COVID brought new hurdles, but East Side Art Institute is prepared

In January 2020, East Side Art Institute board members Nancy Utterback and Kathy Griffin painted a vision of a communal workshop for artists. They described how they were working on pitching the idea to the Boulder County Commissioners and were hopeful for approval.

They were approved, but then COVID hit, drastically overthrowing their plans. "We were gearing up to do fundraising events and giving lots of classes," explained Utterback. Unfortunately, they had to stop those plans with the new social distancing guidelines, and have since had to switch gears.

But with the new year, vaccines on the horizon and a growing interest, the institute is preparing to dive right back into the process. The major goal is to actually buy the land and start building their studio. So, they are looking into ways to fundraise and are looking for people to help with writing grants. The land has already been selected, it's a 14.2-acre lot near Highway 287 and Isabelle Road.

"This will serve everyone, but we can't do it alone," said Utterback. She hopes that not only will individuals be inspired to get involved, but also local municipalities. "We really want more of the community to have a say in how we move forward. Knowing you're going to impact the community for decades, that's an awesome opportunity, so I hope people take us up on that."

Part of this shared-community input is coming from the fact that they are looking for other partners. The institute has already been reaching out to local, sustainable gardens to contribute not only landscaping, but also horticultural and botanical workshops and classes. Utterback and others at the institute believe that art isn't just the usual suspects of painting, pottery, etc., so they want to make the institute as accessible as possible for all people.

"There are so many people who are aching to be creative," she said. Utterback added that the institute was able to host a few smaller workshops over the holidays and that people have jumped on the opportunity. By summer, they hope to start bringing people back, but the institute is still being careful. "We want to make sure that people feel safe coming back to a more intimate space," said Utterback.

She and Griffin are hopeful and optimistic about both coming back in the summer and for the future. This is largely due to the fact that the institute's circle of support has grown to include other Colorado nonprofits to work with them to "get everything moving" abd also due to the fact that people seem to want to get back into the studios.

For more information about the institute, or to get involved, please visit https://eastsideartinstitute.org/