October 2-5
original thinkers festival 2025
Discover Original Thinkers — where ideas come alive in bold new ways through:
• Captivating Films • Inspiring Speakers • Memorable Art • Unique Performances • Soul-Stirring Adventures
the schedule
OT box office will be located at Patagonia and will be open:
Thursday, October 2: 1 - 6 pm
Friday, October 3: 10 am - 6 pm
Saturday, October 4: 10 am - 6 pm
Sunday, October 5: 10 - 11 am
All events at the Wilkinson Public Library are free to the public.
Seating is limited. OT pass holders will be seated first with the public after.
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1 – 6 pm
Box Office Open - OT Box Office at Patagonia
2 – 6 pm
Grace Reins Equine Therapy with Erin Cain - Meet at OT Box Office at Patagonia - Experience included for Eureka Pass holders. $50 donation to Grace Reins (501c3) for Big Idea Passholders (Max Participants - 10)
6 – 10:30 pm
Opening Gathering & Afterparty - Woodear
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9 - 10:30 am
Tea and Tarot with Jade Rose - Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
10 am - 6 pm
Box Office Open- OT Box Office at Patagonia
10:30 am – Noon
Collective Art Project with Molina Speaks and Hayley - Wilkinson Public Library Patio
2:30 - 3:30 pm
How to Go a Little Less Crazy in a Completely Crazy Time with Kate Woodsome - Wilkinson Public Library Patio
4:30 - 6 pm
The Singular Power of Iboga with Rachel Kolar and Orpheo McCord - Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
8 - 8:30 pm
Welcome Music by Anekke Dean - TelCo/ Heard Gallery
8:30 - 10:30 pm
Inside the Mind of Matthew Modine - TelCo/ Heard Gallery
10:30 pm – Midnight
After party - TelCo/ Heard Gallery
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9-10 am
Connect Passed with Present - Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
10 am-6 pm
Box Office Open - OT Box Office at Patagonia
10 am-Noon
OT Women’s Circle - Mother Medicine with Rachel Kolar - Pinhead Institute World Headquarters
10 am-Noon
Telluride Men’s Health Club with David Holbrooke and Orpheo McCord - The Grand
1-3 pm
Tea Trek with Living Tea’s Colin Hudon - Meet at OT Box Office at Patagonia (Max Participants-20)
1:30-2:30 pm
Ecstatic Dance with Jennifer Turner - Pinhead Institute World Headquarters (Max Participants-20)
3-4:30 pm
Equine Therapy Talk with Erin Cain & Peace Officer Preview - Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
5-6 pm
Terrible Beauty with Auden Schendler - Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
4:30-8 pm
KOTO Street Dance - Main Street Telluride
7:30-8 pm
Welcome Music by Jeff Streitmatter - TelCo/Heard Gallery
8-10 pm
Sabbath Queen Screening with Director Sandi Dubowski - TelCo/Heard Gallery
10-11 pm
Afterparty - Liz
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9:30-11:30 am
Matthew Modine Presents: If…Dog…Rabbit - Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
10-11 am
Box Office Open - OT Box Office at Patagonia
Noon-2 pm
Picnic at the Cemetery - Lone Tree Cemetery
2-3 pm
Mental Health and Democracy Small Group with Kate Woodsome - Pinhead Institute World Headquarters (Max Participants - 10)
2-6 pm
Grace Reins Equine Therapy with Erin Cain - Meet at OT Box Office at Patagonia Experience included for Eureka Pass holders. $50 donation to Grace Reins (501c3) for Big Idea Passholders (Max Participants-10)
the people
Matthew Modine
Matthew Modine is a curious cat whose fresh and lively intellect inform a wide-ranging yet fully grounded worldview. He leans into life with his work as an actor, director and yes, thinker. He has worked with some of the best directors including Stanley Kubrick in the unforgettable Full Metal Jacket in which he starred as Joker, the tortured soldier. Matthew has also created a body of work with his short films that is really unusual for their playfulness and their observation of a world gone mad. Original Thinkers is excited to welcome Matthew for his first time in Telluride.
Rachel Kolar
Rachel lovingly upholds a Private Practice specializing in artistic, ceremonial, and therapeutic approaches to healing through live music and medicine, designing and facilitating private and group gatherings, rituals, and rites of passage. She provides therapeutic support for her clients and community, specializing in experiential learning, bespoke preparation and integration, couples therapy, optimization, and assisting individuals in returning to their baseline after challenging life experiences.
Orpheo McCord
Orpheo lovingly upholds a Private Practice specializing in ceremonial and therapeutic approaches to healing through live music and medicine. Through McCord’s continuous exploration of non-ordinary states of consciousness, he developed a unique sonic palette used to facilitate and activate these states.
