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.

 

RedLine’s Mission

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

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RedLine’s Vision

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

 

RedLine’s Values

Community Responsiveness
Artist-Focused
Bold Vision
Approachability
Deep Connections

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Socially Engaged Art at RedLine

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

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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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Big IDEA Work at RedLine

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.

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The RedLine Team

Featured
Robin Alli Gallite, Interim Executive Director
Robin Alli Gallite, Interim Executive Director

Robin is an educator, youth advocate, and nonprofit leader with a passion for fashion and a quasi-Buddhist sensibility. 

Before joining the RedLine team in 2011, she spent five years teaching middle school math and visual arts in Aurora Public Schools, as well as one year teaching in Monterrey, Mexico.

Robin holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology, with a focus on mental health in schools, and believes that artists can be powerful agents for social change through education and community engagement.

Over her 13 years at RedLine, Robin has been privileged to work at the intersection of art and social justice, challenging conventional ways of teaching, thinking, making art, and being in the world.

Jane Sook Burke, Art Director & Chief Curator
Jane Sook Burke, Art Director & Chief Curator

Jane Burke has over two decades of experience in non-profit arts administration, gained from positions held in encyclopedic and contemporary art museums, as well as alternative art organizations.

She has concurrently worked as an independent curator, juror, and advisor for galleries, universities, and government agencies, while pursuing her ongoing research interests in the cross-cultural construction of identity and intersectional social change through the lens of visual and material culture.

Before joining RedLine, Burke most recently served as Executive Director of Union Hall and just prior, as the curator at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art from 2022–2024. Previously, she was the curatorial fellow for the Textile Art & Fashion department at the Denver Art Museum for nearly eight years.

Before relocating back to Colorado, she held curatorial and collections positions at the Honolulu Museum of Art, The Contemporary Museum, and The East West Center Gallery in Honolulu, Hawai’i.

Burke received a bachelor’s degree in studio art with an emphasis on painting from the University of Colorado at Boulder and obtained an interdisciplinary master’s degree in Asian art history and Mandarin from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.

Tya Alisa Anthony, Community and Art Education Director
Tya Alisa Anthony, Community and Art Education Director

Tya Alisa Anthony is an interdisciplinary artist, independent curator, and cultural leader with over 20 years of experience advancing inclusion, identity, and impact-driven change in the arts. 

Her senior leadership spans directing education and community initiatives, advising cultural institutions, and shaping equity practices at local, state, and national levels.

Anthony has served as a curator, juror, and advisor for museums, state arts agencies, and municipal offices. Recognized as a RedLine Artist-in-Residence Alumni and BFA Valedictorian (summa cum laude) from Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, she merges her creative practice with her commitment to systemic change.

She currently serves on the Advisory Boards of Leon Gallery and the Colorado Photographic Arts Center.

Scott Anderson, Development Director
Scott Anderson, Development Director

Scott Anderson brings 15+ years of experience and leadership in fundraising, nonprofit management, and consulting to RedLine. Mr. Anderson is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Denver, as well as the Institute for Leaders in Development at the University of Denver (IDL).

Prior to RedLine, Mr. Anderson was the Interim Chief Development Officer, at the Denver Zoo, Development Director at KIPP Colorado, and Development Director at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Additionally, he is a former board member of RedLine and served as Chair of their Development Committee.

Mr. Anderson will provide strategic and tactical leadership on all development efforts, including the engagement of individuals and families, corporations, foundations, and other institutional funders.

For questions about supporting RedLine, please contact Scott at sanderson@redlineart.org

Shaunie Berry, Assistant Director of Community & Education
Shaunie Berry, Assistant Director of Community & Education

Shaunie is an artist, educator and integrative health advocate. In her free time she enjoys creating mixed media art and portraits, being outside, trying new breweries and spending time with loved ones.

She has worked with many diverse organizations and especially enjoys working with LGBTQIA+ populations and youth. Before coming to RedLine, Shaunie was a Physical Education teacher at a charter school for several years.

With BFA and a Masters in Public Health- Community Health Education, she is interested in using art as a means to support mental health and well being.

She believes that the experience of creating can be truly enlightening and lead to positive health outcomes and life outlook. It is only right to share these gifts for the betterment of communities. “Art healing, art is medicine, art is protest, art is self care.”

Reach out to Shaunie with any questions regarding Youth Art Mentoring at sberry@redlineart.org

Leigh Kargol, Art Programs Manager
Leigh Kargol, Art Programs Manager

Leigh is a Colorado native who studied Art History at the University of Kansas. She has spent many years volunteering in various arts and literacy non-profits in Colorado, as well as in New York and Chicago.

