From statues to murals, art is everywhere in downtown Grand Junction. Artists and art galleries alike were both greatly impacted by the quarantine period of COVID-19. Grand Junction has a long tradition of hosting Friday night art walks. COVID-19 put an abrupt stop to these events.
Friday night art walks were a way to draw in business to art galleries, and with COVID-19, no sales were being made. Grand Junction has a plethora of art galleries. Here’s how a few of them made it through the quarantine period, and how they’re doing today.
Uncanny Valley Art Gallery:
When Covid-19 hit, Uncanny Valley had just gotten their beer and wine license. They were ready to double as both a bar and an art gallery.
The gallery was also affected in a different way, because the art gallery is an artist co-op. This means a co-op of about 30 members each pitch in to keep the lights in the gallery on. This also allows the artists to keep 100% of the money they make from sales. The members of Uncanny Valley banded together to help each other through the difficult time.
“We’re just always working forward, that’s kind of how you have to do it and in business you always have to look at least a month or two in advance,” Uncanny Valley owner, Matt Goss, said.
Transitioning after quarantine, Uncanny Valley has been adhering to a rigorous cleaning schedule and implementing one-way traffic in the gallery. They recently got cleared by the health department to start taking part in first Friday events again.
Uncanny Valley is open 12-6 Mon.-Sat. and 12-4 on Sunday.
Confluence Studios:
Perhaps the newest of the art galleries, Confluence Studios opened up right before COVID-19 hit. They hadn’t been open long enough to feel the full force impact of COVID-19 on galleries. But no matter which way you look at it, all artists suffered during COVID-19’s quarantine period.
Their most recent gallery opening is called “Atmospheres for Change.” The gallery is open to interpretation in terms of COVID-19, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Me-Too movement and economic strife. Now that everything is starting to open back up again, Confluence Studios is starting to do gallery openings and art classes.
“I am hoping that we can set up a safe place where people can go for the afternoon, look at the art, and sit on the patio. The other thing I would say is how important it is for the community to keep arts close by, because it’s very challenging to do this kind of endeavor,” Owner and CMU English professor, Carrie Kellerby, said.
Confluence Studios are open 11:30- 5:30 Tues. – Sat.
Working Artists Gallery:
Roni Schwinn features 90 local artists in her store. Having the store front closed for two months would mean that her 90 artists would not be making any sales. However, Schwinn did take payments over the phone and did no-contact delivery for her stained glass.
Now that the shop is back open, business is booming for Working Artists Gallery.
“We’re so busy we don’t know what to do with ourselves, and it’s wonderful. I’m so happy that everybody’s just been chomping at the bit to support local artists again,” Schwinn said.
Working Artists Gallery is open 10:00-5:00 Mon. – Sat. and 11:00-3:00 on Sun.
Downtown Grand Junction is looking towards the future to pick back up with first Friday art walks. Right now, they are making all the necessary safety preparations so that the art scene downtown may continue to thrive.
