The 12,000-square-foot Gunnison Arts Center is a community arts center dedicated to exhibiting and developing visual, literary and performing artists in the Gunnison Valley. With three gallery exhibit spaces, a gallery shop, a dance studio, a 72-seat community theatre/stage, a clay center for ceramics, meeting rooms and a visual arts classroom all under one roof, there is truly something for everyone at the Gunnison Arts Center. Please come visit us soon and GET INTO IT!
Vision & Mission
INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS + CREATING COMMUNITY
The Gunnison Arts Center is Gunnison’s primary venue for bringing the Arts into your life. Whether you are enjoying downtown Gunnison during an ArtWalk, creating with clay in a pottery class, sipping a glass of wine while painting with watercolors, or showcasing your acting skills in our theater, you are sure to find creative avenues to enrich your mind and spirit. We invite you to discover your inner artist, and be a part of the extraordinary evolution of the Arts happening in the Gunnison Valley!
VISION
As a vibrant community-based arts organization, the Gunnison Arts Center contributes to the “wholeness” of our community through an educated, adventurous and integrated approach to the arts that cultivates participation by community members and visitors as well as engages other organizations in meaningful partnerships and alliances.
Creating opportunities for people to engage in the arts and with each other
MISSION
The Gunnison Arts Center cultivates and promotes the arts in the community by unleashing creativity, connecting people, and enriching cultural horizons.
VALUES AND BELIEFS
We believe that:
• “Arts” includes innovation and creativity in all its forms.
• A community with the arts is a vibrant, healthy, and dynamic community
• Each person possesses an inner artist. For this reason, we believe the arts must be accessible to everyone.
• The arts play a vital role in the social and economic life of our Valley.
• The arts help connect the people of the Gunnison Valley to one another, to their environment, and to the world in general
• The arts stimulate playful curiosity, serve as a catalyst to view situations from new perspectives, and provide an impetus for innovative ideas.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
• In order to thrive and flourish, we must:
• Emphasize active participation in the arts by all people.
• Create a community setting that is lively, fun, and interesting for people of all backgrounds and tastes.
• Remain attentive to community and family needs and how best to meet these needs.
• Consider economic and social trends at both national and state levels.
• Collaborate with other nonprofit organizations and businesses in ways that are aligned with our mission, values and goals.
• Make decisions and take action in ways that are consistently ethical, transparent, effective and efficient.