He is co-founder and composer for Chromasonic, creating immersive experiences exploring the relationship between light and sound and has been an active member of the Grammy award winning group Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros since the group’s inception in 2009.
Kate Woodsome
Kate has spent more than two decades reporting and leading news teams on the frontlines of global and domestic upheaval, studying democracy, trauma, and repair from Cuba to Cambodia, Hong Kong to D.C. She worked for the Voice of America, Al Jazeera English, and The Washington Post, where the story became personal.
Kate founded Invisible Threads, a media, education, and action hub exploring how mental health and democracy are intertwined. As a visiting affiliate scholar at Georgetown University's Psychology Department and senior fellow with the school's Red House research unit, she bring science-backed approaches to her workshops, speaking engagements, and coaching practice.
Adrian Molina, aka Molina Speaks
Adrian H Molina, aka Molina Speaks, is an artist, poet, and master of ceremonies. Molina is a New America Us@250 Fellow. He does it all at Warm Cookies from program design to poetic scribing to coordinating our Future Town program.
Auden Schendler
Auden Schendler spent twenty-six years running sustainability programs at Aspen One, which operates ski resorts, hotels, restaurants, and retail stores. He focuses on scale solutions to climate change, including clean-energy development, policy, advocacy, movement building, and activism.
An avid outdoorsman and “dirtbag,” he has climbed Denali, North America’s highest peak; kayaked the Grand Canyon in winter; and twice ascended Mount Rainier’s Liberty Ridge: the first time terrified, the second competently.
Sandi Dubowski
Sandi DuBowski is the Director/Producer of Sabbath Queen, Director/Producer of Trembling Before G-d, Producer of A Jihad for Love, and Co-Producer of Budrus.
From 2009-2016, DuBowski worked with over 125 of the world’s best social justice documentaries as the Outreach Director of Doc Society’s Good Pitch. He is Co-Founder of The Creative Resistance, a collective of media makers who create award-winning political ads and design. In the mid-1990’s he began his media and activism work at Planned Parenthood Federation of America focused on the Christian right and the anti-abortion movement.
Three generations of DuBowski’s family made chocolate syrup in Deep Coastal Brooklyn.
Bill Masters
Bill Masters graduated from college with a degree in criminal justice and moved to Telluride, Colorado in 1974. He had no intention of putting his education to use and instead was planning to become a ski bum. Telluride had been a mining town and the ski area had just opened and there were a lot of unruly characters around so when the Town Marshall found out what Masters had studied, he essentially drafted the young man into service not long after he arrived.
That same Town Marshall soon resigned to take a bigger job and the 23-year old Masters was now in charge of law enforcement in Telluride. He looked particularly young and was very green so the ornery miners who had lived there for a long time had little patience for him and his efforts to enforce the law. Yet Masters stayed with it and by 1980, became the Sheriff of San Miguel County, an elected position he has held for 45 years.
Colin Hudon
Owner and founder Colin Hudon developed Living Tea through his lifelong immersion in Tea and Tao. As an herbalist, acupuncturist, and practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine, he discovered through the tea ceremony a means of sharing the extraordinary depth of Eastern traditions in the West. Following many years of study and travel throughout Asia, Colin began sharing tea with others as a form of moving meditation and living art. Thousands of tea ceremonies later, Living Tea continues to share this way, these old-growth trees, and this ancient tradition with you.
Jenn Turner
Jenn Turner is a yoga teacher, ecstatic dance facilitator, functional fitness instructor, and certified holistic health coach (FDN-P). With over 500 hours of yoga education (E-RYT 500), she specializes in yoga, somatic movement as medicine, and cycle-based lifestyle & functional fitness training for women. Her teaching experience spans beginners to advanced practitioners, as well as professional athletes and those with physical limitations. Jenn approaches her practice, teaching, and all of life with a sense of curiosity, athleticism, and joy. She holds sacred space for transformative movement, breathwork, and dropping into the innate healing powers of the body through storytelling, conscious surrender, mindfulness, and integration. Her greatest joy is sharing the practices that have profoundly impacted her own life, and she continues to be inspired by the transformative power of dance, yoga and holistic wellness. Jenn offers classes and workshops in Ridgway, Colorado, online, and at retreats worldwide.
