Creating and engaging with art is one of the most valuable aspects of the human experience. A city without a space for creatives to learn from each other and display their work is a city without life.
The Greeley Creative District, covering the University District and Downtown Development District area, aims to give Greeley’s residents a place to express their creativity and pursue art in all its expressions. While the arts departments at UNC focus on campus and student expression, GCD looks to provide a space for any interested creatives, student or not.
Shelly Gaza, first vice president of GCD and a professor of acting at UNC, said she hopes the Greeley Creative District can provide the city with a future in art.
“I want students to also realize that there are some really great opportunities, especially for creatives, in Greeley,” Gaza said.
While Gaza’s goals center around UNC students seeing the potential for the arts in Greeley, GCD’s goals go beyond that.
According to GCD’s website, its mission is to “highlight the community’s distinctive creative identity and increase its economic vitality by uplifting, encouraging, incubating, promoting, and developing the arts and creative businesses in the Greeley community.”
Through its multitude of events, GCD works to support artists and their visions. The organization’s “Cacophony of Creatives,” held in the summer at the Atlas Theater at 709 16th St., brings together a variety of artists in a series of networking and educational events, designed to enrich the Greeley art scene and provide creatives with an avenue to share ideas and hone their skills. The event also serves as a space for artists to work through potential obstacles, such as writer’s block.
The GCD board plans to expand the district in the coming months, as the renovation of a retired funeral home the organization acquired in 2024 is underway, soon to be transformed into the Creative Center of Greeley, a permanent location for GCD. The building, previously owned by Macy-Allnutt Funeral Home according to GCD’s website, is located at 702 13th Street.
“We love that we are giving new life to what was a funeral home,” Gaza said with a laugh.
The building will enter its first phase this fall according to Gaza, providing lounge and meeting spaces for creatives, retail space for local artists, maker spaces for artists to work on larger projects and offices. Fundraising is ongoing as GCD works to meet their goal of $8.8 million.
Phase two of the building has no set date yet, as funding has not been reached, but will feature an art gallery, private studios, theaters and dance studios for artists to showcase their work.
“Creative businesses can really help the overall growth of a city,” Gaza said.
GCD is also in the process of hiring a full-time executive director, who is expected to bring the organization’s vision to life and will oversee the building’s renovations. GCD is currently operated by a volunteer board.
Those interested in becoming involved in GCD can attend events or reach out to greeleycreativedistrict@gmail.com to possibly join the volunteer board or one of the organization’s volunteer committees.
GCD’s next event will be Do Tell! at 7 p.m. on April 17 at the Hensel Phelps Theatre at the Union Colony Civic Center located at 701 10th Ave. The event will highlight the voices and stories of five speakers connected to Greeley.
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