Busy local actor Rick Long has more years behind him than ahead, “so I thought it’s about time I start saying thank you,” he said.

Long is also an accomplished watercolor portrait artist who made some news ripples this summer when John Popper came upon one of Long’s unique portraits of the Blues Traveler frontman on social media. Popper not only bought a print for himself, the autographed original was sold at a charity auction and raised $1,325 for We Rock Cancer.

He’s kind of a big deal. Long’s enigmatic style has found its way into the collections and homes of Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, NFL stars John Elway, Emmanuel Sanders, Vernon Davis and Ian Cole, and hockey player Shane Ray.

Closer to home, Long decided to do an unusually good deed to celebrate good human beings in the Colorado theater community. He created a portrait show titled “Unsung” celebrating the accomplishments of 22 impactful Colorado theater artists. The dividing line wasn’t so much anonymity as positivity.

“I told myself when I started these portraits that I only wanted to paint those who have made a positive impact on me personally,” Long said. “These portraits were the most fun I have had painting in a long, long (pun probably intended) time.”

Long’s unique style might best be described as a “color explosion.” He first paints his subject with a watercolor base, then goes back in and adds fine details and small flourishes using ink. His goal is to capture the essence of his subject through the use of finely detailed fragments in bursts of color.

His portrait collection of actors, stage managers, directors and designers hung for the month of August in Vintage Theatre’s Monica Horn Gallery. They were first revealed at an all-comers party on Aug. 1.

Among those honored were 80-something property designer Beki Pineda, playwright Josh Hartwell, director Kelly Van Oosbree, Firehouse Theater Company producer Helen Hand, Arvada Center President and CEO Philip Sneed, Music Director Trent Hines and newly named Miners Alley Playhouse Education Director Heather Beasley. Stage manager Lara Maerz said Long’s portrait made her feel valued.

Some of the big-time local actors included Billie McBride and Jeff Parker. Each portrait was accompanied by a testimonial biography written by a range of surprise authors.

“Rick is a skilled visual artist,” Beasley said. “I think the exhibit he has created is really cool. I’m so happy and grateful to be part of a community-building project like this one.”

Long is a Colorado native, but he spent most of his life outside the state before returning in 2020. When the pandemic ended, Long enjoyed an uncommon run when he appeared in nine successive shows without a break at theaters all across Colorado, including the Cherry Creek Theatre in Denver and the Thingamajig Theater in Pagosa Springs. He was nominated for a 2022 Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Award for his performance as Big Daddy in Vintage Theatre’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

In 2023, Long has appeared in the Arvada Center’s children’s production of “Charlotte’s Web,” Town Hall Arts Center’s “Memphis” and “Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville” at the PACE Center in Parker. He also was hired to teach an acting class this fall as an adjunct at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“I am so grateful to be a working actor,” Long said, “and to be able to actually live that dream in my hometown is beyond measure.”

Coming up: Long will be the featured artist in the Littleton Town Hall Arts Center’s Stanton Art Gallery for a showing that will coincide with the company’s upcoming production of “Urinetown” from Jan. 26-Feb. 25.

It’s been a rough year in the performing arts and in the world, with tensions always seeming to be running high. Long’s gallery cooled the temperature a few degrees with splashes of color and pure goodwill.

“If people can hate for no reason,” said Long, “then I can love for no reason.”

Note: The True West Awards, now in their 23rd year, began as the Denver Post Ovation Awards in 2001. Denver Gazette Senior Arts Journalist John Moore celebrates the Colorado theater community by revisiting 30 good stories from the past year without categories or nominations.