Uphill Both Ways: First Friday Opening Reception

LOCATION: Alto Gallery - 3773 Walnut St

CATEGORIES: Art Events | First Fridays

PAST DATE AND TIME:

• Friday, Feb 6, 2026  6pm - 10pm

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Join us at Alto Gallery in the ArtPark at Arkins Park on Friday, February 6, 6 - 10 PM for the Opening Reception of Uphill Both Ways, a group exhibition celebrating Denver's art scene. Free and open to the public. Refreshments served. On view through February 28, 2026.

ABOUT

Uphill Both Ways revisits a foundational period in Denver’s art history—before the city’s creative identity was amplified by street art visibility, cultural branding, and waves of gentrification. Centered on artists who were prominent between 2008 and 2011, the exhibition reflects on a time when the DIY art scene was not an alternative pathway, but the primary way to access, experience, and participate in art in Denver.

During this era, formal institutions and commercial galleries were limited, often inaccessible, or disconnected from emerging voices. In response, artists built their own platforms. Basements, warehouses, living rooms, alleys, pop-up storefronts, and shared studios became exhibition spaces. Community-organized shows, self-funded projects, and word-of-mouth openings formed the backbone of the city’s cultural life. DIY was not a stylistic choice—it was an infrastructure.

This exhibition also revisits the early days of Birdseed Collective, when it first emerged from this necessity-driven ecosystem. What began as informal collaboration and mutual aid reflected the broader ethos of the time: artists supporting artists, sharing resources, and creating opportunities where none existed. These efforts laid groundwork for what would later become more formalized institutions, while remaining rooted in community access and cultural equity.

Uphill Both Ways coincides with the 10-year anniversary of Alto Gallery, marking a decade of sustained commitment to Denver’s creative community. Alto represents a bridge between that earlier DIY moment and the present—an artist-centered space that grew out of a time when making room for art meant physically carving it out.

Rather than romanticizing the past, this exhibition acknowledges the labor, resilience, and collective effort that shaped Denver’s art scene before its rapid expansion and transformation. It invites reflection on what it meant to create without institutional support, how access was forged through collaboration, and how those early, uphill efforts continue to influence the city today. Uphill Both Ways honors a moment when art in Denver was built from the ground up—by artists, for artists, and for the communities around them.