After a two-year Covid-induced hiatus, Breckcreate will relaunch its Breckenridge International Festival of Arts on Friday for a 10-day run.

Tor Linzee, Breckcreate’s marketing director, is out of breath. “Sorry,” he wheezes, “I was installing a unicorn in the woods.”

Apparently, these are the types of things Breckcreate does to prepare for the festival’s triumphant return. The unicorn is courtesy of artist-in-residence Calder Camin, who specializes in creating art out of trash.

Linzee’s new to the job, only two months in, and he’s nose-deep in International Festival planning.

“This is so important,” he said. “Breck is known for its world-class outdoor recreation — you know, the hiking, the biking. Integrating art adds an additional

layer to our community. It elevates quality of place.”

The festival’s goal is the seamless elevation of the natural world through art. Every exhibit is meant to complement Breckenridge’s landscape. All the “artists, all the installations,” says Linzee, “they’re working within the natural environment.”

Linzee is passionate about opening the Breckenridge International Festival of Arts without all that “hoity-toity” art with a capital “A” stuff.

“Festivals like this get a bad rap,” he says. “You don’t need money or an artistic eye or anything to enjoy this.”

Linzee thinks of public art as “almost a community service,” and he’s doing the work to untangle the notions of art and inaccessibility. “This is a wondrous event,” he says. “Everyone should enjoy it.”

Art, here, doesn’t just mean oil paintings, it means dance and music and something called “sonic meditation.”

Notably, the festival is hosting the renowned New York-based dance theater organization Pilobolus. Breckcreate’s website credits the group with, “test(ing) the limits of human physicality.” Linzee’s excited — it’s set to be a “visually spectacular event.”

The festival is also putting on a “Revolution Music Series” led by artistic director and conductor Steven Schick as well as a host of other free and ticketed workshops and performances.