Denver’s acclaimed Leon Gallery needs $20,000 by March to avert a shutdown that’s the result of declining sales and disappearing grant money, leaders announced this week.
“We don’t have an incredibly wealthy donor who can just write a check for $100,000,” said Eric Nord, executive director of the 13-year-old gallery, which converted to a nonprofit in 2019. “So we really rely on our community as a whole for support.”
The #LongLiveLeon campaign launched on Sunday to raise $5,000 in donations by Jan. 21, and $20,000 by March 31. The money will make up for a lack of revenue from sales, as well as grant and foundation money that has expired alongside COVID relief funds. The gallery is also applying for money from the seven-county metro area’s Scientific & Cultural Facilities District, but that wouldn’t arrive until the fall, at the earliest.
“We didn’t even get partial amounts of several major grants we formerly (received),” executive director Eric Dallimore said. “That hit us really hard. We know there’s a lot of love for the gallery, but that doesn’t pay the bills.”
By press time, however, the campaign had raised $12,500 online, blowing past its organizers’ expectations. Nord said he thought $1,500 or $2,000 would have been more likely.
“That even seemed large,” he said, noting the generally dire environment for commercial and nonprofit art galleries. “But we’ve been exhilarated by the response. There’s nothing wrong with commercial spaces, but we don’t put up things that are going to sell well. We take risks with younger, diverse, and thought-provoking artists, so losing our grants really hit us hard.”
Related: Mighty little Leon — Denver gallery is a crucial piece of art ecosystem
While Leon typically sees fewer than two dozen small donations per month from supporters inside the artistic community — including artists themselves, who each enjoy an unusual, $1,000 stipend from Leon when they exhibit there — the 100-plus instant responses to their fundraising appeals via Instagram and email showed the larger embrace of the gallery at 1112 E. 17th Ave., in Denver’s City Park West neighborhood.
Unlike galleries that have fled Denver locations due to high rents, including those now based in Lakewood’s 40 West Arts District, Leon has been able to work out a deal with its landlord to keep overhead low (Nord declined to disclose the gallery’s monthly rent). Leon is also a geographical outlier from the state-certified artistic districts that see consistent pedestrian traffic on First Friday and weekend nights, such as the Art District on Santa Fe or River North Art District, when drop-ins and show openings also flourish.
“There are so many wonderful nonprofits in town, but there has to be different levels of support for artists. It can’t just be huge museums,” Nord said. “We consider ourselves an entry point for artists without a proven track record to get some legitimacy. There need to be small galleries as part of the arts ecosystem.”
The news arrives as nonprofit arts and culture organizations are also generally rethinking their money-making strategies, from last-minute fundraising campaigns to private rentals that generate new income. Leon has those, too, as well as regular yoga classes, live music and poetry readings. But it hasn’t been enough.
The gallery has lately operated with only half of its usual budget of $150,000, leaders said. But they won’t stop giving artists 70% of the revenue from each sale, which bucks against the industry standard 50/50 split.
With sales down, that means less revenue for everyone.
“Our landlords are great but they’re not in the position to be creditors,” Dallimore said. “And over the last year, art sales have not been great across the board. But, after a stagnant 2022 and a rough economy, things are starting to pick up.”
In addition to SCFD, Leon is beefing up its grant applications and reaching out to foundations such as the Warhol Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies. If it can raise $20,000 by the end of March — which it’s well on its way to doing — the pressure will be off for the next few months. During that time, Nord, Dallimore and their board will continue looking for other safety nets.
“Both Eric (Dallimore) and myself have done a lot of work over the years without getting paid,” Nord said. “And we didn’t qualify for PPP loans because we don’t really have a payroll. But when you get a response like this, it really keeps you going.”
