Denver Community Museum

Founded in 2009 in an unused Denver storefront, the Denver Community Museum operated for nine months as a grassroots, community-centered project in the heart of the city.  With no budget, no employees, and no collection, the pop-up relied on contributions from visitors and community members during each monthly themed “challenge” or exhibition. All contributions were accepted regardless of age or past artistic work.  Founder Jaime Kopke writes,
While each challenge had a specific question/theme, the form of the artifacts were left up to the individual participants. Whether it was a homemade object, written story, audio clip or drawing, everything was accepted – unless it was was horribly offensive (which never occurred). It was free to participate in and to visit. It did not matter if the memories/stories represented were real or imaginary. There were no size limits, age limits or skill level required and nothing was for sale. This open process may have overwhelmed some, but many, many more found it liberating. Visitors would see a globe painted by a five-year old next to a professional artist’s embroidery and be inspired to create their own item. By far the most important elements though were the stories people shared. Each participant wrote their own text describing the process, meaning or anything else they liked. Unlike many museums that just ask for comments or set a fun little “activity corner,” the DCM gave over complete control and that’s part of the reason it worked.