The Creative Center of Greeley

A Message from the Board

Our Greeley Creative community is exceptional. Over the last decade, we’ve endeavored to amplify the profile of our talented local creatives, support their success through skill-building and networking, and stimulate growth in this important sector of our economy. We’ve long imagined establishing a place where everyone in our community can engage their creative interests, expand their talents and success, and explore new ways to problem-solve and interpret our world imaginatively.

Last year, a community member generously offered to initiate a fund to help make this vision possible, setting our wheels in motion. Since then, we’ve acquired a remarkable historic site in the middle of our District, surveyed the creative community to plan this space, and determined what will be needed to bring this vision to life. Our Creative Center is located at 702 13th Street, a site originally owned and operated by the Macy-Allnutt Funeral Home for over a century. A creative re-imagination of this space has inspired us to design a place where we can serve our purpose in a dynamic and exciting way. View our concept plan to see why we are so excited and determined to advance this vision. We have a strong start and hope we can count you among the visionaries who help create this special space for our community.

BOARD OFFICERS

Becky Safarik, President
Shelly Gaza, First Vice-President
Benjamin Snow, Second Vice-President
Andy Nagel, Treasurer
Karen Baumgartner, Secretary

The Place/The Plan

Our market survey helped us focus and prioritize the use of space to best serve and support our local talent and interests through a community-focused Creative Center. As reflected in our concept layout, the 14,000+ sq. ft. building will be devoted to creative spaces and works, performance and movement areas, galleries, event areas, classrooms, studio and maker spaces, flex and multi-purpose activities, and a retail shop to sell works by local artists. Work will progress in phases as funding becomes available, allowing us to adjust the plans in response to emerging and developing opportunities.

Join our “Founding Family” of investors in this important work

Our building project is ambitious at $8.8M, but thanks to the generosity of our founding donor and grants, we have more than 25% of the funding in place. This has allowed us to acquire the property, initiate improvements, and look forward to a partial opening in 2025.

We contemplate phased development of the site which will allow us to take advantage of emerging space needs and opportunities. With each funding goal reached we can open up new space in the building for community use.

We are looking to area leaders to take advantage of our momentum and advance the development of this special space with a Founding Member Investment.

“I grew up on and own a working ranch started by my grandparents over a hundred years ago a few miles from Greeley, which has been our primary go-to town for business, entertainment and people connections. I have come to very much appreciate the various forms of art that are fostered and promoted by the City of Greeley, the University of Northern Colorado, businesses that make their home here, and several creative art organizations. Not being an artist, but loving many forms of art, I wanted to make a contribution to our thriving creative community. Working with the Board of The Greeley Creative District, I have made a financial contribution to help purchase a site near downtown and initiate its redevelopment as a center for creativity and the arts. I hope others who also appreciate the arts will join me in bringing this project to its full potential.”

— Roy Wardell, Platteville

SUPPORT THE CREATIVE CENTER OF GREELEY AS A FOUNDING MEMBER:

• With a cash donation

• With a direct donation from a Donor Advised Fund

• As a recurring donation

• In the form of an in-kind gift (vehicle, real estate, personal property, stock securities, etc.)

• In the form of a donation of labor, materials or furnishings for the Center

RECOGNITION OF YOUR DONATION

All Founding Member donations over $50,000 will be recognized on our donor wall, included in our annual report, and listed on our webpage, unless an anonymous donation is preferred.

Recognition can be in the form of acknowledging:

• An individual, foundation or business

• As part of a group gift

• In memory or honor of someone special or for a special occasion

• In the naming of a room or space in the building

Contact us to Start a Conversation

Please call 970-373-5223 or email our Executive Director, Jason Evenson jason@greeleycreativedistrict.org.

Our Work In The Community

The Greeley Creative District is a non-profit organization formed to highlight, promote, grow and support our local creative community and businesses. We host events that showcase local talent, offer opportunities for creatives and celebrate Greeley’s unique cultural identity. Here are a few snapshots from our initiatives:

The Impact of your gift

The Greeley Creative District is a 501c3 Charitable organization through the IRS as well as a Colorado Charity, so your donation may be tax deductable (consult with your tax advisor). In addition as of October 2023, the Greeley Creative District is a qualified Enterprise Zone project! This means that your donation to the District of $100 and up to $400,000 may qualify for a 25% Colorado Income Tax credit.

EXAMPLE

The impact on income tax costs given the scenario of a contributor in the 33 percent federal tax bracket who gives a gift of $1,000:

• Initial Donation Amount $1,000

  • Federal Income Tax Deduction -$330

  • Colorado Income Tax Deduction -$46

  • Colorado State Tax Credit -$250

• After tax impact of donation $374

If you cannot use all of your credits in a given tax year, you can carry forward the balance up to five years.
The above example is for illustrative purposes only. Please consult your tax professional to relate this to your particular circumstances.