CENTRAL SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — A downtown Colorado Springs gallery owner has found a way to do more than display art — he's helping the people who create it afford to keep going.
Clay Ross owns Yobel and the Look Up Gallery in downtown, where more than 30 artists display their work. Through his nonprofit, PRIMER, Ross provides rent subsidies to those artists, with a clear and ambitious target.
"Our goal is to reduce rent by 50% for all of our artists here," Ross said.
News5 reporter Liv Wood has more on their mission in the video below:
Once a month, First Friday Art Walk draws the community downtown as galleries open their doors later into the evening. For artists like Megan Sims and Dan Sampson, the support from PRIMER turns a fun night out into something far more meaningful — it makes the creative life sustainable.
"Having a place where I can come and focus on my art and really feel at peace while I do it makes a huge difference for me," Sims said.
Ross said the financial pressure on artists is real, and PRIMER exists to lift it so they can simply focus on their craft.
"The reality is that it's really hard to be an artist," Ross said.
The downtown arts scene has grown into something well worth seeking out Sampson said.
"Within a 1 mile radius or so downtown, you've got quite the experience that you could spend a half hour planning and be out all day long just enjoying some really world-class art out here," Sampson said.
For Sims, the creative process itself involves a delicate balance between freedom and structure.
"It's important to be like, limited a bit or have some kind of constraints to produce good art, but I think that too many constraints can be stifling," Sims said.
The benefits of PRIMER extend well beyond the financial. Sampson said the community he has found through the program has meant more than he ever anticipated.
"The time I get to spend here, the time I get to spend with my artwork and with other artists in the community, is way more beneficial than I ever thought it could be," Sampson said.
For Sims, knowing that support exists makes the leap into the professional art world feel far less daunting.
"It's a little less of a hurdle to come out into the art world when you know that there's support and you know that there's nonprofits like primer that can help build you up," Sims said.
As the downtown arts community continues to grow, PRIMER offers more artists a path to thrive — and a place to call home.
PRIMER is going into it's second year, but Ross said he is hoping to raise $60,000 to provide subsidies for all of the artists that reside in The Look Up Gallery.
"It will support 32 artists for 12 months. We have an end of the year push right now where our goal is to try to rally 1,000 people to donate a one-time gift of $25 by year end and that will raise $25,000 for artists," Ross said.
The bigger goal is to make art accessible to everyone.
