HOW THE MUSIC DISTRICT IS HELPING FORT COLLINS PUNCH ABOVE ITS WEIGHT
Today on the podcast, we chat with Kyle James Hauser from the Music District in Ft. Collins, CO, which is a gathering hub, workspace, and creative playground for the music community. The Music District is a non-profit musician’s resource in Northern Colorado, that’s funded by the Bohemian Foundation — and it’s an absolute unicorn for its sophistication and broad programming in a city as small as Fort Collins. They break their focus into the three branches of art, business, and community, which is a helpful way to organize all of the things they offer. And they offer a lot: lessons, rehearsal space, equipment rental, career guidance, consulting, co-working space, meet-ups, guest lectures, artists residencies, volunteering, and beyond.
Kyle works in artist development, so that’s where we focused the bulk of our chat. Even here, we could have gone in any number of directions, but luckily, we were able to hone in on a specific program he’s currently running which served as a good proxy to learn about their overarching vision. This pilot program they’re currently running is called the Workout, which is an 8 week intensive that basically serves as personalized career coaching with craft and technique for a handful of working artists in the area. You’ll get a sense for the scope of the music district and for Kyle’s really smart takes on building a career and developing an artist.
Enjoy!