About RedLine Contemporary Art Center

Located in the Five Points neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, RedLine Contemporary Art Center is a non-profit arts organization that fosters education and engagement between artists and communities to create positive social change.

 

To foster education and engagement between artists and communities to create positive social change.

 

RedLine’s Vision

That every person is empowered to create positive social change through art.

 

Community Responsiveness
Artist-Focused
Bold Vision
Approachability
Deep Connections

 

Discover what socially engaged art is and how RedLine’s programs embody socially engaged art practices.

 

About RedLine Contemporary Art Center

Founded in 2008, RedLine is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting emerging artists and providing creative opportunities for local residents.

We work to provide equitable access to the arts for under-resourced populations and grassroots organizations. This includes cultivating diverse communities of emerging artists to use socially-engaged art as a tool for positive change.

RedLine has launched more than 130 resident artists, engaged more than 10,400 students at under-resourced schools, provided space and resources for dozens of artists who are unhoused or experiencing hardship, and responded to community needs with creative solutions. 

End of Silence: A Punk Survey Gregg Deal exhibition opening reception. 2022. Photo credit: Adrienne Kendall.

RedLine’s facility of 22,000 square feet includes a main exhibition hall with 12-15 curated exhibitions per year, 18 resident artist studios (a two-year residency program that includes free studio space), a Community Studio for educational programing and community events, a Project Space responsive to evolving artist event and exhibition programming, and a library with a collection of over 8,000 books on art and art history. 

Applying a community-responsive model by first listening to our local communities, we co-create innovative solutions to social challenges alongside artists young and old, housed and unhoused, emerging and seasoned, with these strategic program areas: 

Artists-in-Residence Program

Youth Art Education

Contemporary Art Exhibitions

Community Art Programs

Regranting & Artist Grants

Creative Place-Keeping

With a history of responding to local societal needs through artistic interventions, RedLine is an essential and profoundly connected member of Denver's creative ecosystem and the go-to resource for professional artists and local communities to create positive social change.

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RedLine’s Mission

RedLine’s mission is to foster education and engagement between artists and communities to create positive social change.

RedLine’s mission is deeply committed to social justice, focusing on cultural responsiveness, social responsibility, and collective leadership to promote positive social change. 

Inclusion for RedLine means that programming, artists, and leadership reflect Denver’s diverse population and include key community members, leaders, and local residents. 

As a result, RedLine operates using a Methodology of Community Responsiveness that transforms ideas born from the community into implemented programs with the voice, experience, and leadership of constituents and participants inherently built into the process. 

Through outreach meetings with key community members and leaders, brown bag community lunches, and co-creating programs through partnerships with local organizations, RedLine creates pathways for members of nearby communities to be integrated into all facets of RedLine’s programming, including the planning process.


RedLine’s Values

Our values are to be community responsive, artist-focused, have bold vision, be approachable, and have deep connections with the Denver arts community. Learn more about what these values mean to us and tangible examples of how we put these values to practice below!

 

Community Responsiveness

We begin any collaborative project with conscious listening to understand and creatively respond to relevant social issues impacting our local communities. In this way, we can ensure that we center the voices of artists of all ages and honor the history and cultures of this specific place.

Example: Youth Art Mentoring — Youth Art Mentoring was created in response to the need for support of our neighborhood schools who were struggling because of the School Choice System.

 

Artist-Focused

We seek to understand the needs and experiences of Colorado artists through holistically supporting their ideas and practices. Our focus is on historically underrepresented artists of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.

Example: Reach Program — In response to the lack of support for artists who have experienced extreme financial hardship, are unhoused, or are in recovery, Reach was created as an artist-led studio art program that offers an inclusive space for artists to build their creative practice together and take the next steps in their lives.

 

Bold Vision

We are committed to playing a key supportive role within a dynamic art-centered ecosystem that promotes positive social change within and across different communities. At the heart of our approach is deep and authentic relationship-building that disrupts white supremacist culture.

Example: Satellite Studios — To increase the inventory of affordable studio space and live/work space to keep artists living and working in Colorado, RedLine has been working with developers, city planners, and private property owners to negotiate live and work spaces for Colorado artists.

 

Approachability

We believe in an ethos that values all people and their individual lived experiences. We strive to break down real and perceived barriers that make it difficult to fully engage with the creative process or the world of art by creating an inclusive, welcoming, accessible and equitable experience for everyone.

We are hyper-local in our neighborhood of Five Points in Denver, Colorado, and we engage with a multitude of residents by providing space and creative opportunities for them to connect.

Example: Art of Access — RedLine is a founding member of Art of Access, an alliance of eight Denver-area individuals and organizations who work to advance and connect accessible and inclusive practices across Denver’s cultural organizations.

 

Deep Connections

We value the longevity of our relationships within our communities. Our programs are community-responsive and designed to be holistic, long-term solutions to pressing social issues. 

Example: Creative Place-Keeping Projects — RedLine co-creates Creative Place-Keeping Projects to bring awareness, advocacy, and action to local issues brought to us by Denver community members.

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In addition to our mission and vision, RedLine is committed to living the work of IDEA (Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Access). We hold each other accountable through the Big IDEA Committee and our Big IDEA Advisory Circle.

The RedLine Team

RedLine Board of Directors

The RedLine Board of Directors is comprised of 17 members, including business professionals, community volunteers, nonprofit executives, and artists. Board terms are three years and can be renewed once. The Board meets every other month with a focus on fundraising and strategy.

Committees meet in the off months between board meetings. In addition to an Executive Committee comprised of board officers and the Executive Director, there are five committees open to board members, staff, artists, and community members: Finance, Fund Development, Education, Nominating & Governance, and Resident Artist Support.

The Board is currently focusing on fundraising, community outreach, and long-term sustainability but will also form short-term, project-specific task-forces around special initiatives as they surface.

 

Awards

2023 “Best Non-Profit Gallery” by Denver Westword

2020 “Business for the Arts Award” from Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA)

2020 “Best Resource for Artists in Distress” – Westword’s Best Of Arts & Entertainment 2020

2018 - “Best Incubator for Emerging Artists,” “Best Art Gallery Openings,” and “Best New Off-Street Art” – Westword’s Best of Denver 2018

2017 "Livingston Fellowship" from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. Awarded to RedLine's Executive Director, Louise Martorano, an honor that recognizes “promising nonprofit leaders who hold significant leadership roles in Colorado’s nonprofit sector.”

2017 Second Place Winner of Colorado Art Tank Grant. In support of “Moveable Feast,” a series of community dinners celebrating the Five Points neighborhood.

2016 Winner of Mayor's "Race & Justice Design Challenge." For RedLine's “Community Cypher” Project, with Creative Strategies for Change

2015 “Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts.” Organization that best embodies the priorities and values of the City of Denver's cultural plan, "Imagine 2020"

2015 PBS "News Hour." RedLine's Reach Studio Program receives national attention.

2015 "Partners in Change Award" from the Greenway Foundation.

2014 "Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts." The EPIC Arts Program is recognized for Unique Collaboration.

2014 "Colorado Museum Art Educator of Year Award" awarded to Robin Gallite, RedLine's Program Director, from Colorado Art Educators Association.

2012 - 2013 "Our Town Award" from the National Endowment of the Arts, with letters of recognition from Congresswoman Diana DeGette and Senator Michael Bennet.

2012 "Community Engagement Award" from Denver Public Schools.

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