Our History

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• 2010 - "Dancing Spirit Co-op Gallery" opens at 630 Goddard in Ignacio Colorado with 4 founding members and 13 artists. Later in the year the name changes to "Dancing Spirit Gallery" and moves into a shared space with Tom Garcia Chiropractic at 640 Goddard. We hold both spaces to allow for facilitating the Healing Arts 
• 2011 - "Dancing Spirit Gallery" adds education to the co-op when we begin teaching art classes to Pine River Community Learning Center's homeschooled students in a 6 week art course that introduces multiple mediums of art and we file for state non-profit status. Our annual "Fill Your Bowl for Art" fundraiser begins.
•  2012 - Our 640 Goddard location closes and the pottery studio moves to 755 Goddard and we become "Dancing Spirit Community Art Center" which is comprised of four components (Gallery, Education, Studio and Performance) and includes workshops, events and First Friday Art exhibits and public art. 
• 2013 - Art a'la Carte "Week of Art" opens for area children and is later joined by Dancing Spirit Summer Art Classes and 1st Friday Monthly art openings. The Dancing Spirit Community Arts Center Board is created and Federal 501c3 non-profit status request is filed.
• 2014 - We are officially recognized as a 501c3 and the Building Bridges Through Art, Therapeutic Art Program begins.  Dancing Spirit Community Art Center and Silver SPRUCE Academy spearhead the re-framing of the local elementary school to create an opportunity to benefit the community as a whole.  Fill Your Plate Fundraiser hosts a paint your plant class followed by a community BBQ two weeks later.
• 2015 - Along with Dancing Spirit Community Art Center, 6 local non-profits anchor the ELHI Community Center's launch, which becomes a community hub for advancing a culture of achievement and creativity, and a go-to site for community development efforts and groups. 

• 2016 - After School Arts begins and our Build Bridges Through Arts Therapeutic Art program enters it's 3rd year. Pottery and Yoga classes with the Southern Ute Community Action Program Youth Services develop.
• 2017 -  "Dancing Spirit Co-op Art Gallery" closes and our focus shifts to providing instructional art classes based in pottery, mixed media, jewelry, music and glass. Classes include weekly classes during and after school as well as throughout the summer. As a 501c3, we begin engaging youth and adults in creating public art works as part of "Inspiration Square" and Ignacio's Beautification Initiative. Students from Bayfield, Durango and Pagosa Springs join our art classes.
• 2018 -  Kasey Correia becomes a certified Change Leader and is asked to speak to the Ignacio American Veterans. Inspiration Square has its ribbon cutting ceremony and our 7th Annual Fill Your Bowl is a great success! Summer Arts program continues, but grows into our first Kid's club, Club HeART. We celebrate with our 7th Annual Fill Your Bowl for Arts 
• 2019 -  We begin our 3rd year of Summer Arts. We say goodbye to our wonderful dance teacher and close down the dance component of our  programming. We host a reinvented Fill Your Plate fundraiser at the Fox Fire Farms. After School Arts begins again in September of 2019. We enjoy our 8th Annual Fill Your Bowl Fundraiser  - it gets better every year!
• 2020 -  We kick off the new year with a new program. The Pottery House begins as the area's only open to the public pottery studio. March of 2020, COVID closes down Dancing Spirit Programming and we shift into sending home 250+ Free art kits each week. July 2020, Dancing Spirit is invited to take part in "Community Concerts Reimagined". In December 2020, we shift our annual Fill Your Bowl Fundraiser into a socially distanced "Ignite the Light" Luminaria Fundraiser

• 2021 - Adult pottery is offered as our first in person class during the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Dancing Spirit begins offering In Person children's classes again! April 2021, We begin offering ZOOM art classes to the Southern Ute Indian Montessori  Academy We take part in the Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project! Camp Creative begins as week long Spring Break and Summer Camps We purchased a wheelchair accessible pottery wheel! To our knowledge it's the only one in the area.
• 2022 -  Purchased property on main street in Ignacio to build our very own building! Groundbreaking ceremony is held in the spring with a wonderful show from our community and colleagues. Temporary "Blue" Gallery open while we work on our building plans. Classes get busier. Adult pottery is now two session a week, and our kids camps are slowly building back up. Classes begin with SUIMA and Ignacio Elementary School as well as our old favorite, After School Arts.  Fill Your Bowl is a great success and we sell out before the night is over
• 2023 - Dancing Spirit Adult pottery classes continue to grow pick up with beginning wheel throwing and open studio. Kids summer programming ends with a community Arts Extravaganza. The Blue Gallery grows with 13 artists holding space. The majority of the focus and energy goes into the new building and fundraising – foundation is laid, utilities and framing begin in December. Dancing Spirit is an enterprise zone project and the public awareness of Dancing Spirit is increasing. Collaborations with Pine River Library begin with a monthly family art class. 

We are making dreams come true by building Ignacio's very own 501c3 community arts center. "Dancing Spirit Center for the Arts" will offer art gallery space for established and up and coming artists, an incubator program for students to develop art and business skills, children's and adult art classes, a full pottery studio including a wheelchair accessible pottery wheel and open studio hours, an area for live performances and art openings. 

Our Goals for 2024 include:

  Programming with Boys and Girls Club, SUIMA and the Pine Valley Library. Possible new collaborations include Big Brothers, Big Sisters and Dare to Be You. Work will continue on the building with the windows, doors and drywall going in towards the beginning of 2024. Springtime will hopefully bring outside work on stucco. Our goal is to be able to host Fill Your Bowl in our new building in December of 2024.