When I opened ZU Gallery in September 2021, I thought I knew exactly what it was going to be: a beautiful space to showcase local artists, represent their work, and help connect buyers with the talent that exists in our corner of Southwest Colorado. And for a while, that’s what it was.
But somewhere along the way, I realized I had built the wrong thing. Or rather, I had built only part of the right thing.
The shift wasn’t easy or clean. I had poured real investment into the artists I represented. These weren’t just names on a wall; they were relationships. When I made the decision to stop representing individual artists and pivot toward events and live music, three of them sat down with me to ask what was happening. That conversation mattered. Their art stayed on the walls. They understood. But understanding doesn’t make hard conversations easier, and I won’t pretend it didn’t cost something to change direction after I had made promises, even implicit ones, about what the ZU would be for them.
So why did I do it?
Because I had lost the thread. The gallery had become so focused on serving individual artists that I had stopped asking a bigger question: what does this community actually need? And honestly, some of it came down to sheer survival. The rent still had to get paid, and I had to figure out how to make that happen.
I started experimenting. I threw music at the wall, three nights a week, free, all summer long. It flopped. I tried different times. Morning music once a month had a moment of promise, then fizzled. We even tried an art consignment model and that didn’t fly either. I was offering things I believed in, but I was guessing at what would stick, and the community wasn’t biting.
Then I launched the Pour Choices Wine Club. And something started to shift. People came back. Not because the deal was just good, though it genuinely was, but because they had a reason to return regularly. Regulars changed the energy of the space. Regulars become community.
The real unlock came when Sue Bernard suggested a Willie Nelson night. It sounds simple, but that night changed how I think about everything we do at the ZU. The response wasn’t just enthusiasm, it was hunger. People showed up because they couldn’t get that experience anywhere else within a reasonable drive. And that’s when it clicked.
We live rural. Our entertainment options are genuinely limited. We love our local restaurants, but even the best meal loses its magic when it’s the only option week after week. The same is true of any cultural experience. People weren’t staying home because they didn’t want to come out, they were staying home because nothing felt worth rearranging their evening for.
Special changes that equation. One of a kind changes it. When something only happens once, when it’s built around this place and these people, when it puts money in the pockets of local musicians and gives the community something to champion together, that’s when the ZU became what it was always supposed to be.
Not a gallery that happened to have events. A community cultural hub that happens to have gallery walls.
The gallery itself has evolved too. We’ve built out our own retail with handmade goods, found art pieces, and imports that rotate regularly alongside the local artist work that started it all. Nothing stays static here and that’s by design.
Even our workshops evolved. When artists moved on, I had to figure out how to keep that programming alive without always needing a guide. We landed on paint by numbers, pre-printed canvases, and the ever hilarious paint your partner nights. Turns out you don’t need an instructor to have a really good time.
Then I realized something even bigger: I didn’t have to lead everything myself. When community members stepped up to host, it freed me up to focus on building the next thing. Now we have the Third Wednesday Writers Workshop with Four Corners Writers, Click Clique Photography Club with Dan, Songwriting Exchange with Kevin, Acoustic Jam for Beginners, Open Mic with Yves, Creative Writing Circle with Sabina, Felting with Dante, and even an Anime Club with Maya. Every single one of them free to the community. The ZU became a place where people don’t just show up, they show up and lead.
And that momentum has carried forward. We’re now booking events months in advance and have created or stepped up to lead annual traditions the community looks forward to every year, like Amplified, Play Music on the Porch Day, and now a Musicians Market.
Over 700 events later, I can look back at every misstep, the summer music that nobody came to, the morning shows that didn’t stick, the hard conversations with artists I respected, and see them for what they were: the path. All of it pointed us toward something truer. The ZU will keep learning, keep growing, and keep showing up for this community. That part will never change.
