Last yearwe hosted a similar event, right in this room, called Our Vision for Denver.
This year, we decided to speak on our Denver Vision with a focus on a new big thing happening, Meow Wolf coming to Denver.
I have a unique perspective as I lived in Santa Fe for thirteen years and have lived in Denver for almost three years. I’ve been an artist for over twenty years and like most of you, I worked day jobs then worked on my art at night.
Watch the entire keynote below.
I witnessed what was happening in the evolution of Meow Wolf pretty closely. At one point I served on the Javier for the Arts committee with now Meow Wolf CEO Vince Kadlubek. We helped former mayor Javier Gonzales get elected.
And now Meow Wolf is coming to Denver. It seems only right that I would help navigate the Denver community through this shift. I see this as a huge opportunity for this city.
And as we all know,
Artist communities are notoriously underfunded.
The world is changing rapidly and communities around the globe are witnessing increased rents.
Where there is a financial disparity there is gentrification. And just like many cities in the world, we are experiencing that in Denver.
The Meow Wolf Effect is an intimate and intentional look into a cultural phenomenon sparking the creative economy in a way that I have not witnessed in my lifetime. My plan is to explore the Meow Wolf Effect through our blog series, public events, and collaborations.
We have a unique opportunity to explore and experience this phenomenon as being one of the first cities Meow Wolf is coming to.
There are many influencers out there making a change. Meow Wolf is one of them. We have several in this community including our panelists whom I look forward to speaking within a few minutes.
You are all the experts on this town and on your experience. That is why you are here.
What I can do is help facilitate the beginnings of a conversation.
I want to help create a new possibility for you, my community.The possibility I see is an interconnected community that spans across the state of Colorado and into New Mexico (why not) that is inspired to create a new economy that is supportive for creative innovators.
Think of the most amazing community that you can imagine. What do you want that to look like? Let’s create that.
An opportunity to do what is your purpose with love and support from your community. That’s what I envision.
To make a living and thrive doing something that you love while inspiring others. That’s what I envision.
More ability to have the influence to shape the world in a way that you want to see it. That’s what I envision.
This is our moment of opportunity. If we do this with great intention, we can make a huge shift in the economy.
Traditionally, artists have not sought out to build businesses and focus on the creative economy.
We don’t feel supported by the current economic structure supporting creative jobs.
And like every other human we have a negative dialog going on in our heads.
Some of us even believe that we must suffer to be real artists. We place social pressure on other artists by calling them “sell outs” if they make money.
A few years ago I decided to change those beliefs in myself. Why I started Alt Ethos and DATA.
I no longer wanted to live hand to mouth and work for someone that wasn’t necessarily treating me with respect.
I want to have a larger influence in the world and these organizations will allow a bigger reach.
I want to have money to create more opportunities for everyone.
I want to share with you today some of my what-ifs and ask that you add to that list.
One of myfavorite clear indicators in identifying your what-ifs is judgment and uncomfortability or contrast if you will.
I want to ask, what are your what-ifs?
I encourage you right now and throughout this event to think about in what ways are you unsatisfied with the Denver Arts community?
What are you unsatisfied with or fearful of with Meow Wolf coming to town? Keep that and we will touch back on it later.
Is it gentrification? Is it access to space? Is it funding? Is that jobs? Is that all the above? Now take that statement and turn it into a positive action – something that you are going to do to work on finding positivity in that problem.
Here are some of the facts as we know.
Meow Wolf is coming to town.
Meow Wolf anticipates 1.5 million people a year to their Denver site. I anticipate 3 to 5 million people a year. Now think about that – 5 million people a year coming to Denver to spend money in the creative economy.
What opportunities are there?
Where are these people going to stay where they can eat?
Where can they get their entertainment?
What are they going to buy as a souvenir?
What kind of art will they buy?
Where will they want to visit when they like to do it in a group as part of a tour?
So I just want to say that this isn’t about whether or not you like Meow Wolf.
This is not whether or not you agree with the way that they’re going about expressing their art.
