The Art Gym introduces new facility with multi-artist exhibit.

“Why Art Gym” opens April 16 at 1460 Leyden Street in Denver.

(Denver) Most people are familiar with an exercise gym. Individuals purchase a membership to have access to workout equipment that they would not normally purchase on their own due to budget and space restraints. The Art Gym is a similar concept, however, artists join to exercise their creative discipline using the tools of their trade that are often difficult to access due to similar cost and space restraints. On Thursday, April 16, 2015 from 5-8 pm the public will be introduced to a facility that brings this concept to life in Denver. The exhibition ‘Why Art Gym’ will be on display in the space and will be showing Thursday and Fridays, 12-6 pm and Saturdays 12-4 pm through May 2, 2015.

The Art Gym is expansive building at 1460 Leyden Street, near Colfax and Monaco that provides common-use areas separated by the art disciplines of culinary, digital, drawing, metalsmithing, painting, performance, printmaking, sculpture and writing. Daily entrance to much of the building will require membership. The basic and specialized equipment available will include such things as a lithography press and a lapidary genie. The spaces open to the public include a beverage and snack bar and the art gallery.

Visitors to the introductory evening will be treated to an exhibit of artists who, in the spirit of collaboration that the ArtGym looks to foster, served on focus groups that helped determine the type of equipment that would be best utilized. The intent of the exhibit is to introduce the space and educate about its uses and thank these artists. Exhibitors include, Hillary Klemme- painting; Carol Ann Waugh- textile art; Victoria Eubanks, mixed media encaustic; Mark Lunning, printmaking; Diena McDougald, photography; Greg Friedler, photography; Kathleen Sherman, sculpture; Rik Sargent, sculpture; Vickie Stevinson, jewelry; David Garcia, sculpture; Gov Landrum, digital art, Matt McClusky, food; Glen Eastwood, food and drinks.

Memberships will be open to seasoned and emerging artists who can demonstrate through an application and portfolio process that they are grounded in their area of interest. They need to show that they, through formal training or field experience, are knowledgeable about proper and safe use of the equipment and materials. A basic membership to The Art Gym will include small locker, access to member common spaces, access to open work surfaces in the area designated for their discipline, area to exhibit work samples in the gallery, meeting space, wireless internet and a resource library. Other spaces, equipment, supplies, exhibits and classes will be available to members for an additional fee based on usage.

The Art Gym offers 17,000 square feet of space in a re-purposed 1950’s building that has been a grocery store, auto service garage and a phone company service garage. A mezzanine was added to the interior space and the heating, ventilation, plumbing and electrical systems have been replaced entirely. The facility was designed to serve as a legacy building for artists rather than as an interim step to later retail or commercial development that pushes artists out.

The construction of the facility is nearly complete, however it will be open in stages as process and procedures for managing the space are developed and finalized. Interested artists are encouraged to sign up on the website www.artgymcolorado.com to receive future emails as information becomes available on the application process and availability of different areas.