It's an artistic feast this week in the Vail Valley as visual and audible stimulation take center stage with great events to bring you joy and make you happy was we head into the Holiday season in earnest.

Head towards the weekend with a huge heaping dose of arts and culture as two great visual experiences kick things off for this week. On Wednesday (Dec. 14), get yourself over to The Sebastian for a 4 p.m. live painting experience hosted by Vail Fine Art Uncrated and featuring Western abstract expressionist Bradley Chance Hays. Chance Hays is a talented local rodeo athlete who also paints, a rare combination, but somehow appropriate given his wizardry with a brush. His live painting events have drawn huge crowds and his evocative, colorful pieces perfectly capture the essence of the West. Free. Dec. 14-16, 4 - 6 p.m. The Sebastian, 16 Vail Rd., Vail Village.

On Thursday (Dec. 15), keep the visual stimulation going with a new show featuring the work of photographer Steve Chinn. Hosted by the Avon Public Library, it’s a chance to savor the artistry of another talented local shooter, with landscapes and wildlife images shot Chinn has shot on location around the valley and across Colorado. Free. Dec. 15, 10 a.m., Avon Public Library, 200 Benchmark Rd., Avon.

While visual art is fine and makes your eyeballs happy, on Saturday it's time to treat your ears with a show at the Vilar featuring The Blind Boys of Alabama. Recognized around the world as both living legends and modern-day innovators, The Blind Boys aren't merely gospel singers borrowing from old traditions; the group helped to define those traditions in the 20th century and almost single-handedly created a new gospel sound for the 21st. Since the original members first sang together as kids at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in the late 1930s (including Jimmy Carter, who leads the group today), the band has persevered throughout seven decades to become one of  the most recognized and decorated roots music groups in the world. But don't believe us, give a listen to them here. $68 adult/$28 child. Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m., Vilar Performing Arts Center, 68 Avondale Ln., Beaver Creek.