Jade Rose
Jade Rose has a Masters in Fine art and a master's in Social Work. She has been teaching Pranakriya yoga and meditation since 2008. Her paintings, writings, and philosophy revolve around the unity of all beings. The abstract realism of her work reflects her vision: that we are one with our breath, with the water we drink, and with the mountains we see. Magic is present at this moment. Jade Rose has been reading tarot for twenty years, she has written four books on the subject. Tarot card reading is like looking at oneself through the clarifying reflection of an intuitive friend. In her Tea and Tarot sessions, you will participate as Jade leads a Tea Ceremony and interprets the tarot cards drawn from her deck. Tarot is not about reading the future or divining destiny. The cards are a set of elemental archetypes so ancient and true that we find ourselves magnetized to those that speak to our present situation.
Erin Cain
With over 25 years of experience in Equine Facilitated Therapies, I am a PATH International Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor and Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning. My passion lies in facilitating the profound connection between horses and humans, creating transformative experiences that foster healing and personal growth.
Through working with the mustangs, individuals are guided on a journey of discovery, leveraging the unique ability of horses to impart valuable life lessons in trust, communication, and self-awareness. By harnessing this powerful bond, participants learn new ways to overcome challenges, build confidence, and cultivate inner peace. I am deeply grateful to have found my calling in this field and remain committed to positively impacting the lives of those I serve.
Erin Cain is the founder of Grace Reins Equine Therapy Ranch in Telluride, Colorado. She offers specialized equine-assisted therapy that encourages emotional healing, self-reflection, and empowerment. Erin's work is rooted in the understanding that horses provide invaluable mirrors for personal growth, allowing participants to reflect on their emotional patterns, build resilience, and develop deeper self-awareness.
Jeff Streitmatter
Jeff Streitmatter IV grew up in Florida and began his career as an engineering consultant for companies like Lockheed Martin. His mother forced him into piano lessons as a youngster saying, “you’ll thank me - one day!” After leaving his job during the pandemic, he found opportunities playing in nursing homes, eventually joining a band and putting together original music productions telling his story of how he met true love in a dream. Jeff is an all state cellist, a barbershop singer, and a talented improviser.
Even though Jeff is endowed with gratitude to his mom for his creative gifts, he’s been firmly warned by his mother not to write any songs about her. Works & Achievements 2013 – All State Cellist 2023 – Produced musical Madisyn & Me 2023 – Casper Thunderbirds sculpture 2024 – Feature w/ Wyoming Poet Laureate 2024 – Opener at Ouray Film Festival 2025 – Opener at Venice Italian Festival 2025 – Film "A Psychedelic Odyssey"
Matt Hardesty
Matt Hardesty (aka whadubber) blends real-time sampling and electronic production with live instrumentation to create an energetic digital analog sound.
Anneke Dean
Anneke grew up in Denver, CO where she started playing violin at the age of 8. She studied all through high school and college, receiving her bachelor's degree in violin performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. After graduating, she moved to Telluride, CO to explore different music genres and be a part time ski bum. She met her bandmates, Birds of Play, in 2020 and has been touring all over the western states with them for the better part of the last 5 years.
Shortly after joining the band, Anneke began to find her own voice as a singer and songwriter, and has since performed as a solo artist across Colorado, often highlighting her shows with a loop pedal. She has recently returned to the Denver area to pursue more classical music opportunities and continue growing her songwriting career.
Hayley Stewart
Hayley Stewart is a bilingual educator and artist working at the intersections of language, arts and culture. She has eight years of experience as a public school educator and leads summer arts education programs at the Denver Art Museum. She is a mixed media artist, currently focused on watercolor and collage.
Stevie Selby
Stevie Selby is a self-taught photographer, videographer, and DJ who exceeds industry standards through his unique brand of grit and creativity. With a versatile style that demonstrates his family’s roots on the east and west coasts, this Denver native also feels right at home among the MountainScapes. Stevie has photographed numerous artists, musicians, and creatives, capturing sold-out shows for notable names like Masego, Chris Rob, and the James Brown Band.
the films
Sabbath Queen
SABBATH QUEEN, a feature documentary filmed over 21 years, follows Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie's epic journey as the dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel. He is torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul—an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation.
Sabbath Queen Screening with Director Sandi Dubowski
8-10 PM, Saturday, October 4 at TelCo/Heard Gallery
Sandi spent more than twenty years making this epic documentary about Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie who is the dynastic heir to 38 (thirty-eight) generations of Orthodox Rabbis. Is it his destiny to continue on this long road or find his own truth? We watch Amichai come to his decision as he embraces a drag queen rebel, a queer Bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul - “an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation.” This film is unexpected and honest with a power that persuades us that it is time to radically reinvent religion and ritual, challenge patriarchy and supremacy and we will explore all that in conversation with Sandi after the screening.
if…dog…rabbit
If... Dog... Rabbit is a 1999 American crime drama thriller film written, directed by and starring Matthew Modine, in his feature film debut as a director. It also stars John Hurt, Kevin J. O'Connor, Bruce Dern, David Keith and Lisa Marie.
