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Season of Sharing: Wright Opera House
The Wright Opera House plans to kick off a capital campaign in 2024 to help restore the 1888 building, including the historic Mesker facade. Erin McIntyre — Ouray County Plaindealer
Feature
December 20, 2023
Season of Sharing: Wright Opera House

Editor’s note: The Ouray County Plaindealer started publishing profiles of nonprofits between Thanksgiving and New Year’s in 2020 as a community service. The purpose of these profiles is to highlight the meaningful work being performed by these organizations and let the community know how they can help them even more, as the holidays approach and we reach the end of 2023. Nonprofit organizations that are based in Ouray County and serve Ouray County are eligible for these profiles.

Year established as a nonprofit: 2008

What does your organization do for Ouray County?

The Wright Opera House brings a diverse array of theatrical art performances, music, dance, education and social activities to our community. We pride ourselves on providing an inclusive space for art, creativity and learning. We also make our space available to anyone in the community to rent for private events.

What do you list as your greatest accomplishments in 2023?

We are excited announce that we’ve finished our beautiful new classroom space in the basement! It’s light, bright and warm, with a kitchenette, a full bathroom and gallery walls. This space is designed to be a boon for our community and will be offered for rent at a nominal fee to community members, ensuring there is an affordable and accessible classroom/ meeting space for locals!

What are some goals or projects you have planned for 2024?

We see The Wright Opera House as a year-round tourism draw in the future.

We believe that we can boost year round tourism business for our neighbors while attracting a crowd who are interested art and cultural activities, thus helping preserve our ecology and environment.

In order to accomplish this we need to finish restoring the building, including the historic Mesker facade, and reconfig- ure space to work more effectively.

We want to be able to continue, and even raise, the level of theatrical art and music we now offer. We will kick off a capital campaign in 2024 to raise the money for this important work!

Tell us how the community can help you do more here in Ouray County.

The Friends of the Wright Opera House so appreciate your generous donations to our endowment fund and our operating budget. We survive and thrive off of our community’s good will. At the end of the year we are filling in our operations budget and would greatly benefit from donations of any size. Right now we’re in the research stage of our capital campaign, details to follow in early 2024.

Thanks to Ann Fellin for providing this information.

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Feature, Main...
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Main, News...
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By Mike Wiggins and Erin McIntyre mike@ouraynews.com erin@ouraynews.com 
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A judge has sentenced a Ridgway man to three years in prison for sexually assaulting a 28-year-old woman in 2023 after he claimed he was drunk and thought she was his wife. Brian Scranton, 49, hugged ...
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News
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By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
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News
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By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
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Closures of beloved hiking and off-highway vehicle trails in and around Ouray County this summer could congest and pressure other areas. The popular Blue Lakes trailhead is closed through August due t...
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News
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By Lia Salvatierra lia@ouraynews.com 
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WOMAN OF THE YEAR
Feature
WOMAN OF THE YEAR
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Editor Picks
Ouray film festival returns to the big screen
Feature
Ouray film festival returns to the big screen
Sixth-annual event offers international flavor in intimate setting June 19-22
By Erin McIntyre erin@ouraynews.com 
June 11, 2025
Whether you're looking to pop in and view a block of short films or immerse yourself in a cultural experience melding cinema, dance and food, the sixth-annual Ouray International Film Festival has a j...
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Meet your neighbor: Amy Exstrum
Feature
Meet your neighbor: Amy Exstrum
By By Chloe Kiparsky Plaindealer intern 
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Name: Amy Exstrum Lives in: Ouray Age: 61 What’s your profession? Well, I’m retired now, but I spent many years as a vocational home economics teacher and the owner of Ouray Bookshop, which we sold to...
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Feature
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THURSDAY JUNE 12 LIVE MUSIC: Mountain Air Music Series presents Hayley Jane Band with Heavy Diamond Ring. 6 p.m. at Fellin Park in Ouray. Free. FRIDAY JUNE 13 NATURE PROGRAM: "Mustangs of Spring Creek...
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News
CLARIFICATION
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Columns, Opinion...
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