From bolstering the Art Spot Silverthorne Makerspace to enhancing the Sunday Maker’s Market, the Silverthorne art community’s work over the past year has inched them closer to a longtime goal. 

Garnering unanimous support from elected officials, the Silverthorne Art Board’s efforts to make the town a Colorado Creative District could soon yield certification, which comes with benefits. Silverthorne Town Council received an update on July 23 at the Art Spot about the town’s process of seeking certification.

Created in 2011 under the Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the Colorado Creative Districts program seeks to help communities increase jobs, incomes and investments in culture and creativity. An economic diversification tool, certified districts receive a $10,000 grant with a local match required and receive help developing a marketing strategy from the Colorado Tourism Office. There’s also other benefits, like being able to access certain sets of economic data and leveraging the status to acquire funding. While some communities report positive outcomes from their Colorado Creative District designation, others have had instances where a lack of set parameters in the state’s program caused a loss of direction regarding goals of certain creative districts. 

Silverthorne entertainment director Sydney Drake said the Office of Economic Development and International Trade told the town it would learn if it received certification at the end of August, but she said the news could be delayed. In becoming a Colorado Creative District, Silverthorne would join around 30 communities across the state, including other mountain towns like Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs. 

Art board member Cody Mendoza said as the town battles a drop in revenue, it could be the perfect time to become a Colorado Creative District. 

“If you look at other communities who have a creative district designation, we see things like business retention,” he said. “We see things like bounce-backs from economic downturns coming faster.”

He said certification could help open up more resources for Silverthorne and help bolster more of a year-round economy by creating more attractions. 

Art board members said the resources that certification can produce could help highlight local artists and help them create more sustainability in their business. 

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Board member Molly Datz said certification would fold in well with the town’s goal to create a more solidified downtown space. She said shifting the focus to art has paid off for other communities looking to shape their identity, pointing to Chicago’s installation of Cloud Gate, more commonly known as “The Bean.”

Speaking about communities with staple art pieces, council member Tim Applegate wondered if Silverthorne could have a piece that would differentiate it from other creative districts by incorporating elements like humor into the artwork. 

Art board members appreciated the idea, and member Lisa Hueneke said Grand Junction’s been able to vitalize certain areas of the city by incorporating whimsical art that doesn’t have a serious vibe. 

“The humor in the signature piece is an interesting comment, because, as you guys probably saw, one of the goals is to use art to encourage tough conversations, or just conversation in the community,” Mendoza said. 

Board members and council members discussed playing on the fact that Silverthorne is considered a gateway to much of the Western Slope, and wondered how art could be used to reflect that. 

Council member Erin Young, who grew up in Silverthorne, said the town mostly lacked any presence of art a few decades back, but adding art in the 2000s helped the town solidify its identity more. She said the town has emerged as more of a gathering place as officials activated different natural and commercial areas in town, and art’s already shown its benefits.

“I think there’s such an important piece that we kind of forget that art creates safety — physical and emotional,” she said. 

She said there was a mural done under one of the bridges in town in the mid-1990s, and the local police would talk about how it was one of the areas where there was no graffiti.

Council was told they would be notified when the art board received word on if certification was given when they hear back from Office of Economic Development and International Trade.