Matthew Modine Presents: If…Dog…Rabbit
9:30-11:30 AM, Sunday, October 5 at Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
Matthew Modine directed this 1999 crime caper co-starring Bruce Dern and John Hurt and will talk about his motivations in making this and what he was working to express with this work.
Inside the Mind of Matthew Modine
8:30-10:30 PM, Friday, October 3 at TelCo/Heard Gallery
Actor Matthew Modine’s extensive filmography is remarkable yet what most people don’t know about his long, successful career is that he has also written, produced and directed many thought-provoking short films. Hosted by OT Ringleader David Holbrooke this program will be a terrific mix of these sharp, smart films interspersed with a lively conversation with Matthew about how his fresh and deep worldview informs this work.
peace officer
OT Ringleader David Holbrooke is directing a feature documentary about Sheriff Bill Masters who retired after fifty years serving San Miguel County, Colorado. He started his career as the Town Marshall of Telluride and then went on to be re-elected 12 times as Sheriff, before retiring in June. The film has the working title of Peace Officer and this program will share a few scenes from the far from finished film, followed by a wide-ranging conversation with Sheriff Masters.
Grace Reins and Peace Officer Preview
3-4:30 PM, Saturday, October 4 at Wilkinson Public Library Common Room
Hosted by Telluride’s Jen Julia, this program consists of two compelling Telluride stories. First, local Erin Cain of Grace Reins will talk about her work with horses and people and how the two species help heal each other through listening, grace and respect. This will be followed by a preview of OT Ringleader David Holbrooke’s new documentary, Peace Officer, about San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters who retired after fifty years keeping the peace here. The audience will be the first to see several edited scenes from the far from finished film that will tell Bill’s singular story in three acts, the wild story of Telluride in three acts and the complicated story of the Drug War in three acts.
Entropy
This graceful and lyrical short film is brought to us by Rachel Kolar and it showcases the Moon Valley Choir in Ojai, California where she lives.
the activities
talks
How to Go a Little Less Crazy in a Completely Crazy Time with Kate Woodsome;
2:30-3:30 PM, Friday, October 3 at Wilkinson Public Library Patio
Kate first came to OT 2022, with a short doc she produced for the Washington Post, called Bring Them Home, about Iranian-Americans abducted by the Iranian regime. Now, she returns to the Telluride in a very different time and space in her life, having left the Post and founded a new and essential venture called Invisible Threads. It’s an "independent media platform where Kate is transforming how people understand the connections between the unseen forces of trauma, civic engagement, and democracy.” As we watch the United States lurch into a scary and dangerous collapse, how we handle this mentally and psychologically, is essential and Kate will explain what is happening to our brain and how we can give us the best emotional regulation skills to grapple with these staggering times.
The Singular Power of Iboga with Rachel Kolar and Orpheo McCord
4:30-6 PM, Friday, October 3 at Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
Rachel Kolar and Orpheo McCord are longtime friends of OT, returning in yet another inspiring iteration. Orpheo first came in 2019 with Studio ChromaSonic, the art collective that installed the immersive sound and light experience Fluid State in the Deep Creek Mine. Since then, he and Rachel have continued to share their visionary artistry and boundary-pushing work with the community.
This year, they will join OT Ringleader in conversation about Iboga, a sacred plant medicine from Gabon that is emerging as a powerful healer for trauma, addiction, and the stimulation of neural regeneration. Together they will also explore the art and science of initiation, and why it is vital for cultures that have lost their connection to soul. Their talk will be followed by the screening of a short film directed by Rachel.
Terrible Beauty with Auden Schendler
5-6:15 PM, Saturday, October 4 at Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
Auden has been thinking, writing and working in the environmental space for decades. He was head of the environmental programs at the Aspen Ski Area until recently and is now continuing the work of greening the outdoor industry. This new book, Terrible Beauty looks at how the environmental movement has its own climate complicity and how we can grapple with what we know of this slow-motion unfolding tragedy. Auden's answer is by being more of a force and stepping beyond what we have done previously. “What we need to solve climate change is a movement of people, like revolutions through the ages. The only way to get massive social change is through the heart.”
