NoBo Art District has announced plans for a new artist workspace and residency program in North Boulder on the heels of the closure of the NoBo Art Center, which moved out of its long-term Broadway home base at the end of September.
In a post published on the organization’s website this week, NoBo asked community members to donate to the new project at 4939 Broadway #61 (a former auto body shop), which is just west of the NoBo Art Center’s former spot. The new space is planned to include seven dedicated studio pods, which will “(give) 6-12 artists a year subsidized rent, shared tools, a community of peers, and a direct line to the public through First Fridays,” and the NoBo Artist In Residency Program, which will provide six months of sponsored studio space to two selected NoBo artists each year, according to the NoBo website.
“Help us turn an empty warehouse into affordable studios and a year-round Artist Residency Program,” the page reads.
The NoBo Instagram page described the project as the organization’s “next chapter” and the warehouse as its “new home,” in a building that also houses The Crowd Collective and Little Horse Vintage — but it has not explicitly been described by NoBo as being a replacement for the art center, which long hosted events, classes, performances, workshops, member exhibitions and community gatherings.
“Providing opportunities for artists to grow their careers has always been at the heart of NoBo’s mission,” Liz Compos, executive director of NoBo Art District, said in a Wednesday news release on the new space. “This space puts that mission under one roof: affordable studios, plus the connections and community that help artists thrive. When artists have room to grow, the whole creative community benefits.”
The NoBo Art District, which launched in 2009, connected art galleries, studios and businesses along the Broadway corridor. (Dona Laurita/Courtesy photo)
The organization is asking for $21,000 to build the studios, $14,700 to provide rent support to artists using NoBo studios in 2027 and $10,000 to fund the two artist residencies, according to the organization’s website.
NoBo will be hosting its Party for the Arts event in the new space from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, and ticket sales will help fund the new endeavor.
An opening timeline for the new space has not yet been announced.
The NoBo Art Center, which opened in 2019, was NoBo Art District’s first gallery space.
The NoBo Art District first announced on its website that the center, which was located at 4929 Broadway, Unit E, would be closing to allow NoBo to “prepare for its next chapter.”
“This isn’t the end,” the website reads. “NoBo is preparing to move into a new space, with new programming and opportunities for artists to come.”
The Boulder Art Association announced it would be moving into the former NoBo Arts Center space in an Oct. 18 Facebook post. The group officially began offering drop-in figure drawing classes at the Broadway location on Oct. 31.
The Art Center became a commonly used venue for NoBo offerings, but NoBo is no stranger to uplifting the art world with or without a dedicated gathering space.
Years before the Art Center opened as a go-to multi-use venue, the NoBo Art District, which got its start in winter 2009 as a collaboration among local artists and small businesses who wanted to sustain Boulder’s First Fridays tradition, connected existing galleries, studios and businesses along the Broadway corridor.
Allyson McDuffie, artist and owner of Kin Studio & Gallery in North Boulder, lauded NoBo’s pursuit of the new studios and Artist Residency Program in the release.
“There are very few affordable places for artists to work in Boulder,” she said. “With Liz Compos, Megan Mazzoni and the NoBo board leading an exciting evolution of the organization, this new affordable studio space and artist residency is crucial for the artists in our community to thrive.”