When Art Comes to Town: This story is the second in a series as KUNC arts and culture reporter Stacy Nick explores the impact art has on Colorado communities 鈥� and the impact those communities have on the art that comes out of them.
Sun Valley is one of Denver鈥檚 poorest neighborhoods. More than 80 percent of households live below the poverty line and 70 percent of residents are unemployed. It also has the highest violent-crime rate, more than five times the citywide average.
But between a public-housing initiative, a proposed mixed鈥恥se neighborhood near the home of the Denver Broncos and several arts destinations moving into the area, Sun Valley is set to see more than a billion dollars in investments in the next five years.
Sitting outside of Rude Park Early Learning Center, Sun Valley resident Lisa Saenz said she鈥檚 excited.
鈥淭he changes that are coming, I just know they鈥檙e good changes,鈥� said Saenz, a single mother of two. 鈥淎nd probably five years from now -- maybe 10 -- it鈥檚 not even going to look the same. It鈥檚 going to be showcased (...) in a good way, not a negative thing anymore. Positive. Prosperous.鈥�
She didn鈥檛 always feel that way about Sun Valley. When she moved to the neighborhood eight years ago, she was escaping a violent marriage and homelessness.
鈥淚 kind of hid in my house, kept my blinds down, didn鈥檛 let the kids outside,鈥� Saenz said. 鈥淭hen I just got tired of what I was seeing and started getting involved and going to meetings. Making phone calls. Helping out my neighbors.鈥�
Less than half a mile away, underneath the I-70 viaduct, is a row of pastel buildings along Lower Colfax Avenue. It鈥檚 the former headquarters of the custom food processing company, Ready Foods.
Adrianna Abarca鈥檚 family started the company here in 1972. She has fond memories of Sun Valley.
鈥淛ust driving over the viaduct as a kid on the way home from downtown and seeing the old Star Bread sign lit up, it was always very exciting to me,鈥� Abarca said. 鈥淭his was our neighborhood; we had a lot of connection to it.鈥�
Ten years ago she and her father, Luis, began storing the family鈥檚 ever-growing Mexican art collection in the office. The plan was to eventually turn the building into the .
鈥淚 knew that I would have to create a museum specifically for the Abarca family collection because if I were to donate it to other institutions, most of it would end up in permanent storage,鈥� Abarca said. 鈥淚t would rarely see the light of day.鈥�
Abarca is now making that plan a reality. Phase one will include space for permanent exhibitions dedicated to Mexican heritage and Latin American art, a resource library, a 100-seat black-box theater, a restaurant and a store selling works from local artists.
Abarca thinks her dad, who passed away in 2012, would be pleased with the plans.
鈥淗e never saw himself as a collector,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e saw himself as a friend of the artists; he would encourage them, support them, buy some of their work.鈥�
The $12-million project is slated to open in 2020, but it鈥檚 not alone.
Big projects bring big change
鈥淲e鈥檝e been putting a lot of work into finding our next site, and Denver really grabbed us,鈥� said Meow Wolf CEO/co-founder Vince Kadlubek at a January press conference announcing the to Colorado in 2020.
The four-story, 90,000-square-foot permanent exhibition will spring up between the I-25, Colfax Avenue and Auraria Parkway viaducts on the eastern outskirts of Sun Valley. It鈥檚 anticipated to bring approximately 1.5 million visitors to the area each year.
鈥淗opefully we can create some jobs, and we can generate some profit, and that profit can go right back into the creative communities of Denver,鈥� Kadlubek said. 鈥淏ecause that鈥檚 where our heart is. That鈥檚 our social mission. That鈥檚 what we care about.鈥�
Further down the line is the possible .
The nonprofit venture between the Metropolitan Football Stadium District and the Denver Broncos Football Club is exploring a new, mixed鈥恥se neighborhood destination on the south end of the property at . The sprawling sea of parking lots are currently used only during games and special events.
鈥淭his is a unique opportunity for the district to become a year-round destination with places to live, eat, shop and enjoy,鈥� said Mac Freeman, chief commercial officer for the Denver Broncos, in a March press announcement of the plan. 鈥淪imilar to what many other sports teams around the country have done, this is a great chance to turn empty lots into family-friendly spaces that draw visitors throughout the year.鈥�
The first opportunity for the public to weigh in on the proposed plan was at a June 27 workshop at the stadium. To encourage a diverse group of attendees, organizers provided food, childcare and Spanish language interpreters.
