As of May 10, 1711 Pearl Street boasts an arts retail storefront, a communal creative hub and art workshops, all hosted by the Crowd Collective, a North Boulder-based artists’ group. Their pop-up on East Pearl offers a real-time experiment for how artists can revitalize underused commercial spaces.
The location, between Laughing Goat Coffee and Iris Piercing Studio, was formerly occupied by the women’s bag company Sherpani. When Sherpani moved online at the end of 2024, the space joined the growing number of empty venues in downtown Boulder. Office vacancy is a major problem for the city, with as much as 40% of offices sitting dark.
By contrast, artists in Boulder have long struggled to find affordable spaces to make and exhibit their work. This gap was made clear in 2022, when Create Boulder, an arts advocacy organization, commissioned the Arts Complex Visioning Workshop study. One of the survey’s clearest conclusions, according to Deborah Malden — board chair of Create Boulder and arts liaison to the Boulder Chamber — was that “affordability challenges were crushing.”
“Finding a long-term solution to Boulder’s arts infrastructure challenges is something we’re still working on,” Malden said. “But in the meantime, given the vacancies in Boulder’s commercial spaces, we saw an opportunity to activate spaces on a temporary basis.”
Inspired by national efforts like Zero Empty Spaces and the Evans School Satellite Studios in Denver, Malden started exploring how artists could help breathe life in Boulder’s vacant storefronts. She presented her findings at a monthly gathering of Boulder’s commercial brokers, where she connected with Hunter Barto, senior vice president of Dean Callan & Company, who’s managed 1711 Pearl Street since 2002.
“I knew the property owner wanted something other than vacancy,” Barto said. “This resonated with what Deborah was saying, so I spoke to the landlord and asked if he would be open to a short-term, month-to-month way to activate the space.”
Barto was quick to highlight the upside. “It brings activity to a space,” he said. “Most landlords would not do this, but it’s a short-term arrangement. The landlord wanted to help downtown, the art community and the other tenants in his building. He would rather have occupancy and activity.”
The Crowd Collective pays a significantly reduced rent in exchange for occupying the storefront. This arrangement allows the property owner to recoup some of the fixed costs, while giving the artists a prime location. “It’s a win-win,” Malden said. “The artists have some prime retail space on Pearl Street where they can expand their connections and the number of people who can experience their work.”
The Collective’s flagship loation in North Boulder consists of twelve artist studios and an alternative gallery space. It was founded by artist Tiffany Crowder in 2018. “The community’s gotten much tighter over the years,” she said. Though the space mainly functions as working studios, it opens to the public once a month for First Fridays. “Back then, we were excited to get 150 people to come through the doors,” Crowder recalled. “Nowadays, we get over a thousand.”
While pandemic-era shifts in office use are largely to blame for Boulder’s commercial vacancies, Crowder sees something else happening, too. “People really want community,” Crowder said. “Our spot in NoBo is lovely, it’s the most affordable spot in town, and every inch of that space is already claimed.” So the Collective began looking for ways to grow.
The Pearl Street location expands their programming and reach. The retail space features work by 25 Colorado-based artists, while the communal area in the back will host classes, workshops and regular events. “Crowd on Pearl,” as it’s branded, offers $50-a-month memberships, which include access to weekly members-only creative hours, social gatherings, advance notice about classes and 10% off.
“We couldn’t be here without this opportunity,” Crowder said. The lease is still month-to-month, and if Barto finds a more traditional tenant, the Collective will be looking again.
“There are other property owners that have quietly made spaces available to artists,” Malden said, “but this is high-profile.”
It all comes down to a willingness to rethink what these spaces can be, according to Barto.
“That’s the crux of it, I think,” he said. “To have a landlord who is willing to be creative in the short term, collect what he can, but also promote good uses and good people.”
Correction, May 28, 2025 9:33 am: A previous version of this article misspelled the last name of Hunter Barto.
One of the most significant and unfortunate losses for downtown Boulder, as well as for and for local artists, was the shuttering of the beloved Boulder Arts and Crafts Gallery (AKA, “The Co-op”) which lost its space on the Pearl Street Mall in 2021 when, after 50 years in business, it was unable to pay the exorbitant $30K+ a month rent that Unico Properties demanded. The City could have stepped in then to aid this crown jewel of the Boulder arts scene, but alas, did not. Good that someone is recognizing now the need for Boulder to support local art, and doing something about it! Too late for much-missed Co-op, but hopefully this move will revitalize the downtown Boulder arts scene which has been withering on the vine for years.
Yay Jojo, for reminding me of that!!!!!!!!
30K/month rent. Where are our city council members on the outrage of private equity running viable and valued businesses out of Boulder? At the 5/22 city council study session joint meeting with the planning board, staff presented a list of concepts to consider for the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan update. Among them was how to restore the “funkiness” of Boulder, LOL. They might as well have broken into a chorus of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. This is so far-fetched given that the city continues to turn a blind eye to the real problems that businesses, the arts, third spaces, renters and just about everyone else faces as the consequences of unbridled private equity growth. The city will never get anywhere with just nibbling around the edges with cute ideas. Good thing this landlord stepped up to forge this type of compromise.
Hello all, I looked at putting on a month-long East Pearl pop-up shop for photographer Tad Kline (www.tadkline.com). We would have had lectures, a DJ, parties, maybe some live graffiti painting. It would have added some traffic and vitality to East Pearl. However, I received no interest from the local commercial real estate companies. While were fortunate to secure a year-long lease in a studio above Japango restaurant, ground-level galleries are best for selling art. It also doesn’t address the problem of the ghostly empty East Pearl storefronts. As an East Pearl resident, I wish there were more investment in our art scene and local businesses there.
If Boulder has vacant commercial spaces, stop issuing permits to build new commercial spaces. Make use of what is available.