This is not about whether or not they can hire you.
Or if they you think they favored one group of people over another.
This is about harnessing the energy with strategic planning in order to make the best possible outcome. This is happening.
So tonight and moving forward, we will all be gathering knowledge.
What do you want to do with this knowledge?
Do you want to sit around and complain and point fingers and say I can’t have that we can’t do this we can’t do that how come they’re doing this is how come they’re doing that?
Do you want to use this as an opportunity for a catalyst for change?
We already have some ideas of what is going to happen. We can look at Santa Fe and we can compare our own economy and how things are going here and we can take some guesses we can take some risks and we can enjoy ourselves along the way as a community.
So what if we could do that? What if we could do this together? Let’s make this city in this state the best experience we could ever imagine. You’re welcome to come with me and you’re welcome to lead the way. I promise to walk beside you. Together, let’s make some change.
There are so many people in this community already doing great things. It’s not fair to just sit back and say that they need to do more or do it this way or that. These people are putting their necks on the line. Through their experiences, they have a lot of information that if we all could harness it, would help make a better community. Let’s take advantage of some of that now. I welcome our panelists so gracious to spend their time with us and share their experience.
Join us as Alt Ethos and other immersive creators teach 360° workshops for the digital dome and VR. Our sister organization, Denver Arts + Technology Advancement presents the MORPHOS 360° Workshops. This is your opportunity to learn 360 techniques for the digital dome and VR from some of the top creators in the industry. We deliver a comprehensive hands-on learning experience in spherical design from live capture and virtual integration to live performance and sensor integration. This five-day hands-on intensive training in Colorado runs April 9 – April 13, 2018.
Use code: ALTETHOS360 For a TWO for ONE discount. Register Here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ4g6rsXfAM
List of Courses:
Basic Fisheye Capture
360° Stitching
Dome 101 – Do’s and Don’t
360° Images and Texturing on a Virtual Dome
Blender Basics
Unity Basics
Live Content Demos – Unity3D
Live VJ Real-Time Visualization
3D Audio
Production Pipeline for Fulldome Pre-Visualization
Massive Format Multiplayer Interaction
Rendering Best Practices for 360°
Production Resources
The views, information, and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policy of Alt Ethos and its employee.
We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.
By now everyone in Denver is aware that Meow Wolf is coming to town. The overall reaction is one of anticipation as the famed immersive art experience from Santa Fe prepares for opening a 90,000 square foot experience in Denver in 2020. In this blog series, I will discuss such topics as the creative economy and how cities can best utilize this new form of entertainment. This overview will provide context as we explore how the Meow Wolf Effect will alter the ethos of Denver and perhaps a city near you.
The world is changing quickly as millennials and other generations alike hold increasing interest in experiences and Instagram over the purchase of material items. In 2016, Denver had the highest net annual migration of millennials of any metropolitan area in the United States (NYT). With an increasing millennial population and the fact that more than 75% of millennials “would choose to spend money on a desirable experience or event over buying something desirable” (Harris Group), how does a city like Denver keep up?
Denver is already leading the way in support of the creative economy with its Imagine 2020 Cultural Plan. Denver is actively striving for engagement in the arts that brings together local creative problem solvers. “Overwhelmingly, Denver residents believe that arts, culture and creativity contribute to the vitality of the city. Eighty-seven percent of Denver residents believe that arts, culture and creativity contribute to Denver’s economy, as reported in the scientific public survey conducted for the cultural plan. Additionally, 85 percent agree the sector attracts tourism. Eighty-one percent believe that arts, culture and creativity help develop active and unique neighborhoods.” – Imagine 2020. How does this all tie into the new addition of Meow Wolf to our community?
A few months ago I attended a talk at the Commons on B-Corp Certification to explore the option for Alt Ethos. Meow Wolf officially became a B-Corp late 2017 and CEO Vince Kadlubek was there speaking on the experience. According to the B-Corp website, “carrying the B-Corp status holds for-profit companies up [to] rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.” With this kind of public declaration and actual certifiable commitment to transparency, a city and its counterparts would expect to work in collaboration with Meow Wolf to make the best experience for the city and its inhabitants.
