01 / Uplift
Uplift artists
Studio access, grants, calls for artists, promotion, and a gallery wall that actually sells work.
We’re eleven people, one block, one mission
The Greeley Creative District is a nonprofit and a state-certified cultural district. Translation: we’re a small team with a clear job — make sure artists, makers, and creative businesses in Greeley have real resources, real space, and a real audience.
Origin
A district that started with a conversation.
In 2012, a group of residents, business owners, and artists sat around a table and asked a simple question: what would it take to make downtown Greeley feel like a place where creative work gets made?
Thirteen years later, we’re a Colorado-certified cultural district, a working nonprofit, and the organization behind the Greeley Creative Arts Center at 702 13th Street — a historic building we spent two years renovating into a gallery, studio, classroom, and gift shop.
We don’t make the art. We make sure the people who do can keep doing it.
Four jobs. All connected.
02 / Promote
Promote creative business
Cross-promotion, maps, listings, and a steady funnel of people who actually come downtown to spend.
03 / Program
Host events
First Friday, Youth Art Month, Cacophony of Creatives, Do Tell!, WinterFest, Día de los Muertos — year-round programming.
04 / Connect
Connect the district
We stitch residents, artists, tourists, businesses, and donors together so the whole neighborhood benefits.
A thirteen-year build.
2012
Founding
A small coalition of artists, residents, and downtown business owners starts meeting. The mission clarifies: make Greeley a place where creative work is visible, viable, and valued.
2014
State Certification
Colorado Creative Industries certifies us as one of only a handful of official Colorado Creative Districts — unlocking grants, technical assistance, and statewide visibility.
2016
First Friday launches
What started as a handful of open doors on one street grows into a monthly downtown event that now draws thousands each season.
2024
The GCAC is acquired
We take ownership of the historic Macy-Allnutt building at 702 13th Street and begin turning it into a working creative center for the community.
2026
Doors open
The Greeley Creative Arts Center opens to the public January 31, 2026: gallery, classroom, studios, gift shop. You’re invited.
The people who show up.
A small staff, a working board, and a long list of volunteers. We all have day jobs somewhere in the arts — which is kind of the point.
Becca Vaclavik
Executive Director
Maya Okoye
Programs Manager
Jordan Reyes
Gallery & Events
Sarah Chen
Board Chair
Values
Creativity, community, accessibility.
Three non-negotiables: the work has to be genuinely creative, the space has to feel like it belongs to everyone, and the door has to open to people who’ve never set foot in a gallery before.
We price classes on a sliding scale. We offer scholarships. We keep gallery hours that work for people with nine-to-fives. We mean it when we say “come as you are.”