Revitalization, not gentrification
Adrianna Abarca said she isn鈥檛 worried about a negative impact on Sun Valley from Meow Wolf, which has already reached out to the Latino community and its artists to work with them. That, she said, already shows that the community of Sun Valley -- which is roughly 50 percent Hispanic -- is a priority, not an afterthought. However, she is a little hesitant when it comes to the Stadium District.
鈥淭he vast majority of the development in Denver is very white-centric, and I find that very disturbing,鈥� Abarca said. 鈥淪o, I would hope that they would want to integrate other communities into their efforts.鈥�
Sun Valley needs revitalization, Abarca said. What it doesn鈥檛 need is gentrification.
鈥淕rocery stores, child care facilities, community centers, that鈥檚 how you keep a community vital and alive,鈥� she said.
That鈥檚 why five years ago the Sun Valley Community Coalition and Denver Housing Authority began to work together, creating the six-phase, $240 million redevelopment plan that kicked off this summer.
鈥淲e have strategically been going through our larger and older family communities, like Sun Valley Homes, with an eye toward not just improving the housing that鈥檚 there, but really transforming the neighborhood completely,鈥� said DHA executive director Ismael Guerrero.
Beginning this year, all 333 units of , Denver鈥檚 oldest public housing neighborhood, are being strategically replaced to ensure that residents who want to stay, can. DHA is also tripling the number of available homes with additional workforce and market-rate housing.
鈥淲hich just makes it a more viable, more diverse, often a safer and more vibrant community,鈥� Guerrero said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why our model is not to just replace the existing housing, but to really look at it at a neighborhood level, and how do we create a diverse, economically sustainable, healthy neighborhood.鈥�
One way that鈥檚 already happening is through the Choice Neighborhood Initiative.
Part of the $30 million HUD grant includes hiring Sun Valley residents. Residents like Lisa Saenz, who was recently hired to be on the Choice Neighborhood Initiative People Team. As a community coordinator, she reaches out to people in the neighborhood to help them access things like transportation, day care and job training.
Some new companies coming into Sun Valley have also made agreements to offer employment opportunities to neighborhood residents before opening it up to the rest of the city. That includes CDOT and Lyft, both of which recently established headquarters in the neighborhood.
Working with, not against
In the shadow of the soon-to-be decommissioned Xcel Energy Steam Plant sits one of Sun Valley鈥檚 early creative endeavors. When it was originally built in 1917, 1401 Zuni Street was a rag-baling business. After the Platte River flooded in 1965, the building was abandoned, becoming home to an illegal marijuana grow operation and the unofficial clubhouse for a biker gang.
鈥淚t had a very spotty past,鈥� said Susan Powers, president of , which purchased the property four years ago.
Redeveloped into the mixed-use space , it now houses a variety of businesses, including Lyft and , a coffee shop run by Girls Inc. of Metro Denver as a way to teach girls entrepreneurial skills.
Smack in the middle of the building is its original rag-baling press. Instead of removing it, Powers said they chose to incorporate this little piece of history into the design. In a way, the building鈥檚 radical change anchored by its past, is an example of Sun Valley鈥檚 revitalization.
鈥淭here are so many new businesses moving in and opportunities for jobs, and for partnerships between the Meow Wolfs and residents that are artists that happen to live in the neighborhood,鈥� Powers said. 鈥淚 just think it鈥檚 a different mix that is a little bit more controlled, and not as much market-driven in ways that it gets out of control.鈥�
That鈥檚 not something Denver is used to seeing. Powers, who also is working with the Latino Cultural Arts Center, pointed to the overwhelming influx of new businesses, new money and new housing cropping up throughout the city, particularly in the River North District, known as .
鈥淚鈥檓 not blaming folks in RiNo,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was an early developer there and would never have expected what鈥檚 happened there. There鈥檚 some really wonderful businesses and art there, but it happened so quickly. It doesn鈥檛 seem quickly when you look it over five to 10 years, but it was a pent-up demand and you can鈥檛 react and change that direction and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happening in a lot of neighborhoods in Denver.鈥�
In December 2016, after killed 36 people, several similar spaces in RiNo were shut down and the artists evicted. The closures prompted outrage in Denver鈥檚 arts community and began a city-sponsored effort to help those living in unpermitted locations bring those spaces up to code. However, local artists are still often priced out of Denver neighborhoods specifically because of the fast-paced growth.
