BRIGHTON —Nationally renowned artist Judith Dickinson has an oil painting studio that weaves between two thick iron jail cells and sprawls over an old booking table on South Main Street.
The oil portrait artist has been working out of Main Street Creatives, formerly Brighton’s jailhouse, since 2011 as she and dozens of other resident artists, art teachers and art students work to make the city’s only formal art gallery and artist studios a cultural cornerstone in downtown Brighton.
Painted canvases line the walls of former evidence rooms, and handmade jewelry is strung on displays inside old police vaults. Dickinson says the space is quirky and perfect, and has taken off in popularity — there’s a waiting list for artists to get studio space there, and the weekly painting classes offered for $20 are almost always full.
“About four years ago, the city approached me to start this project,” Dickinson, 65, said. “I already had my studio here in town, and I was running the (Art Academy of Colorado) not far from here. They asked me if I would come down here and help promote the arts and help with a revitalization of the downtown.”
The 7,000-square-foot gallery and art academy at 36 S. Main St. was created by Dickinson and the city as part of a revival effort aimed at transforming the historic town center into an arts and entertainment district.
“It was imperative that we have some kind of artist cooperative or artist incubator,” said Gary Montoya, manager of events and Brighton’s Downtown Initiative. “If we’re going to create an arts and entertainment district, we’ve got to put our money where our mouths are.”
The Downtown Initiative is a coordinated partnership with city organizations and downtown business owners to transform the formerly dingy and largely shuttered downtown area off Main Street and Colorado 85.
“It’s a renaissance effort,” Montoya said. “We’re looking to raise the district back to where it once was and really create that hometown piece that so many people remember.”
The district is in the 12th year of a 25-year tax increment financing sector. Since the Downtown Initiative was created, the economic growth in that sector has shown significant gains.
“About seven years ago, our vacancy level in the downtown area was between 50 and 60 percent,” Montoya said. “There were lots of empty storefronts and vacant windows, and our anchor downtown was a Salvation Army store … We went from the very unattractive, sort of left-by-the-wayside district to an area of town that is getting much more attention and really getting rediscovered.”
Today, there is only one vacant property available on Main Street.
“We are excited that there has been a good amount of activity with new, fun businesses opening downtown,” said Michael Martinez, interim director of the Brighton Economic Development Corp. “Our two newest — the Men’s Bodega, which offers fantastic men’s accessories, and Something Brewery — both represent a changing dynamic in the types of operations opening in the area. It also proves there is the desire to have these types of businesses from our community, which is very encouraging.”
The effort to reinvent downtown Brighton is spurred by its own growth, which attracted corporate retailers that initially stunted businesses there.
“The challenge had become other retail developments that were beginning to build around the area,” Montoya said. “As we began to see those bigger box stores coming into our community, there was less and less focus on downtown as a retail or even an entertainment-and-restaurant option.”
Retaining the historic character of Main Street is key. Downtown Brighton boasts one of the state’s original Main Streets. The city was incorporated in 1887.
“Brighton is fortunate to have a ‘historic downtown’ and the authenticity it provides to a modern city is truly an asset,” Martinez said. “Revitalizing such an asset not only keeps the history of Brighton, but provides a very neat atmosphere that is valuable to both the long-time residents as well as the millennials who seek this type of amenity.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or @Mmitchelldp
