MapLocated just north of downtown Denver, RiNo includes a remarkable concentration of creative businesses, including architects, art galleries, designers, furniture makers, illustrators, painters, media artists, photographers, sculptors, and an array of studio spaces. RiNo is “Where Art Is Made” in Denver and you can always finds something new and exciting to check out around the neighborhood.
As a former industrial hub, the RiNo Art District is one of the neighborhoods located in Five Points in Denver, Colorado. During the turn of the last century, the area was home to foundries, pattern shops, and industrial uses that helped drive the economic success of Denver. As industry moved out of the city’s core in the late 80s and 90s, the neighborhood was left with several vacant warehouses and a failing infrastructure. During this time artists began to populate the neighborhood as prices were very affordable and the area was fertile ground for arts, artists, and creatives.
In 2004, local neighborhood leaders and the City of Denver began work on the River North Plan and ways to revitalize the area.
In 2005, local artists Tracy Weil and Jill Hadley-Hooper joined forces and created the River North Art District with the desire to create a creative community that would connect the artists that made the area their home. “We really just wanted to sell more paintings,” says Weil. Starting with eight members, the district quickly grew to 50 members within one year.
Ten years later, RiNo bloomed with a community empowered organization, two new special districts, and the desire to usher in a new era for the neighborhood with art as a common thread.
Behind the walls of the RiNo neighborhood is a community of people that knows the importance of giving back. RiNo’s stakeholders, artists, developers, businesses, and residents will collectively invest close to $2 million this year back into the neighborhood via contributions to the RiNo Art District, the RiNo Business Improvement District (BID), and the RiNo General Improvement District (GID).
Where are those dollars going? To catalyze some big ideas for RiNo.
District Photo Gallery
