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

A Globeville Historic District?

There is no other place like Globeville. Like layers in an archeological site, the prospectors, homesteaders, immigrants, industries, ethnic groups, taverns, lodges, churches and schools, left evidence of their presence. A treasure with generations of stories.

Diversity and cooperation have defined Globeville and its residents are fiercely protective of their neighborhood. They've had to be.

The division of the neighborhood by Interstates 25 and 70 inflicted serious wounds, yet Globeville survived. A move by the City Planning Board of Denver to turn Globeville into an industrial region (1966 - 1977) was battled by residents and the Globeville Civic Association. Again Globeville prevailed. Checkerboard zoning and absentee landlords have allowed industry encroachment and blight in the community. There is the constant struggle with odors and highway exhaust. A more insidious and recent threat comes from gentrification. 

Could a historic district improve Globeville's future? Learn more about it:
Monday, January 9th, 5 to 7 pm
at Birdseed Collective, 4496 Grant Street, Denver, CO 80216

Birdseed Collective
4496 Grant Street

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

Globeville Recreation Center

In 1919, William P. McPhee, president of McPhee & McGinnity, proposed to the Denver Real Estate Exchange that the organization build a community house in Globeville. For many years his sister, Marguerite, had been involved in the immigrant community and had often urged William to consider contributing something to benefit the neighborhood. When Marguerite succumbed to the Spanish Influenza on December 30, 1918, McPhee was moved to do something in remembrance of her. Frederic R. Ross, vice president of the Exchange and one of Denver's leading realtors, took up the cause, suggesting that the Exchange present the City of Denver with the Community House as their annual gift for 1919. 1. The first donation to the building fund was $2,300 from the McPhee family, and the remaining amount was quickly raised with contributions from the Exchange members and other Denver businessmen. 2. Construction began in the summer of 1920, was completed and accepted by the city at the Denver City Council meeting on December 29, 1920.

The Community House became a welcome gathering place, with an auditorium for plays, movies, dances, social functions, meetings and the resident thirteen-piece orchestra. The building also housed the Globeville branch of the Denver Public Library, and the University of Colorado Extension, which offered classes in home economics and American history. Two part-time social workers were available to help residents with legal and family issues, as well as learn American ways. The August 21, 1927 issue of The Denver Post reported that some 4,000 people in Globeville were served by Community House. 3. 

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 has remained constant is the neighborhood’s need for services and the battle for city funds each time the economy stalls. When Denver Parks and Recreation closed the center in 2008, Street-Kidz Inc., a community-based, privately funded organization, took over. Founded by Globeville natives Julian Nieto and Boogie Mondragon, Street-Kidz Inc. provided sports, academic and art activities, while working with Denver Public Schools to keep children in school. A book box lending library was started at the center, sports teams were organized and Globeville youth participated in creating the large murals on 46th and Lincoln. Although the focus was on the Globeville community, everyone who wanted to be a part of the program was welcome. “We never say no to any kid, ever,” said Mondragon. 4. Although the impact on individuals and the neighborhood was remarkable, the organization was unable to raise enough money to continue. 
Again the neighborhood mobilized to demand services for their tax dollars and the Denver Parks and Recreation responded with a program of youth and recreational activities. 

1. Denver Post, October 3, 1919, p. 4

2. Denver Times, April 7, 1920, p. 13

3. Denver Post, August 21, 1927, sec. 1, p. 5

4. Nieto helps Globeville community, BNSF Railway Mile High News, December 2009, pg 11 

The Community House circa 1930, photo from the Denver Public Library

This center is now managed by the Birdseed Collective