Graffiti Art Class in Globeville

If anyone knows anything about graffiti, it's muralist Anthony Garcia. His work can be seen everywhere in Globeville: on highway overpasses, businesses, garages and Garden Place School. His impact on the neighborhood is even bigger than the monumental paintings he creates.

Garcia was raised in the community. His grandmother was an artist and his mother is an activist, so combining his talent with service came naturally. When he was young, Garcia painted graffiti, sometimes in places that weren't appropriate. But then he worked with the Center for Visual Arts, channeling his talents in constructive ways. At the Center, he built a network to serve local youth as well as up and coming artists. 

In 2009, Garcia founded the nonprofit BirdSeed Collective which provides creative avenues for kids, like this summer's Graffiti Art Class. Beginning Monday, June 8th at 5075 Lincoln Street, classes will be held from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Lessons will cover lettering and style development, spray can control, color their and composition, and graffiti history and culture. Supplies are provided. Ages 10 to 17 are welcome and will collaborate on a piece at the end of the class. 

Don't miss this opportunity to learn a craft and make an impact!

A student works on one of Globeville's

significant murals

Summer at Birdseed Collective

"Mom, I'm bored." No kid in Globeville can complain that there is nothing to do in the summer. The Globeville Recreation Center has something for everyone. In 2018, Globeville native Anthony Garcia and Birdseed Collective were awarded the contract to run the Globeville Recreation Center at 4496 Grant Street. The impact on the neighborhood has been astonishing: Concerts, events, services, classes, food distribution and community empowerment. 

Mondays: Free Food Distribution, 1 pm - 4 pm
                    Graffiti Class, 5.30 pm - 7.30 pm

Tuesdays: Globeville Crafting Circle, 11 am - 3 pm

Wednesdays: Beats by Girlz Workshop: Summer Learn to DJ, 4 pm - 6 pm

Thursdays: Self-Sufficiency and Nutrition Class for Kids, Grades 3 - 6) 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Fridays: Model Car Class, 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm

Don't miss the FREE concerts with six local bands and vendors.

http://www.birdseedcollective.org

Concert at the Globeville Rec Center

This Sunday, June 26th, Noon to 4:00 pm

Join your neighbors this Sunday, June 26th for a FREE concert
featuring two local bands, DJ Felix Fast4Ward,

 FREE food and local vendors

4496 Grant Street in Globeville

 

Neighborhood Memory Project - Globeville, Elyria, Swansea

Gracious, intelligent and sharp - Bob Padboy has almost a century of memories and is a good storyteller. Padboy was born in 1924 in a coal town in New Mexico, where his Slovenian-born father, Anton, worked in the mines. His mother Mary insisted that none of her three boys would would follow their father in the coal fields and the family moved to Globeville. Padboy is the oldest Globeville resident whose reminiscences were recorded for the Globeville, Elyria and Swansea Memory Project, and still lives in the family’s home in the neighborhood. 

 Bob Padboy in 2018. Photo® Mary Lou Egan

 

The Padboy house was purchased in 1940. Photo® Mary Lou Egan 

Anthony Garcia is the youngest person interviewed for the Memory Project, but his roots in the neighborhood run deep.“I was born and raised in Globeville, my mother worked at the Globeville Recreation Center for years, and my grandmother was an artist.” Garcia brought his family heritage of service to the community and creating art together. He is the co-founder of the BirdSeed Collective and has been named the director of the Globeville Recreation Center at 4496 Grant Street. Garcia hopes the center will again be a source of information and activity - “to keep the community a community.”

 Anthony Garcia at work. Photo® Mary Lou Egan  

BirdSeed Collective Mural - Where Wood Meets Steel
on Washington Street, Photo® Mary Lou Egan

To hear the stories of Globeville, Elyria and Swansea, view these priceless interviews 
Globeville, Elyria, Swansea Memory Project

Thanksgiving - Share in the Community Feast

The Globeville Recreation Center was dedicated in 1920 as the Community House and became a gathering place, with an auditorium for plays, movies, dances, social functions, meetings and the home of a thirteen-piece orchestra.
The August 21, 1927 issue of the Denver Post reported that some 4,000 people in Globeville were served by Community House. 1. Over the years, additions and modifications have been made to the building, and the name has been changed to the Globeville Youth Center, then the Globeville Recreation Center. What seems to be constant is the city's lack of commitment to the neighborhood - residents pay taxes for services they don't receive.

That is about to change.

On August 13, 2018 Denver Parks and Recreation awarded Birdseed Collective a four-year contract to operate the Globeville Recreation Center, with Globeville native Anthony Garcia appointed Executive Director. 

Birdseed Collective had been operating a food pantry at the center, as well as art programs. Now Birdseed will be able to develop programs for the community it knows so well.

Join the community for a Thanksgiving dinner at the center on Saturday, November 17th from 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm and see what the future will bring.

1. Denver Post, August 21, 1927

 

Arts

Artistic expression is visible everywhere in Globeville, with hand-crafted sculptures, whirligigs and grottos in gardens, and religious images painted on garages, barns and sheds. The neighborhood has also been the recipient of several public art commissions.

The most striking examples of public art are the murals that grace the highway underpass at 46th Avenue and Lincoln Street. In collaboration with the Denver Urban Art Fund and city councilwoman Judy Montero, prominent Denver street artists Jeremy Silas Ulibarri, known as “Jolt”, of Guerilla Garden, and Anthony Garcia Sr. of Birdseed Collective were given the task of mentoring a group art students, who created murals celebrating the history, culture and changing face of the Globeville neighborhood. The murals have special meaning for Jolt, Garcia, and several young artists - all grew up in Globeville. 

Other neighborhood entities came together to help: Swinerton Construction provided a lift, ProCoat donated the clear coat, Habitat for Humanity the paint for the borders and neighbors contributed meals and hospitality.

Each day passersby see beautiful visual reminders of the characteristics that define Globeville: pride, ethnic diversity, respect, and cooperation. 

North-facing murals (juxtaposed) ® Mary Lou Egan

South-facing murals (juxtaposed) ® Mary Lou Egan