Collective Call
Over the past eight years, Revoluciones Collective Art Space has amassed enough street cred to fill a warehouse. The gallery/music venue/school is the only place in Denver where hip-hop throwdowns and graffiti-art shows share billing with fine-photography exhibitions, political brainstorms, martial-arts theater and guerrilla dance parties.
Last June, Revoluciones moved from its home on West Eighth Avenue to a huge complex at 3519 Brighton Boulevard, an invigorated arts enclave that also housed the Construct Creative Arts Space. But eclecticism doesn't come cheap: Revo's rent quadrupled along with its vision, and the group's leadership began to feel the pinch of all that progressive artistry. So at the end of this month, the collective will close its doors and begin another phase in Revoluciones' evolution: fundraising. The members hope to raise money for a new home while they pay off some debts and reorganize as a non-profit organization.
As if, with this kind of cutting-edge art, there is any other kind. "When we first started, we all thought that if we work hard enough, it should turn around," says Terry Beck, one of Revoluciones' founders and curators. "We wanted to do everything on our own. But we realized that we need more help if we're to get it off the ground and do everything we want to do. We've already done the super-hard stuff; maybe it's time to accept people who want to help."
Before the collective moves on, though, it'll ring out the old -- and its old home -- with a "Last Blast" party on Saturday, May 28. Then, starting with a July 2 event at the Mercury Cafe, the Revo family will host monthly benefit concerts around the city.
Don't start the revolution without us.