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Young Bloods Collective bring passion and vibrancy to Routt County’s creative community

There’s excitement, there’s passion and there’s a newfound vibrancy happening within Routt County’s creative community.

“We want to make people see that any mode of what you put back into the world is a creative endeavor, and we want to be able to support that, so you can keep doing it,” says Brie Kole, co-founder and president of Young Bloods Collective, Steamboat’s newest nonprofit .

As part of YBC’s mission, the nonprofit’s purpose is to make art and cultural endeavors more accessible by hosting exhibits, events and workshops throughout the county, and engaging with local businesses and organizations through collaborative partnerships.

“We’re going to shake things up a bit,” Kole says. “This is truly for our locals, to have resources and opportunities to tap into their own creativity and share that work with our community in a meaningful and purposeful way.”

Creative is an all-encompassing, limitless term venturing beyond just artists to include designers, architects, chefs and foodies, as well as coffee shops, breweries, music venues, museums, galleries, performing arts programs, historical programs, cultural heritage sites and more.

Since its inception in July 2016, YBC was at 10 to 15 attendees for two “meetups,” its first iteration of YBC meetings. After raising enough money through Yampa Valley Gives and the Yampa Valley Community Foundation, YBC received nonprofit status in January and now has 40 members, a number that continues to grow each month.

In the past year alone, YBC has become a nonprofit, hosted events such as the inaugural SPEAK — Performances from Women in the Yampa Valley, hosted the monthly Cocktails and Crit(que) at Pine Moon Gallery, been the beneficiary of the Lunafest Film Festival, and held numerous group shows at galleries, including Urbane, Steamboat Smokehouse and the “Breaking Boxes” exhibit at the Center for Visual Arts.

Through YBC galleries, businesses and local organizations have an opportunity to reach a different demographic.

“They know what a Twitter account is; they see the world differently, through different eyes,” says Piknik Theater founder Stuart Handloff. “A collaboration that’s creatively, demographically and artistically diverse can only add depth and breadth to the great artistic work we already do.”

“Ultimately, we’re that bridge that people are looking for,” Kole adds. “They just have to accept it, and let us do what we are good at and trust us to do this.”

This story originally ran in Steamboat Living magazine. 

 


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