Visual and performing artists, nonprofit arts organizations and commercial art galleries operating on the margin face an array of challenges as they struggle to survive, let alone develop and grow.
One of the most critical is finding and keeping safe, usable and, perhaps most important, affordable spaces for studios, rehearsals, exhibitions and performances – in short, all the activities that take place every day on Denver’s cultural scene.
To address this need and the many issues surrounding it, the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs has assembled the Mayor’s Task Force on Creative Spaces, with 20 members drawn from across city government and the arts community. To get the group started and help it gain a fuller sense of the many facets of the problem, the agency has organized what it expects will be a packed community meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. today at the Walnut Foundry, 3002 Walnut St.
“We may hear the same three things over and over again or we may hear 100 very different things, and we’re going to have to say, ‘Given what we hear from the community meeting, what is our best approach?”‘ said Ginger White.
As senior economic development specialist in the Office of Cultural Affairs, White repeatedly heard space concerns during interviews with artists and arts leaders across the city. The issue also emerged as a top priority during the Metro Arts Coalition’s recent efforts to put together a strategic arts plan.
But White quickly realized she couldn’t tackle the complex problem on her own.
“Because that issue touches on so many different aspects of what the city does and can do, it became very hard for me to broker that conversation individually with different departments or different individuals.
“And so, the idea was that we need to get all players at the table at the same time and look at this comprehensively and not in these little one-off conversations.”
That led to the creation of the task force, with White making a point of finding representatives from a broad range of arts disciplines.
“We’ve asked them to come wearing the hat of their genre,” she said, “but also try and be as equitable and inclusive as possible when we start talking about different issues and recognize that we are not going to be able to maybe fix 100 percent of everything for 100 percent of everybody.”
After meetings that are expected to last at least through July, the task force is scheduled to issue a report by the end of October.
White hopes it will not only include “quick-fix” suggestions that can be implemented easily but also directions that can guide the future work of the Office of Cultural Affairs.
In addition, she hopes the report will be taken into account in the city’s broader planning and development initiatives, including an overhaul of the city’s zoning code, which is expected to be completed in 18 months.
Rather than try to do everything, she anticipates the report will contain a limited number of goals that are realistic and at least potentially doable.
“We’re going to have place a filter on it that says, ‘What is the city able to do?’ And not everything I think that is going to come from the community is going to meet that particular criteria,” White said.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
Task force meeting
Open forum|Community meeting for Mayor’s Task Force on Creative Spaces, Walnut Foundry, 3002 Walnut St.; 4 to 6 p.m. today|Open to the public|720-865-4314 or denvergov.org/createdenver
