from Wylie, it's up to me to physically build the parts we need for the stage, set up the show files for the performance, do the technical projection mapping, and then run the show live.
These types of projects do not happen without collaboration and I will be the first to tell you that I'm just one piece of a very talented collective of individuals. There are so many different aspects and moving parts to this style of art that no single person could do these types of projects in the time frames that we usually work in. No one is a master at everything, and you can get so many more things accomplished at a higher quality when you utilize different people with different skills. In my opinion the grander the project, the grander the team working on it. One person can do a lot, but it takes a team of people to make real magic.”
“In my opinion the grander the project, the grander the team working on it. One person can do a lot, but it takes a team of people to make real magic.”
We can't wait to see what you've been working on for the Fashion Show, can you give us a hint of what we can expect?
“This year we are hoping to make things a bit more immersive. We've designed the stage to feel a bit more encompassing and with a couple fun 3D elements for the models to move through and interact with. With the new advances in AI we are also able to make more custom content for the show creating more visual excitement between fashion lines. I'm hoping that the stage, custom visuals, and story can be as engaging as the fashion itself this year. I know the new team has some cool ideas they are working on. Overall I am excited to mix things up a bit this year.”
What are some other projects or offerings you've got up your sleeve? Where can folks go to find out more about project inquiries?
I'm currently in the process of starting a tool company, Pika DIY Rent. I wanted to start something where I could offer more help directly to Carbondale and the surrounding community. I realize everyone cannot afford custom furniture and artwork so I'd like to be able to inspire and provide a way for people to build their own without breaking the bank. With all of the online how to's these days, there are so many cool projects people can do themselves if they just had the tools available.
To get a hold of me for custom work or for the tool rental company you can visit our websites pikafurniturestudio.com OR pikadiyrent.com.