EVOLVING & CHANGING
This has been a tough few years for art galleries across the country and especially in Denver. Buyers and browsers alike have been hardpressed to keep up with all of the operations that have closed, changed neighborhoods or altered their fare to meet evolving consumer habits.
The shift has been pronounced in this region, where galleries — which typically operate on small profit margins — have also had to deal with rising real estate prices in the gentrifying urban core.
The problem, of course, is the internet. Despite their hallowed atmosphere, galleries are just regular brick-and-mortar retail operations. And you can ask Sears or Barnes & Noble or American Apparel just how difficult it is maintain a presence on
Main Street when everyone is shopping online. Denver still has its share of great galleries. Stalwarts like Rule, Robischon, Sandra Phillips and Havu remain excellent sources for the work of artists in Denver and beyond. They can be counted on for their good taste and the excellent exhibitions they stage for public consumption. Visit them. Acquire. But new models have come along lately that offer a hint of how the artbuying system is changing. They each pull a switch on the usual gallery-artist-consumer relationship that formerly emphasized the personality of the gallerist and now gives a little more power to the idea of a partner-
ship between the interested parties.
Here’s a look.
Foolproof Contemporary Art: The shared-space model
Foolproof opened its doors in the Rino Arts District this spring, bringing a new and ambitious art space to a part of town that urgently needs galleries to keep its culture-friendly reputation viable. Rino used to be a place where new spaces got their start; now the rents are simply too high for most galleries.
The gallery is owned and operated by respected Denver artist Laura Phelps Rogers, but she’s not going it alone. Rogers is inviting other artists to” “share” the space, which means they can rent a spot on the walls to show and sell their work. It’s not 100 percent pay-to-play; artists have to apply and Rogers will vet them so they’re up to par.
Buying in is relatively inexpensive — the website offers time on one rear wall, for example, for $250. But then artists only give Foolproof a 20 percent commission on sales, instead of the usual 50 percent galleries usually collect.
Next up: Foolproof hopes to build a buzz with temporary shows and pop-up events. The next pop-up takes place on Aug. 25, for one day only, and is timed with the annual vintage car show and music festival on Larimer Street in Rino.
Location: 3240 Larimer St. Info: foolproofcontemporaryart.com.
1412 Gallery Collective:
The all-for-one model
1412 is a business-savvy response to the internet age from two established Denver galleries and an ambitious newcomer. And it has quickly become one of the most dependable showplaces for art fans to simply stop in and have a look.
Loyal customer bases and growing internet sales meant both Abend Gallery (formerly on East Colfax) and Gallery 1261 (formerly in the Golden Triangle) needed less space to make business happen. So they downsized and moved in together into an upscale retail spot in Lodo. Joining them is K Contemporary, a new operation run by Doug Kacena, an artist with deep roots in Colorado art retail.
The roommate situation cuts costs and allows each gallery to feed off of the other’s energy, and it seems to be working. K Contemporary quickly signed on to its roster a number of museum-level talents, including Monique Crine, Suchitra Mattai, Daisy Patton, Melissa Furness and Mario Zoots. The future looks promising.
Next up: K Contemporary has Michael Gadlin in the project space though Aug. 25.
Location: 1412 Wazee St. Info: kcontemporaryart.com.
808 Projects: The philanthropist-friendly model
808 Projects burst onto the scene in June and quickly gained a reputation for presenting some of the best artists and most cohesive exhibits in town — including a rare ceramics show featuring Dini Dixon and the recently closed “Made in Colorado” extravaganza that showcased some of the state’s biggest talents.
It’s secret: It’s subsidized. Gallery owner Wayne Rogers also owns the building at 808 Santa Fe Drive and other properties in Denver and lets artists occupy the space for free. He’s not a curator himself but he does have a knack for handing the keys over to folks with an eye for quality efforts “I don’t expect to make any money or sell anything,” he explained this week. Though, the gallery is starting to sell.
And he is giving artists, including emerging voices imported from Denver’s Redline art center, a place to show and offering the community a good option for gallery hopping — instead of collecting rent from a paying tenant. It makes you want to go there and buy something.
Next up: A Clay Hawkley solo exhibit runs through Aug 25. In the fall, Colorado legend Senga Nengudi will show, followed by an exhibit co-curated by local names Mardee Goff and Theresa Anderson. Serious stuff.
Location: 808 Santa Fe Drive. Info: 808projects.com.
Juicebox:
The art-as-community
model
Consider the many ways a thinking, progressive community operates: People get together, exchange ideas, learn from one another, network professionally. Juicebox hopes to be that for Denver’s rising visual artists — or, as the gallery itself puts it, “like a friend who can recommend really good music, only in the arts.”
It sounds adorable and, to be honest, it is. The rehabbed Rino space is small and staffed by Aaron Mulligan and Lucía Rodríguez, a married couple who met in art school and raised $8,920 on Kickstarter to get things going. They’ve been showing up-and-comers in the front gallery space but also recognized artists who are lending support, and their work for exhibition, including Gretchen Marie
Pasternack’s 40 West Arts Hub: The co-op model
The fledgling, 40 West Arts District is putting Lakewood on the regional cultural map with galleries, theaters and other assorted and usual attractions. (including the one-day hopeful Colfax Museum). The strip is powered, not by big-money investments, but by upstarts who see the state-certified arts district as a place where new operations can have a chance to succeed.
The Arts Hub is the perfect example. Owner Scott Pasternack is adapting the old Pasternack’s Pawn Shop into a mass gallery where artists can rent mini-spaces, all under one-roof, and set up shop. It’s sort of like one of those open-plan antique co-ops where one seller’s wares overlap on the next.
The space is still in development — give it some time — but it looks promising. Already a few artists have moved in, and since they’re creative types, the stalls are colorful and loaded with personality. The artists are often on-site, too, and ready to chat, which adds a rich dimension to a visit. There’s an outdoor space in the back that will occasionally feature live music.
Next up: More and more occupants as time goes on.
Location: 6851 West Colfax Ave., Lakewood. Info: facebook.com/ Pasternacks40westartshub
Ray Mark Rinaldi (media@rayrinaldi.com) is a veteran arts writer and critic based in Denver.