So, how can local communities, cities, businesses, museums, and artists utilize this newfound momentum in Denver? In a world where we need more support for creative thinking to solve current global and local issues, how can we launch a statewide effort to harness this momentum? Here are a couple of concepts that come to mind:
Hire an Experiential Design Company to stay relevant and help transform your museum, event, or corporate lobby into an experience that captivates audiences. (Alt Ethos)
Create a driving tour between Denver and Santa Fe that outlines arts and cultural offerings in towns along I-25 and US 160. Towns such as Mancos and Trinidad are already boosting their creative and cultural districts. (DenverPost)
Create tourism packages that include an “art experience” inclusive of Meow Wolf. Purposefully creating tours around the city that have “Meow Wolf” type of art and experiences. (Santa Fe Example)
Support local artists by attending events and purchasing art.
Support local nonprofits. We recommend:
CBCA works to advance Colorado’s creative economy by connecting business and the arts. We accomplish our mission through year-round advocacy, research, training, and arts engagement efforts
Denver Arts + Technology Advancement (DATA) whose mission is Empowerment Through Creative Technology. Helping ensure that ALL people have access to digital literacy.
RedLine supports artists and builds community in Denver and offers arts education and engagement between artists and communities to create positive social change.
Think 360 Arts leads Colorado in cultivating and sustaining the arts as essential to all learning through creative experiences for students and teachers.
In a time when change is needed, most people’s imaginations need to be sparked. Cities are in need of a defibrillator shock to kickstart a creative economy revolution. Perhaps The Meow Wolf Effect is that spark that will help ignite that change. We can always hope for the best outcome and welcome any opportunities to create change, but the responsibility falls on our local community. Together we can help Denver to become a more progressive, expressive city that is recognized worldwide. Please register to join Alt Ethos on Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 at the Commons on Champa at 5:30pm as we present Denver Vision: The Meow Wolf Effect and lead an open discussion on how Denver can galvanize The Meow Wolf Effect in hopes of setting an example for other cities.
For more information on this event, please contact us.
Alt Ethos recently worked with Meow Wolf, providing a projection mapped balloon sculpture at the Meow Wolf Denver Announcement Party. Ethan Bach, Alt Ethos founding CEO met the Meow Wolf crew approximately ten years ago while living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Through his participation in the local arts community and serving as the Digital Dome Director at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Ethan and the group regularly engaged in the community. Meow Wolf founders appropriated wood and other materials from Ethan’s garage for the building of the Due Return as many community members pitched in to support the local art group. Ethan also served on Javier for the Arts, an advisory committee for Javier Gonzales when he was running for Mayor, alongside Meow Wolf’s founding CEO Vince Kadlubek.
Alt Ethos is an experiential design studio that creates engaging experiences for events and permanent exhibitions. Alt Ethos creates engaging environments by transforming physical spaces into shared interactive experiences that meld various forms of light and sound into creative technology. We create moments that disrupt, engage, and inspire.
Meow Wolf is a Santa Fe, New Mexico based arts and entertainment group that established in 2008 as an art collective. They create immersive, interactive experiences to transport audiences of all ages into fantastic realms of story and exploration. The company is composed of nearly 200 artists across all disciplines including architecture, sculpture, painting, photography and video production, virtual and augmented reality, music and audio engineering, narrative writing, costuming and performance, and more. Basically everything.
The views, information, and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policy of Alt Ethos and its employee.
We reserve the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner we see fit blog entries or comments that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, of an express commercial nature, or otherwise unacceptable.
The world is changing quickly as millennials and other generations alike hold increasing interest in experiences and Instagram over the purchase of material items. In 2016, Denver had the highest net annual migration of millennials of any metropolitan area in the United States (
A few months ago I attended a talk at the Commons on B-Corp Certification to explore the option for 