RedLine's Reach Program: Where it’s Going and Growing in 2023
AUTHOR: Moe Gram
My name is Moe Gram, and I’m honored to have joined the RedLine team as the new Community Outreach Coordinator!
I am a visual artist based out of Denver, known mostly for my large-scale collage work and funky, colorful murals. I’ve been a middle and high school art teacher, and am eager to use my educator skills in a new way at RedLine.
As part of my role, I oversee the Reach program at RedLine. This opportunity is such an exciting way to use my teaching experience.
Going from a full time teacher and working artist, the Community Outreach Coordinator role allows me to combine my super powers and evolve our Reach Core Artist Program to offer more pathways for community engagement and individual success.
It’s also an opportunity to support committed humans in the process of harnessing their vision for their creative life.
In this blog, I’ll discuss the origins of the Reach program at RedLine and all the exciting advancements for 2023 — including our updated Reach Core Artist Program, first ever Reach Core Resident Artist, and more!
Moe Gram in the Community Studio
The Origins of Reach
Reach Program was started by 2 art students at Metro State University in 2009. These artists wanted to share the power of art with individuals experiencing homelessness and others in the local communities who otherwise don’t have the opportunity to express themselves creatively.
Starting at St. Francis Center, the duo began engaging participants in art making. Soon the program found a home in the Community Studio at RedLine, where it has grown ever since.
Reach Studio Today
Today, Reach is a program where people in recovery or who have experienced housing insecurity can engage in a free open studio program that’s collaborative and inclusive. Participants are invited to come and create within a community that provides supplies and guidance.
As I became acquainted with the many facets of Reach, I learned more about Reach Core Artists who have been involved in the program for many years and who have helped to shape what the Reach program is today.
I spent time learning more about what they love about Reach, what they envisioned for their own creative practice, and what they hoped to get out of the Core Artist program moving forward.
Feedback that stood out to me included:
From these conversations, I began to dream up what could be born from this foundational program built by the RedLine Education team of the past, most recently led by JC Futrell.
Relaunching the Reach Core Artist Program
In 2022, my big focus for Reach was creating more professional development opportunities for the artists interested in pursuing a visual arts career—or who want to use their art to generate an additional income stream.
We relaunched our Core Artist program to help these artists achieve these goals. The heart of the program remains the same: we’ll continue to cultivate their power and talent, and provide resources to use that power to accomplish their greatest ambitions.
We now have a tiered curriculum that includes professional development workshops, field trips, studio visits, earned income opportunities, exhibitions, residency opportunities, and so much more!
Our biggest goal for the tiered curriculum is to provide information and resources that are easy to process and understand:
Year 1
Year 1 Core Artists will focus on portfolio development and an exploration of their creative practice.
Year 2
Year 2 Core Artists will have an introduction to curation, installation, and self branding.
Year 3
Year 3 Core Artists will have a heavy focus on business development. That includes proposal and grant writing, project management, and website development.
The evolved core artist program is ambitious in the most beautiful way possible. I understand how important it is for artists to have an extra source of income, and it’s important for me to support this process for our Core Artists.
Early in my artistic career, selling a few prints made a huge difference in how I was able to move forward. What slowed me down was having to find my own resources and figure out the art world and being a small business owner on my own.
In this elevated version of the Core Artist program, we hope to help artists gain their footing in Denver’s art scene and excel within an industry that appreciates their existing talents.
Reach Program Plans for 2023
While the program is experiencing great success in its recent expansion, we still face a wide variety of challenges. The biggest challenges include:
Providing better, more quality materials
A lack of Social/Emotional support for participants.
We’ve also learned a lot over the past year. We have to provide core artists with more support in their participation in the Denver art world. More workshops and art making demos by professional artists are needed. Reach can expand beyond its current demographics of people.
We can now host groups that support individuals beyond homelessness, addiction recovery and financial hardship. There is a wide variety of needs for artists and we are looking to bring in more groups for this program.
Our biggest celebration for this program is related to residencies at RedLine. For the first time ever, Reach artist Shieka Leslie is now a 2022-2024 Artist-in-Residence at RedLine. It has been a long mission to create a clear pathway from Reach to Residency, and that is represented by her most recent achievement.
Meet Our Very First Reach Core Artist Resident!
In the fall of 2022, we welcomed our first every Core Artist Resident into the space. Meet Juannean Young!