As the Art Programs Manager, she collaborates with the Arts Director to ensure program engagement and success—including the Artist-in-residency program, exhibitions, and more.

She believes that through many mediums art can transform communities and prompt social change.

For questions about Art Programming, email: lkargol@redlineart.org

Michelle Batalla, Operations Manager
Michelle Batalla, Operations Manager

Michelle is a Colorado native who serves as the Operations Manager at RedLine Contemporary Art Center. She supports the care and management of RedLine’s facilities, ensuring the space feels accessible, safe, and welcoming for all who enter.

With a background in customer service and event coordination, Michelle brings a people-centered approach to her work. Guided by kindness and respect, she works to ensure a welcoming and supportive experience for all visitors to RedLine.

In addition to managing building operations, Michelle also serves as RedLine’s Visitor Services and Volunteer Manager—a role she takes great pride in. She enjoys working closely with volunteers and supporting them as they build meaningful connections and community with RedLine.

Michelle earned her degree in Ethnic Studies with a minor in History from the University of Colorado Denver. Through her studies and lived experience, she developed a strong belief in social justice, equity, and community care. She is driven by a belief in equity and social justice, and in creating spaces that uphold dignity, access, and belonging for all.

Andre Carbonell, Development Coordinator
Andre Carbonell, Development Coordinator

Andre Carbonell, B.K.A Hakeem Furious, is an international performance artist/writer, facilitating artist, and community organizer. Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, he’s developing his talents in the Rocky Mountains.

He graduated from a Southern performing arts high school as a theater major, and developed a knack for words as he got involved with the spoken word community established at Florida A&M University, an HBCU that cultivated his understanding, appreciation, and preservation of black culture and resilience.

Currently, he travels the country performing poetry & comedy, curating shows, and fundraising as development coordinator at RedLine Contemporary Art Center.

Omar Baca Cota, Visitor Services & Volunteer Coordinator
Omar Baca Cota, Visitor Services & Volunteer Coordinator

Omar is an arts professional and community volunteer from Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He brings a rigorous background in visitor experience and volunteer engagement to his role at RedLine Contemporary Art Center.

Prior to joining RedLine, Omar worked at the Clyfford Still Museum, and has contributed to the arts community through extensive volunteer service. He is a Secondary School Tour Docent at the Denver Art Museum, where he also serves as the 2025–2026 Volunteer Lead.

Focused on building meaningful relationships with individuals and communities, Omar is inspired by the way creativity supports personal and collective transformation every day at RedLine.

Tiffany Medina, Reach Studio Facilitator
Tiffany Medina, Reach Studio Facilitator

Tiffany is a Denver-based interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersections of perception, spirituality, and healing.

Through an intuitive and experimental approach, she transforms materials such as clay, steel, and papier-mâché into evocative forms that bridge concept and process.

Each work becomes a meditation on transformation—an exploration of how the tactile and the metaphysical meet.

Tiffany’s practice reflects a deep commitment to creating spaces for connection, reflection, and restoration, where art becomes both a personal and communal act of healing.

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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RedLine Board of Directors

 
Featured
Dr. Ellamaria Ray, Co-Chair
Dr. Ellamaria Ray, Co-Chair

Dr. Ella Maria Ray is an associate professor of African American studies and visual anthropology, a student of the Jamaican Rastafari movement, and a visionary creator of material culture. She creates a relationship between ethnographic data and visual art as a tool for understanding our human experience. Thus far, Dr. Ray’s sojourn has led her to Cortona, Italy, as an artist-in-residence for the University of Georgia’s Study Abroad Program and to fellowships at the University of California, Davis, and Colorado College, Colorado Springs, to analysis ethnographic data, and explore humanity through visual art.

Susan Lewis, Co- Chair
Susan Lewis, Co- Chair

Susan Young Lewis is a self-employed interior designer, home renovator, and proud Redline volunteer. She has spent time on the boards of Academia Ana Marie Sandoval and Lazos Education Fund and is passionate about arts and education. She has always been drawn to art and feels deeply connected to Redline’s mission to create positive social change in the community through art. For fun she loves to study Russian, play harp, travel, and throw weird theme parties.

Mark Bell, Vice Chair
Mark Bell, Vice Chair

Mark Bell has practiced law in Colorado for 25 years emphasizing business, finance, and real estate transactions and litigation. He holds the designation of a Best Lawyer in America, preeminent ranking in each of his practice areas, and is currently a partner with the national firm, Stinson LLP. Mark's passions are alternative music, art, and literature.

