In recent years, Vail has been quietly developing a lively art scene, with a growing roster of commercial galleries and a robust public-art program. For a break from hiking, we spent a day taking in the art incorporated into Vail Village, popping into a handful of galleries and visiting a niche museum that gets to the heart of what makes Vail Vail.

Vail Art Walk

Vail has more than 70 works of art integrated into its public spaces, and the town’s free Vail Art Walk — an hourlong tour offered in summer — is the perfect way to discover them. Our guide, Art in Public Places coordinator Molly Eppard, led us around the village, showing us sculptures, murals and functional art interspersed throughout.

We began at the Vail Village Welcome Center, beneath Paul Vexler’s “Red Eddy,” a giant curlicue of Douglas fir and laminate suspended from the rafters. Inspired by the artist’s trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, it was the first of many pieces we might have overlooked without our guide’s prompt.