Preliminary Management Plan

This is a document for the Town Council. All the information is on the website, but I think it's a useful overview of the vision for the Warehouse that I think will be useful to you.

Updated 6.21

The Telluride Transfer Warehouse will be a light-filled space where people who love Telluride gather to experience and celebrate the cultural and intellectual life of this authentic mountain community.  The Warehouse is quintessential Telluride, and a magnet for artists from across the globe. People will gather in the spectacular renovated space to enjoy lectures, parties, celebrations, music, poetry readings and literary events, small film screenings, artist presentations, public gatherings, art installations, meetings, and artists-in-residence. It will be a true community-gathering place where we can connect with each other, the world, and Telluride’s rich history.

 The Telluride Transfer Warehouse is a National Historic Landmark in the heart of Telluride that has been roofless and deteriorating since 1978. The sandstone structure was built by the Telluride Transfer Company in 1906 and was the center of the Warehouse District that served the mining industry. It was a bustling hub where people and goods flowed from the trains, through the building, and out into the towns and the mines. The history inspires our vision for its future as a new center for the arts. The iconic, historic exterior will encase a light filled, contemporary space that is a magnet for extraordinary art, culture, and ideas from across the globe.

 In the summer of 2015, Telluride Arts contracted ArtSpace, the largest non-profit developer of space for the arts in the country, to identify the best and highest possible public use for the Telluride Transfer Warehouse. The ideas presented by our community were well aligned with the Telluride Cultural Master Plan and the Town of Telluride Master Plan, which provide context and direction for the initiative.

 Artspace's mission is to create, foster, and preserve affordable space for artists and arts organizations. Their work in Telluride began June 15, 2015 with a series of community meetings held to explore uses for the Warehouse, which will inform the interior design and the operating plan.  The ArtSpace study provides four different scenarios, with square-foot options, programming options, and operating budgets for each. The following is an overview.

·       The Warehouse will contain light-filled spaces infused with the historic character of the building.

·       A bar/ café and art gallery that attracts visitors during daily open hours will anchor the building.

·       The bar/café and a catering kitchen will serve events and activities in the space.

·       The greatest need is large space for community gatherings, such as lectures, parties, celebrations, acoustic music, poetry readings and literary events, small film screenings, artist presentations, public gatherings, art installations, meetings, lectures, artist-in-residence, and temporary studios.

·       Spaces will be designed to be flexible to accommodate small activities, like meetings and intimate gatherings, and to be opened up for larger events.

·       Spaces can host artist-in-residence during off-season, maintaining continual use and vibrancy in the building, and supporting the exchange of arts and ideas in Telluride throughout the year.

·       The space will support the growth of the existing non-profit and community events, as well as incubate the expansion and quality of the arts in Telluride.

Telluride Arts will relocate offices to the building, maintain regular open hours and visitor reception to provide arts concierge service--and promote the activities within the Telluride Arts D