Tweak’d Studios
A renegade, open-air gallery designed to make art and community gathering accessible during Covid. May 2021- November 2021.
Tweak’d now lives on through pop-up events that showcase local musicians and chefs.
Showcasing Local Talent
In 2020, my fine arts thesis was an immersive installation which was created to be on display at Redline throughout the summer of 2020. Covid had other plans… the show at Redline was canceled and I was left to exhibit my installation via video to classmates and their family members, instead of to a wider audience in Denver.
After spending countless hours crafting an experience designed to confront visitors with the uncomfortable reality of how women are portrayed in the media, and the shattering effects it has on self esteem, I was not going to settle for my thesis being reduced to a 2D depiction.
I spent all of college as Assistant Art Gallery Director on campus so after a few months of Covid forcing me out of creative spaces, I decided it was time to create my own.
In April of 2021, I decided that my thesis deserved to see the light of day and I was going to find a way to elicit the interaction it was born for. I lived on a relatively busy street corner near Regis University in a house with a garage and long wooden fence that faced the street. My plan was to set up my thesis in the garage and put some art up on the fence to generate some organic traffic.
I then learned about some other neighbors who were doing something similar- opening up their yards to display art on the First Friday of every month since commercial galleries were still closed. This was a genius idea: a hyper-local, grass-roots First Friday art walk throughout the neighborhood. I decided that I would take part but needed some more art to put on display if I was going to call myself a gallery. After reaching out to some friends and fellow art majors, I had some takers and gathered a little collection to display come First Friday in May.
And that is how Tweak’d Studios came to be- born out of the desire for my installation to be interacted with and seizing the opportunity to act as an Art Gallery Director in my own right.
I love creating spaces and moments that inspire people to engage- with art, each other, and their environment; Tweak’d was the perfect platform for art and community to unite during a time when Covid called for isolation.
Tweak’d was an act of resistance; an invitation to show up creatively and compassionately. At a time when the world told us to keep the doors closed, I opened my garage turned my yard into a space for celebrating our collective humanity.
Events
For six months, Tweak’d held gallery openings every First Friday. Each month introduced new artists and fresh collections. At first, we drew a crowd of about 50 people who stayed on average for 20 minutes. By August, we drew a crowd of 200 people who lingered throughout the evening.
The difference? More collaborators, increased social media marketing efforts, increased direct-outreach, more flyers posted across town, (and free beverages for attendees). People would have a great time, listen to the bands, maybe buy some art, and then bring their friends the following month.
The Art of Tweakin’
To take an existing material, subject, or place, and enhance it until it takes on new meaning.
Continuous iteration until full potential is achieved.
Tweak’d at its core was a place that championed the weird and whacky creations which encouraged viewers to reassess their assumed beliefs about people, places, and things. We also Tweak’d the notion of what an art gallery is- it is a garage, a garden bed, a wooden fence, old closet doors… and anywhere else we can get away with displaying art for the people.
