In June 2022, 22-year-old Christian Glass, who lived in Boulder County, was shot and killed by a Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputy after he called 911 for help when his car got stuck near Silver Plume. His parents received the largest police misconduct settlement in Colorado history. Now, Sally and Simon Glass are using that money to open a community arts center for teens in Lyons.
“We always wanted to do something with Christian’s money,” his mother, Sally Glass, said. “We were giving to some local charities that support young people, but we also wanted to create something.”
That vision became Creative Grounds, an arts space, community hub and cafe designed in Christian’s memory. The space will open to the public on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
“He would have loved this space,” Glass said. “We wanted a place that honored who he was, because everyone remembers, sadly, how he died, but this commemorates who he was as a person. He was a highly creative individual.”
Christian’s original artwork hangs on the walls. Creative Grounds is designed to be the kind of space where he would have hung out. The exterior of the building is graced with three kaleidoscopic lion murals, all painted by Lyons artist Android Jones.
“The reason that big majestic lion is there is because that’s not what he got to be in this life,” Glass said. “I look at it and I go, Christian, you’re in heaven with those big wings, and you get to be whatever you want to be … I feel very close to him here, because the building is for him.”
The building is located at 160 E. Main St. in Lyons and also houses Western Stars Gallery. Glass first noticed the then-vacant building during the long drive from just outside Lyons to Georgetown for former Deputy Andrew Buen’s trials. She and her husband had bought a cabin to serve as a refuge during the nearly three years of legal proceedings that followed Christian Glass’s death at the hands of law enforcement.
After officers arrived, Glass remained inside his locked vehicle during an encounter with law enforcement that lasted more than an hour. Officers broke the car’s windows, fired beanbag rounds and used a Taser before Buen shot and killed him. Buen was later convicted of criminally negligent homicide.
“It was very hard, mentally and emotionally,” Sally Glass said.
The building captured Glass’s imagination, and when she toured it, she was immediately struck by its potential.
“It’s a really fun building,” she said. “Got a lot of character, huge space.”
“Art was helping me in my grieving,” Glass recalled, “and of course, Christian was an artist, so I thought, oh, we could have an art center. It just kept developing from there.”
Now, the space contains a cafe, an art lounge, a pottery studio and an outdoor area. The patio features a fountain, a playhouse, a 16-foot-tall wooden teepee and a performance stage.
Glass said her biggest surprise has been how well it all turned out. “When we bought the space and started the renovation, I couldn’t have even imagined that it could’ve ended up this beautiful.”
The cafe will be open to the public during the day, but after 2:30 p.m., the space will be reserved exclusively for young people ages 14 to 22.
“There’s a lot of demands on that age group,” Glass said. “School is quite a structured place. I don’t want [this] to feel like a very structured place. We are not a school,” Glass said.
Glass is eager to see Creative Grounds become a restorative place for youth.
“Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a space where you can come and hang out and just be? There’s no expectations from anyone here,” Glass said.
The space is intentionally designed to be organic, comfortable and low-pressure. Creative Grounds has already hired pottery facilitators, and classes and workshops will be offered, but before locking in any other programming, Glass wants to hear from young people.
“I really want to hear from the young people about what they would like to see, because the art center is for them,” Glass said. “This is their space. It’s not my space.”
Glass herself grew up in a family that didn’t have the means to pay for arts education. She is vocal about her wish that schools would offer more art programming, but she also sees Creative Grounds as a space that can help meet that need.
“To be creative and think outside the square and create something from nothing is really important,” Glass said.
Whether or not they end up making art, she hopes to see young people form connections and build community in the space.
“I would love to come in here and see kids hanging out, connecting, meeting people, being open-minded and chatting with people they don’t know,” she said. “There’s so many fun things we can do to create and connect as human beings.”
Ultimately, the process of launching a community space dedicated to her late son’s memory has been meaningful but hard.
“It’s been healing, but it’s been very, very emotional. It has set off some roller coaster emotions for me,” Glass said. “I wouldn’t have done this if my son hadn’t been murdered. My heart will never [fully] heal. He’s a piece of my heart that’s gone.”
Creative Grounds will open to the public on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
