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.
Alt Ethos: Experiential Design Studio will represent Colorado at America’s Small Business Development Center showcase to share how they meld various forms of light, sound, interactivity and creative technology into memorable interactive experiences. Alt Ethos was nominated by the Denver Metro Small Business Development Center and will represent the State of Colorado at America’s SBDC Showcase in on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on February 13, 2018.
Alt Ethos was awarded a trip to the Nation’s capital to showcase the innovation and success in the Colorado business community. This honor comes after Alt Ethos was named Denverite’s Company to Watch (2016) and selected by the SBDC’s Leading Edge™ program to compete in the Colorado Small Business Development Center’s statewide business plan competition (2017). As part of the A-SBDC’s Showcase, Alt Ethos will share their company with legislators, DBDC leaders, and other selected SBDC clients from around the country.
Alt Ethos creates engaging environments for events and permanent exhibitions. They transform physical spaces into memorable experiences by combining creative technology with compelling stories. Alt Ethos helps organizations amplify brand awareness, meaningfully connect with loyal customers, and differentiate their products and services in competitive markets.
America’s SBDC represents America’s nationwide network of Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) – the most comprehensive small business assistance network in the United States and its territories.
Alt Ethos is honored to be selected to represent Colorado at this year’s America’s Small Business Development Center Showcase on Capitol Hill in Washington DC and will use the trip as an opportunity to explore relationships throughout the nation’s capital. Join Alt Ethos on social media (Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter) to keep up to date on the Showcase trip as well as other highlights as the company continues to grow.
Our team has recently been able to join in some of the most prestigious and enlightening events which have opened our eyes to new ways of thinking and helped to create a stronger connection with the creative tech community.
Founded in 1996, the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) is a transdisciplinary center for research, creation, production, training and dissemination dedicated to developing and conserving digital culture. North America’s first Living Lab, the SAT specializes in immersive environments, the use of high-speed networks and experience design.
With the aim to create tangible, all-encompassing audiovisual experiences, the Satosphere is the first permanent immersive theatre devoted to artistic development. The dome, which puts the audience at the center of the works, forms a 360-degree spherical projection screen that can accommodate up to 350 spectators.
This year focused on explorations of total body immersion inside of digital spaces, experiencing technology on direct sensory levels. A few examples: Atau Tanaka, Professor of Media Computing at Goldsmiths University gave a talk on The Body as Musical Instrument, illuminating his method of translating gestural interaction to audio signals. For those curious, Atau’s performance at TEDxPantheonSorbonne may be found here.
Currents New Media Festival
On June 10th our team traveled to Santa Fe to experience Currents New Media 2017. Currents brings multidisciplinary artists from across the planet to exhibit VR/AR/MR creations blending experimental and psychological expression through immersive, interactive technology.
Currents began as a project in 2002 intended to bring together video and New Media artists who at the time had few places to exhibit. Since then the festival has grown in the number of artists and mediums – Now featuring Virtual Reality, projection mapping, robotics, sensor integration and beyond.
For 15 consecutive years Mariannah Amster and Frank Ragano have curated this event under their nonprofit Parallel Studios. Such an event is only possible with a diverse network of multitalented artists from across the globe, creating a radical melting pot of new concepts.
GlobalMindED
On June 23rd, Matt Maes – CIO participated in the GlobalMindED Tech Track “Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality: Opportunities in Education” alongside Julien Lynge of Arch Virtual and the DaVinci Institute and Sandi Mays of the Zayo Group.
The GlobalMindED movement is about access, equity and opportunity for First Generation to College and underserved populations, those who work with them and those who want to hire a diverse talent pipeline. At our annual conference, we convene thought leaders from all backgrounds and industries to support educational innovators who are setting a new standard for inclusive leadership.
The opening reception began at 9:00am led by Futurist and Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute, Thomas Frey who explained the cataclysmic economic shift which will be brought on by driverless vehicles. Automobile accident rates will plummet. The need for driver’s insurance will become obsolete. Intersections will operate only as a junction rather than a stopping point as cars move harmoniously past each other.
The second panel, Personalized Learning: Students at the Center was led by Dr Bena Kallick, program director of Eduplanet 21 featuring Superintendent Jeff Dillon of Wilder School District, Teacher Jody Ordoñez of Vista High School and Principal Dr. Bertie Simmons of E.L. Furr High School. This discussion revealed the merits of student led programs and the technologies which make this new methodology possible. The new generation of learners are increasingly curious and are growing to depend less and less on the role of an authoritative leader to pass on knowledge. Our technology has grown hand in hand with us to the point where lesson plans may be gained from sources such as Wolfram Alpha, Khan Academy, Youtube and so on.
The Tech Track began to fill up at 11:10am as many from the previous panel in Court C remained and others filed inside. Lynge, Mays and Maes (not related) then hosted a discussion rich in topics ranging from basic to interestingly advanced. We first began with introductions and each of our most recent projects and moved into intriguing topics such as the social dynamics of VR, whether AR or VR is more effective in the classroom and VR conferencing.
Eyeo Festival
Most recently Paul Elsberg – CSE attended the Eyeo Festival held from June 26th-29th.
Since its inception in 2011, the team behind the Eyeo Festival has been inspired by the notion that this decade presents an exceptionally exciting time to be interested in art, interaction, and information. The way we experience all three is changing. The way all three interact and overlap is quickly evolving. Easier access to powerful tools and technologies continues to increase. What data is, where it comes from, and how we utilize it, looks different than ever before.
On Thursday, July 27th 5:30pm – 7:30pm at the Commons on Champa’s Innovation Lounge Elsberg will be leading second installment of Denver Arts + Technology Advancement Hacksters – Hackster.io Fusion 360 Demo and Eyeo Festival In Review – Presented by Hackster.io, Autodesk and Alt Ethos! We will be going over how to approach using Autodesk Fusion 360’s modeling capabilities to design object enclosures. We will also be covering insights from the international Eyeo Festival, a conference featuring professional creative technologists at the forefront of the industry. You may RSVP for the event here:
We are very pleased to bring back lots of amazing insights from Eyeo Festival, an international conference for professionals at the epicenter of creative technology. You can check out the speakers and more information at the festival websitehttp://eyeofestival.com/.
Matt Maes is a Denver animator focused on immersive and interactive technology. He is Chief Influence Officer ofAlt Ethos, Ltd and is also an executive member of the nonprofit organization Denver Arts and Technology Advancement (D.A.T.A.)
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