Mark is an avid but mediocre visual artist and writer of poetry and dark fiction. His favorite haunts are Mission Ballroom, the Tattered Cover on Colfax, and the Continental Club in Austin, Texas where he attended college. His community involvement is extensive and focuses on furthering the arts in Denver and assisting those suffering from addiction.

Mark also supports Lighthouse Writers Workshop, Colorado's literary hub, and Recovery Dharma, an international addiction recovery program based on Buddhist principles. Mark has two amazing daughters and enjoys an urban lifestyle, living and working in downtown Denver.

Marlene Price, Treasurer
Marlene Price, Treasurer

Marlene Price’s appreciation for and commitment to the diversity, complexity, and beauty of our world formed early as the youngest of a world-traveling military family. After she graduated from the University of Colorado, with a degree in Chemistry / Biochemistry, she took advantage of experiencing the variety of the US, through numerous work assignment locations, during her 30+ engineering and leadership career. Marlene’s commitment to proactive community support and engagement has included volunteerism and board membership for numerous art and cultural organizations and museums, as well as working with organizations focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). Her recent relocation back to Denver CO is providing her opportunities to leverage her skills and experiences in her hometown.

Patricia Ho, Secretary
Patricia Ho, Secretary

Patricia (Patty) Ho is a Seattle-area native that made her way to Boulder and then Denver as an attorney.  Practicing in the areas of intellectual property (copyright, patent, trademark) and commercial litigation at Denver-based Sheridan Ross P.C., she provides counseling and litigation services to a range of clients, from individual business owners in Denver to large corporations.  She values connection to her local community, and is committed to providing her experience and legal mindset in furthering RedLine's mission.

Karla Dakin
Karla Dakin

Karla Dakin is a landscape architect and an artist. Her practice focuses on plant-driven design of landscapes, food gardens and green roofs for private residences, museums and public spaces, as well as commercial projects. As a leader in the field, Dakin creates green spaces that push our expectations of landscape and engage all five senses, making places that are both ecologically sound and aesthetically resonant.

Since founding K. Dakin Design in 1997, Dakin has completed over 100 residential landscapes, two major museum roof gardens and dozens of commercial and public projects. She co-authored The Professional Design Guide to Green Roofs (published by Timber Press in 2013) and lectures internationally on subjects ranging from the future of green roofs to food gardens and the relationship between art practice and landscape architecture. In addition to being a licensed landscape architect, Dakin has studied permaculture and biodynamic gardening, giving her a level of horticultural knowledge that is rare in the field.

Dakin brings over 20 years of experience in landscape architecture to each project as well as a professional background and aesthetic sensibility polished by her early years working in the international art worlds of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Her practice hinges on the understanding that each project has a unique context, both human and ecological. For Dakin, the design process is a collaboration between landscape architect, client and site: both a discipline and an art.

Terry Dowd
Terry Dowd

Terry Dowd, trained artist and architect, Retired President of Terry Dowd, Inc., in Chicago and former Partner in Ship Art -Terry Dowd LLC in Denver. Established fine art services company in 1978 in Chicago to provide comprehensive services to the arts community. Terry Dowd directed the growth of TDI to become the premier service provider in the Midwest Region specializing in the handling of art and artifacts. In 2001, established and developed the Denver office to serve the Mountain/Plains Region.

Terry continues to consult on the secure handling of thousands of sensitive objects of all sizes and shapes. He has participated in numerous panels and programs focusing on best practices for handling and caring for fine art and artifacts.

He has also been involved in commercial real estate investment, development, and management since 1985, focusing on repurposing underutilized commercial property. In 2022, Terry began investing and engaging with the digital mining industry to seek and explore new opportunities.

His personal interests include travel, motor sports, snow skiing, surfing, and cycling.

Laura Merage, Founder
Laura Merage, Founder

Laura Merage is an artist/photographer with works in public and private collections nationally and internationally. She has launched several philanthropic organizations, including RedLine and Black Cube, experimental art museums that operates nomadically and works with artists to produce pop up exhibitions in unexpected places. Laura serves on the Anti-Defamation League Board of Directors (Mountain States Region and National), and is deeply committed to their mission of promoting justice and fair treatment to all.

Sharon Hicks
Sharon Hicks

Careers

View open positions with RedLine below!

REACH Program Resource Navigator (Contract)

Applications reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

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