Fraser Valley Arts Builds + Promotes Opportunities to Celebrate and Experience Creativity Throughout the County
The Fraser Valley is full of artists and craftspeople that bring life, energy, and creativity to our little slice of the Rocky Mountains. You've likely noticed the murals and sculptures around town, featuring the talent of locals who love this place and love to create. Our thriving community of artists and artisans is supported in part by Fraser Valley Arts, a nonprofit dedicated to building, promoting, and sustaining creative endeavors across the Fraser Valley.
We are so grateful to have a local nonprofit that works to provide cultural and educational infrastructure for "everything arts." Partnering with state and local governments, schools, businesses, and other like-minded nonprofits, Fraser Valley Arts promotes artists, education, events, and other cultural activities with a long-term goal of creating the Fraser Center for Creative Arts right in the heart of downtown Fraser.
THE VISION: FRASER CENTER FOR CREATIVE ARTS
The ultimate plan for the local art scene is to create a hub for creativity. The Fraser Center for Creative Arts has been drawn up with input from the community, and funds are currently being raised to make the dream a reality. FVA is a primary avenue for supporting the endeavor.
The vision for the Center for Creative Arts is to be a place that inspires the creative spirit, serves as a nucleus of creative industries in the Fraser Valley, and helps create a vibrant downtown Fraser. Making Fraser walkable and accessible with a central "downtown" has long been a vision for the Town of Fraser, and having an art hub is a major step in that direction. It's a challenge with the railroad tracks, Fraser River, and thoroughfare that is Highway 40, but we love that the community is undeterred, creative in embracing the area, and driven in realizing a vision.
The Fraser Center for Creative Arts will be adjacent to Fraser Valley Distilling and the new mixed-use development, Koselig on Main. The exterior will embrace the natural surroundings and history of the area with plenty of glass to bring the outside world in, wood to embrace the forests, and metal as a nod to the railroad history in the Valley.
Galleries, exhibit spaces, studio space, makers-space, a rooftop deck, an exterior common area, and living spaces are all in the works of the project. The hope is that the center will encourage everyone to partake in the energetic and collaborative processes already in the works by Fraser's thriving community of artists. The goal is for there to be a space that creates a common bond shared among people that come to practice their craft, learn, and present their work. FVA is committed to bringing a warm an inviting space that brims with creative energy and draws people into the downtown Fraser area.
CLASSES
While FVA doesn't currently offer classes directly, they partner with the Fraser Valley Metropolitan Recreation District and Rocky Mountain Folk School to provide both adult and youth art and enrichment classes like pottery, acrylic paint pouring, and mixed-media visual arts. They also utilize local library community spaces to hold workshops and lessons like the 3-day watercolor workshop for Plein Air painting held recently.
EVENTS
Partnering with the Fraser Public Arts Committee, Fraser Valley Arts raises support through the annual Fraser Mountain Mural Festival and Fire & Ice Festival. The mural festival is held every August, and the Fire & Ice Festival hosts the Colorado Snowsculpting Championship. The Fire & Ice Festival is held on February 10 this year, complete with fireworks, food trucks, and the opportunity to vote on the “People’s Choice” sculpture contest for a modest donation to Fraser Valley Arts. The summer mountain mural festival gives the same opportunity, so be sure to check it out in August if you're in town!
FVA also puts on the Plein Air @ Altitude Festival each summer, a juried festival full of some of the nation's most talented artists. The event always ends with a reception and opportunity to take home the art, a gift for those who love this place and want to represent its beauty in their homes.
SUPPORT
If you're supporting the arts in the Fraser Valley is on your radar, you can donate directly or become a member of Fraser Valley Arts. Or head over to the Fraser Mountain Mural Festival or Fire + Ice Festival to donate a little to place your vote for your favorite piece!
LEARN MORE!
If you want to learn more about the arts initiative in the Fraser Valley, we'd love to share our local knowledge with you! Or if you love the direction our valley is heading arts-wise and are ready to call this place home, let's connect and look at properties that fit your real estate goals. Either way, we're just happy to share this place with you and answer any questions you have!
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