This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
The Left Hand Artist Group (LHAG) inches nearer with a week left to reach their goal for the 45-day Kickstarter campaign, “LHAG Community Art Center.” They currently raised $6,116 toward a goal of $50,000 to help them fly from the Left Hand Brewery nest and invest in a new facility to store and create art.
The Left Hand Artist Group is looking for the right hands to propel them to the next step in growth, nickels and dimes are important on their way, but something much more substantial is key. The funds will be used to get LHAG their own physical space and put them on a path to become a self-supporting nonprofit.
Plans for their new home are mainly a space for making art and storing art. To supplement upkeep costs they plan to host a variety of events, concerts, and art shows. Instead of mainly relying on bars and breweries to sell and store their art, the new building would provide a proper place of their own to support those needs.
Several volunteers go around town and hang their art at breweries, typically rotating it once a month. The art pieces that were not sold need to be warehoused, and the Left Hand Brewery has been kind enough to store their art as of present.
LHAG is completely unaffiliated with the company Left Hand Brewery, they are just kind enough to supply the group with a place to store art between shows. Before Left Hand Brewery, they stored art in a loft owned by the owner of Instant Imprints, and before that their art was stored in the backyard of current group president Donald Wilson.
“We go to a brewery owner, or any business owner but it just so happens brewery sales … breweries sell art. So that's the benefit for the visual artists, the painters, and others. LHAG comes in, it's all volunteer driven, it's always been. They come in, they take all the old art down, they collect any money from art sold, and then they put all new art up, so they have fresh art once a month,” said Tony Kindlespire, who was recently voted interim Secretary for LHAG.
Last week, LHAG conducted a meeting in Left Hand Brewery’s warehouse—across the street on Boston Ave—to appoint new interim board members who will likely serve a six-month term starting November 4th. Around 80 chairs were set up between pallets of boxes, beer ingredients, and several large dock doors. At noon the temperature was 45 degrees outside, and inside the warehouse it was a few degrees warmer as a crowd of artists tried to stay warm huddled next to each other, still in their coats, with hands around coffee tumblers.
Not every member of the group is an artist, LHAG has members that don't make any art and merely love what the group stands for, and contribute by doing such good deeds as setting up chairs for meetings and moving art from breweries to storage.
“I'm not a musician. I'm not an artist but I ... when I first joined this group, I joined as a volunteer to support the endeavors that they were doing. Art shows. I'm heavily involved with music, I love music but I just don't play it worth a lick. I'm just a good listener,” said John Schneider, who has been with LHAG for four years now. “I'm just one of the non-artist members, there's a few of us actually. I joined the group just to support the arts. And I've met a ton of great people in here. It's not just about drinking beer. The art work is in all the breweries so people associate it with drinking beer, I guess. It truly is a great group of individuals.”