Mental Health and Democracy Small Group with Kate Woodsome
2-3 PM, Sunday, October 5 at Pinhead Institute World Headquarters
Kate has established herself as an expert on the ever more critical intersection between mental health and this small session will help you learn how to cope when your country is collapsing. (Max capacity-10)
Activities
Grace Reins Equine Therapy with Erin Cain
2-6 PM, Thursday, October 2 and 2-6 PM Sunday, October 6 meet at OT box office at Patagonia
Erin is a Telluride local who has been working with humans and horses, helping both creatures heal themselves. The horses are mustangs who were rescued and brought into Grace Reins. Each animal - like each person - has their own story and their own struggles, creating a bond and understanding that runs deep. Erin says she is “integrating therapeutic techniques with the healing presence of horses, fostering spaces where people can explore, feel and remember who they are beneath the noise.” (Max capacity-10)
Tea & Tarot with Jade Rose
9-10:30 AM, Friday, October 3 at Wilkinson Public Library Community Room
Jade Rose who also is our 2025 poster artist, will lead Tea and Tarot, which has become an OT annual. Please sign up for this at hospitality and she is also offering private readings. (Max capacity-12)
Collective Art Project with Molina Speaks and Hayley
10:30 AM - Noon, Friday, October 3 at Wilkinson Public Library Patio
Warm Cookies of the Revolution calls itself “the World’s First Civic’s Health Club” and their focus is gathering people in creative and fun ways to better understand how we can shape our community and country. Molina Speaks, a poet from Warm Cookies, along with his partner Hayley, will lead us all in co-creating a visual art experience on canvas. Drop in and paint or collage or blackout poetry; be part of something beautiful.
Tea Trek with Living Tea, Colin Hudon
1-3 PM, Saturday, October 4 meet at OT box office at Patagonia
Colin has been an integral part of Original Thinkers since our inception and actually moved here permanently after serving tea at our first festival. For these tea treks, he takes a small group out into the woods where we sit together in contemplation, while he very deliberately serves tea. It is a lovely way to spend time in nature, while enjoying his special blends from Living Tea. (Max capacity-20)
Ecstatic Dance with Jennifer Turner
1:30-2:30 PM, Saturday, October 4 at Pinhead Institute World Headquarters
Ecstatic Dance is an immersive experience of movement, freedom of expression and fun that has the potential of opening you to a state of flow and feeling that allows for a journey of reconnection back to yourself. Dance is our birthright and the universal language of the soul, and this is for anyone who wants to move, not just expert dancers. We dance as we are. No alcohol. No phones, photography, or video. No expectations or judgements. Just be yourself with respect for ourselves, the space, and one another. The experience is facilitated by Jenn Turner who is based in Ridgway and approaches her practice, teaching, and all of life with a sense of curiosity, athleticism, and joy. (Max capacity-20)
gatherings
Opening Gathering & Afterparty
6-10:30 PM, Thursday, October 2 at Wood Ear
Our opening dinner at Woodear is a perfect way to open the festival, starting with their terrific passed apps and a cash bar. Then, at 7: 30 our welcoming program starts with Molina Speaks who is a poet and a big part of Warm Cookies of the Revolution, the civics health club from Denver that played a big role at OT last year. Performing with Whadubber on beats, Molina will “prompt the radical imagination” that will set the tone for the rest of the festival.
Mother Medicine with Rachel Kolar
10 AM-Noon, Saturday, October 4 at Pinhead Institute World Headquarters
Women or people identifying as women will gather with Rachel Kolar as she leads the group in a powerful journey designed to empower mothers as leaders, rooted in the lived wisdom of mothering. Mother Medicine isn’t about learning something new, but remembering what has always been present. The strength you’ve cultivated through mothering prepares you to step forward as a creator, guide, and leader for the future.
Telluride Men’s Health Club with David Holbrooke and Orpheo McCord
10 AM-Noon, Saturday, October 4 at The Grand
Men are notoriously bad about taking care of their health, a pattern explored in the New York Times recently. Of course, this happens here in Telluride with all too many premature and preventable deaths felling seemingly strong and healthy men. This gathering is meant to help men - not just from here but from anywhere - help themselves by both talking about our health and taking action to ensure we can continue to be active and vital. This can happen through both standard and effective medical diagnostics such as colonoscopies, prostate exams, skin and heart screenings as well as taking care of oneself mentally. This is the first gathering of the Telluride Men’s Health Club so come and help shape this initiative so that it can help us all live long, strong and healthy lives.
Picnic at the Cemetery
Noon-2 PM, Sunday, October 5 at Lone Tree Cemetery
Last year, we worked with Warm Cookies of the Revolution to hold our closing event at our wonderful local cemetery. Warm Cookies believes that there is a lot to be learned about where we live from the cemetery as it can offer lessons not only from the past but for the present and even the future. Plus, it is a terrific view of our box canyon that not many of us savor. We will hold our annual Big Idea roundtable there this year.
the partners
