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Written by Ken Hamel
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 |
Ironton Group Show
Ironton Gallery
June 27 - July 12, 2008
Opening reception Friday July 4th, 7:00-10:00 pm
Ironton back in the day, circa 2000
Ironton's 17 artists including Robin Schaefer, Mike Mancarella, Sharon Feder, Sharon Bankert, Heidi Jung, Jill Hadley Hooper, Andy Berg, Patricia "Murph" Murphy, Jeff Bludeau, John Ferguson, Hugh Graham, Jason Mann, John Chilton, Andy Sweet, Vicki Rottman, Dan Brandemuehl & Kagen Schaefer
Ironton invites the community to celebrate the Fourth of July with new work in the gallery and sculpture in the garden. The two newest additions to Ironton- painter Andy Berg and woodworker Kagen Schaefer (brother to Robin) - will be exhibiting for the first time in the gallery along with new work from the rest of the Ironton crew. Ironton is remarkable for the�diversity�of media that the 13 artist studios represent all under one roof: stone, wood, metal, photography, painting and new media.
About Ironton: Ironton was imagined 9 years ago by friends Russ Beardsley, Debra Goldman, Mike Mancarella and David Walter. All met at UCD's sculpture department and shared an interest in finding a property. They purchased the building at 36th and Chestnut, which had been a garage, and took a year to renovate the space. In the parking lot they built a raised beds and drilled holes in the asphalt to plant trees. They opened their doors in 2000.
Ironton was named after the school that sat just east of the land at the turn of the century. The area has always been host to light industry and artisans and it seemed an appropriate place to build an artist community. Complete with metal fabricating facilities, woodshops, darkrooms, sculpture and painting studios, Ironton was conceived as a place for artist's to collaborate with one another and engage the public through the gallery and open studios. Currently there are 13 artist's studios and creative businesses at Ironton.
Along with the individual spaces there is a shared kitchen area, landscaped sculpture garden and an 800 square foot gallery that is open to the community. Ironton�occupies 3/4's of an acre across from Weilworks in River North.
In 2007 David Walter sold his interest in Ironton and relinquished his studio. In 2006 Russ and Debra moved out of state but are still involved. Each of these artists brought something to Ironton that made it unique and set the template that is in use today. In 2007 Jill Hadley Hooper became a partner.
Ironton Studios and Gallery
3636 Chestnut Place
Denver, CO 80216
303.297.8626
Mon - Fri: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sat: 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM
http://irontonstudios.com
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