Powers said she doesn鈥檛 believe that will be the case for Sun Valley.
鈥淭his one in particular just seems like it鈥檚 just more deliberate,鈥� she said, adding that it embraces the people who are here and the neighborhood鈥檚 history.
Community excitement -- and trepidation
鈥淓verything starts with a sketch,鈥� said Sun Valley artist Mary L. Lovejoy. 鈥淵ou have to plan stuff out.鈥�
That鈥檚 Lovejoy鈥檚 philosophy anyway. Not just in art, but in life. It鈥檚 part of the reason she鈥檚 working with Meow Wolf as part of a committee advising them about their new neighborhood.
鈥淲hat do we think would be good in our community, how would hiring practices go, what do we want to see in our community, what would be beneficial to our community,鈥� she said.
But it鈥檚 not the norm.
鈥淭o have a company come in and say, 鈥楬i guys, this is us and we鈥檙e moving to your neighborhood and we really want to be beneficial to your neighborhood,鈥欌€� Lovejoy said. 鈥淭he fact that they did that is just extraordinary, and I think it sets them above the rest.鈥�
Specifically, Lovejoy is helping Meow Wolf make itself accessible to people in the neighborhood, particularly its children. More than half of Sun Valley鈥檚 population is under the age of 15.
鈥淪o they can see that being an artist isn鈥檛 just a dream,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd you can have a career at it. And you can be successful, but you can make a living, too.鈥�
But not everyone is sold on the promise of the new Sun Valley. As she helps sort produce at the community food bank Glenn鈥檚 Kitchen, resident Cassy Leaks said the new additions to the neighborhood are exciting but admits to being unsure.
鈥淚 like that there鈥檚 lots of programs coming in so our community has something that they can do, but I鈥檓 kind of nervous that they鈥檒l forget about the actual community,鈥� said the 25-year-old mother of four. 鈥淏ecause we鈥檙e so diverse, there鈥檚 so many different languages and I hope that they cater to that.鈥�
Leaks is particularly hopeful that all these additions will translate to more grocery options in Sun Valley, which is a food desert. Besides the food bank, their only access to groceries in the neighborhood is a 7-11. The local Family Dollar was recently torn down as part of the expansion of Federal Boulevard.
Since moving to Sun Valley six years ago to escape homelessness, Leaks said she鈥檚 found a tight-knit community.
鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 family here, because so many of us come from different backgrounds so we know the struggle of being here, and I think that鈥檚 beautiful,鈥� she said.
That鈥檚 part of the reason Adrianna Abarca is putting the Latino Cultural Arts Center here. Because just as she didn鈥檛 want her family鈥檚 art collection relegated to storage, she doesn鈥檛 want Sun Valley鈥檚 history and culture erased.
鈥淭hat history and tradition -- the buildings, the homes, the businesses -- is being completely wiped out with no real respect or acknowledgement of the history and culture that was previously here,鈥� she said.
Eventually, the Latino Cultural Arts Center will expand to another of Abarca鈥檚 properties seven blocks away. The Sun Valley Academy of Latino Cultural Arts will focus on performing, culinary, music and spoken-word art, as well as affordable live/work space for artists.
The academy will have a target age range of 16-24, Abarca said. The goal is to get young people either on a higher education or career path.
鈥淢ore than anything, it鈥檚 about educating our youth and our future generations to be curious and to have a strong sense of self-worth and to be proud,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut not an empty pride -- a pride that they can鈥檛 back up. I want it to be a pride that they can back up with knowledge and stories and tradition.鈥�
Lisa Saenz said she鈥檚 already noticing a new energy and optimism among Sun Valley residents.
鈥淢ost of them are staying here and that鈥檚 a big change,鈥� she said. 鈥淢ost of them wanted to pack up and leave. But they don鈥檛 feel that way anymore.鈥�
Block parties are now the norm. Neighbors talk to neighbors. With the help of local graphic design shop Ink Monstr, to pay tribute to the diversity of the neighborhood.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if that happens everywhere, but I know that this is something new that is happening now here,鈥� Saenz said. 鈥淎nd when I see the kids happy and their parents happy, that makes me happy. They鈥檙e not scared to come outside anymore. They鈥檙e out there living their life.鈥�
