Member Highlight: Artspace Projects, Inc.

A person sits on the floor of a gallery, playing a stringed instrument while three people watch and listen.

By Dana Mattice, Vice President of National Advancement, Artspace

Tell us about you: provide a short bio or organization statement.

Artspace is a nonprofit organization with a mission to create, foster and preserve affordable and sustainable housing and work space for artists, entrepreneurs and the creative workforce. Across the country, Artspace has preserved or newly constructed 50+ affordable, sustainable, multifamily rental housing buildings for creatives and their families, including those with affordable community and commercial spaces on the entry levels. In Colorado, Artspace completed the Artspace Loveland Arts Campus in Loveland; is underway in Colorado Springs; and is part of the nation’s first state-driven initiative for affordable housing for artists and creatives, Space to Create Colorado, as the lead consultant and developer. Many Colorado cities and towns are facing a housing affordability crisis, and through our Artspace buildings, we help retain the cultural sector that generates community vitality and fosters economic growth. For Space to Create Colorado, Artspace has completed buildings in rural Trinidad and Ridgway, within their state-certified Creative Districts; and has projects coming up in Grand Lake, Salida, and Carbondale. Combining housing for the creative workforce with community arts spaces is helping to revive not just vacant buildings or empty lots, but Main Streets and surrounding communities. Artspace also shares our real estate knowledge via our Immersion program, which includes cohorts of cultural leaders on their own journeys to secure attainable space.

Share a story of how your organization engages with the business sector (i.e. sponsorship, volunteerism, etc.).
Peple sit in foldable chairs in the street at an event.

Ridgway Space to Create’s Grand Opening

Artspace is proud to partner with individuals—many from the business sector—and corporations who make philanthropic contributions that help make our arts spaces possible. These donations support construction and can include naming rights within our buildings. For example, in the historic Feed & Grain in Loveland, we have the Lisbeth & Earl Sethre Residential Wing and the Barry Floyd Studio Wing, made possible through the generous donation of Teresa & Paul Mueller. We also often have businesses sponsor our Groundbreakings and Ribbon Cutting events, achieving visibility for their business while enabling fun community celebrations. Recently, we were proud to have Raymond James as the sponsor of Ridgway Space to Create’s Grand Opening. Throughout the lifecycle of a project, Artspace also has many points of contact with the business sector including collaborating with local architects, general contractors, construction workers and on-site property management companies. Further, the creative communities fostered within Artspace buildings include creative entrepreneurs running their own cottage industries who interact with the business community as they utilize the services of vendors and suppliers. Artspace projects are built to inspire and invite engagement, collaboration, and involvement among residents and with their broader community including the business community.

How has this engagement with business benefitted you and your organization?
A group of peole stand on a stage at night, facing the camera and cheering.

Ridgway Space To Create Celebration

We would not be able to do what we do without the engagement of the business community—period.

How is your organization supporting the creative economy?

An affordable, safe, stable home and workspace is the foundation for a secure life where individuals and families can meet their goals and build for their futures. By providing workforce housing for creative entrepreneurs, Artspace’s community assets ensure that artists and service workers have attainable, safe and appropriate places to live, develop artistic practices and present art forms. Individuals and families can make contributions and connections in their community, guarantee their financial goals are accessible and provide stability for continued health, well-being and wealth-building opportunities. Further, Artspace’s communities contribute to the cultural fabric of the unique places where they operate and offer the public opportunities to engage in the arts, from attending art crawls or gallery exhibits to shopping creative retail spaces. Third-party research and direct survey results find that people living and working in our spaces feel they are better able to build their entrepreneurial careers, have more connections and collaborations and are thriving. Artspace also provides below-market rate space for hundreds of enterprises, start-up businesses and nonprofit organizations, allowing increased stabilization and impact in neighborhoods.

Why are you involved with CBCA?

CBCA plays a crucial role in validating the arts as an integral part of Colorado’s economy. For Artspace, being a member of CBCA means aligning with an organization that champions the artists and cultural organizations who are central to our own nonprofit mission. Further, demonstrating that “art is smart for business” resonates with Artspace, as we also recognize the importance of the arts in fostering economic growth including through the Space to Create Colorado program in which Artspace is the lead nonprofit consultant and developer. The shared commitment to the arts as an economic driver creates a synergy between Artspace and CBCA, amplifying impact on the cultural landscape.

If you would like more information about becoming a CBCA member, visit the CBCA Membership page or contact our Membership & Development Manager, Sarah Braverman at sbraverman@cbca.org.