Boulder has the country’s third-highest concentration of professional artists per capita, according to a frequently touted National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) study released last year. But spend any time strolling through major cultural arteries like Pearl Street, heavy on high-end dining and corporate outdoor gear retailers but light on art galleries and studios, and you might never know.
“There’s this disparity between the quality of the artists and the support for the arts,” says Marie-Juliette Bird, founder and executive director of the recently opened nonprofit arts center The New Local at 741 Pearl St. “So we’re trying to bridge that gap and create an elevated place for artists downtown where they can show their work to people who visit Boulder, so we can represent the city: Yes, we have amazing food here. We have trails; we have athletes — we also have a lot of really talented artists.”
Operating out of a late 19th-century Queen Anne Victorian home — the Arnett-Montgomery House, allegedly haunted by a friendly 10-year-old boy who died in 1902 — The New Local offers more than gallery and retail opportunities for local women-identifying creatives at its warm and welcoming West Pearl headquarters. It also provides discounted artist studio space, workshops and education-focused programs for makers of all ages.
“A lot of our classes are sliding scale and by donation, because we really want to create accessible, exceptional art education for everybody,” Bird says. “And then we also have affordable art spaces. We have studio artists upstairs and downstairs, and also in the annex [inside] another historic building down the street. … It’s a way to empower artists by providing a studio space where they can work, while also building bridges with the community.”
This drive to foster connection in the local art scene was forged in part through Bird’s personal experience as a creative abroad. Studying in London under David Courts, the multidisciplinary artist responsible for creating Keith Richards’ famous skull ring, Bird — whose own jewelry line Blackbird and the Snow is featured in the gallery — found herself seeking a creative support system upon returning to her native Boulder. That’s where her family was, where she cut her teeth as a young musician before moving away to attend Juilliard, so why couldn’t her art practice find a home here too?
“I just felt like you’ve just got to build it where you are,” Bird says. “If you feel like this isn’t the most thriving creative community, you just have to build it.”
Women to the front
Of course, as the oft-cited NEA study suggests, The New Local isn’t creating this art-forward energy out of thin air. Instead, its leadership team says the goal is to harness the kinetic creative power that currently exists right here in Boulder.
“It’s not about creating something new — [the artists] already have a community; they already have each other,” says Lynette Errante, director of operations. “We want to give them space to do what they’re already doing — a beautiful space, with access to more teachers.”
When it comes to the works on display and for sale in the gallery, visitors can expect to encounter discipline-spanning works by Boulder and Colorado artists, rotating with all-new pieces every six months. Whether it’s The New Local’s education programming, gallery displays, in-studio artists or community events, Bird says the idea is to break down notions of hierarchy in the creative sphere.
“It’s really important to me to have a lot of different disciplines alongside one another, as opposed to fine art being here and crafts here,” Bird says. “These are all creative professions; they all deserve to be alongside one another in an elevated space. We have people making bath salts with flowers that grow in the garden next to painters who have shown in museums. The main criteria is that it’s interesting, and you can see the maker’s hand in the work.”
But as the city’s only homegrown arts nonprofit run entirely by women, there’s a deeper guiding mission that touches each part of the young center’s growing operation. In addition to supporting creatives across disciplines through exhibitions, studio work and educational opportunities in a city hungry for all three, The New Local is ultimately bending its energy toward the uplift of women-identifying artists, designers and makers.
“There are so many women who don’t get a chance to share what they do best, as something so highly regarded,” Errante says. “I think women have a different way of reaching each other. I mean, anyone can take our classes [or enjoy our galleries] — men, boys, whatever. But there’s just something so nurturing about women being together in this space, and being able to share their gifts.”
ON VIEW: The New Local gallery opening reception: TNL Term II. 6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 15, The New Local, 741 Pearl St., Boulder. Free
