The Art Base Description

The Art Base is a nonprofit community art center on Midland Avenue in downtown Basalt, housed in the town’s former library building in Lions Park. The Art Base offers rotating exhibitions from local and regional artists alongside a full slate of classes for youth, adults, and seniors, with the gallery and store open Tuesday through Saturday. Founded in 1996 by artist Deb Jones as the Wyly Community Art Center, the organization began on the campus that is now Aspen Community School in Woody Creek before relocating to Basalt in the mid-2000s and adopting the Art Base name in 2015, a history that grounds The Art Base as one of the valley’s longest-running arts institutions.

Where much of the region’s art scene, particularly in Aspen, centers on commercial galleries and high-end collecting, The Art Base positions itself as a working-community resource, with programming built around accessibility and inclusion rather than sales. Classes and workshops are structured for every age and skill level, from youth mentorship programs to adult studio sessions, and gallery openings typically fall on the second Friday of each month. The Art Base also runs dedicated accessibility services, including ASL interpretation, Spanish interpretation, verbal description tours, and large-print gallery guides, available with advance notice through its programs staff, a level of accommodation that is uncommon among small nonprofit art centers in the region.

The building itself reflects that community focus, with a youth classroom that opens onto the adjacent park for outdoor art activities and an adult classroom with terrace access on the second floor. The Art Base partners with area schools on youth arts education and hosts community events that draw both practicing artists and first-time visitors into its exhibitions. Nearly three decades after its founding, The Art Base continues to serve as a central gathering point for visual arts across the Roaring Fork Valley’s mid-valley communities.

Category: Culture
Features: Family, Museums, Events, Family
Address: 174 Midland Ave Basalt, CO 81621
Directions: View on Google Maps