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Written by Rebecca LaPole
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Thursday, 29 November 2007 |
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 In an era gone by in Fort Collins, if you walked into this space, you’d enter a world of wonder and excitement (especially if you were 10 and anxious to get your hands on a Slinky).
The space at 109 Linden St. was once the toy section of Montgomery Wards.
If you enter now by walking down the metal steps to the basement of the Avery Building, it’s still a world of wonder, but for dramatically different reasons and for an older audience.
 It’s the location of Fort Collins’ newest art gallery, Gallery Underground.
The art pops off the white display spaces and a small seating area with modern furniture gives a cozy feeling to the room.
“I think the most important thing is that when people are down here, they feel an emotion,” co-creator of the Gallery Underground and Summit Studios, Darren Mahuron said.
He opened Gallery Underground with Erin Mortensen, a ceramic artist from Portland, and a local painter, Jacquelynn Woodley of Solo Star Studio, as “a safe place for artists to take risks.”
A piece won’t be censored because of its content. If an artist can create it, the gallery might display it.
If the preview night was any indication, the goal of making Fort Collins an art destination could be attainable. A huge, all-ages crowd showed up, gave tons of positive feedback, and purchased 11 pieces of art. “I want to let people know that you can sell art, in the basement, in Fort Collins, that is different,” Mahuron said.
One of Woodley’s pieces has individual moths sewn onto the canvas, and Mortensen’s ceramic art features plates hanging from sticks on the wall.
“I saw a woman down here the other day and she just started busting out laughing at one of them, and I don’t think the artist should ever be intimidated by that, it’s a positive thing,” Mahuron said. “I want everything that hangs in here to have some way of affecting people. I’ve said a million times, I don’t just want something that matches the drapes. Art should create emotion, whether it’s laughter, or sadness, or anger. All of those things are very important and I feel like today’s art is missing some of that.”
The work of artists in the region will be featured by the gallery.
“We want to have the most unique quality art you can find, and there will hopefully be Colorado artists doing it. The only reason we would stop (having local artists) is if there’s not enough,” Mahuron said.
He continued with Mortensen nodding her head in agreement:
“We want this to be Fort Collins’ place—people are intimidated sometimes to go into galleries. We want the opposite effect. We want people to feel like this is a place they can come in and hang out and talk about art.”
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