New Nonprofit Status Refuels the Art Garage
By Erin Vanderberg / Editor
Five years ago, Barb McKee converted the old filling station on the southeast corner of 23rd and Kearney into the Art Garage. Now, she’s turning her community arts center into a nonprofit organization and is heralding in the new era with GAS, a green art sale taking place Wednesdays through August.
The reason for the transformation is simple: Barb is busy. In addition to running the Art Garage, she operates Surface Strategy, a company that executes large-scale, public art commissions throughout the country. (For local examples, imagine the beautiful concrete soundwall lining the TREX project on I-25 or the mosaic floor in DIA’s ‘A’ Concourse. Barb made those.)
“My studio work has become so incredibly intense and successful, that I’m tired now and I can’t do both,” she joked.
Nevertheless, Barb’s commitment to keeping the Art Garage open to the community is stronger than ever. Having lived on the 1700 block of Kearney for years, Barb is committed to the neighborhood and believes that northeast Denver needs a community art center.
In the past few months, she was able to capture the nonprofit status of the Community Arts Connection, put together a founding board – Pam Sweetser, Linda Siderius, Linda Brown, Trine Bumiller, Kirsten Kahn and Patricia Barr-Clarke – and write the requisite charter and bylaws.
“As a nonprofit, the Art Garage will now go beyond me, and will function without my financial backing, so that I can move aside one day,” said Barb
Not only will the status allow the Art Garage to access the sort of funding that allows other neighborhood art centers to thrive, it also allows the Art Garage to host their own fundraisers. The new nonprofit’s first fundraiser, GAS, is meant to highlight a rotating group of artists’ work, food trucks and produce, in addition to the work of the organization.
“The word ‘green’ is intended to function on two levels,” says Barb. “The sale will feature both produce and upcycled artwork.”
In the meantime, inside the Art Garage, the fifth summer of art classes for ages 3-12 are in full swing with a staff of over 20 teachers teaching painting, drawing, watercolor, cartooning, book arts, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, mosaics, stain glass and mixed media.
Barb is taking a one-year hiatus from Surface Strategy to fully invest her energy into the transition. She believes it needs to be done so that the nonprofit Art Garage has a strong foundation. When her Surface Strategy studio reopens, it will be in a new site.
The Art Garage is located at 6100 E. 23rd Ave. For more information, visit artgaragedenver.com or call 303-377-2353.