PlatteForum

Using the arts as a bridge, we connect youth and artists with resources to reach their full potential.

PlatteForum is a 501 (c)3 non- profit organization located in Denver, Colorado, U.S., founded in 2002. PlatteForum is an award-winning and innovative arts, youth-development, and artist-in-residence program that partners youth (K-12) from historically marginalized communities with professional artists in intensive, structured, and long-term creative learning environments. Youth work side by side w

ith professional artists to collaboratively plan, produce, and exhibit a body of work in an environment in which artistic excellence is highly valued. Youth in PlatteForum’s programs dive into a variety of art forms, confronting challenges and obstacles and making life-changing discoveries about who they are, what they are capable of achieving, and where they belong in the world. Since 2009, 99.97% of ArtLab interns have graduated from high school (about half were the first in their family to do so), and 75% attended college after graduation. As an artist community, PlatteForum supports the creation and presentation of new art and ideas by contemporary artists. By supporting working artists, we are generating dialogue in the larger community about the role of the artist in society. Located in a rich urban context, our dynamic, artist-centered residences are built upon the notion of engaging the broader community in the creation of new work, where artists, youth, and the public collaborate. Each resident artist becomes a catalyst for innovative and expanded thinking about what art is and can be. Learn more and get involved by visiting our website and subscribing to our newsletter.

09/02/2026

Welcome to a new year of ArtLab! 🎉

We kicked off the ArtLab year with a packed house for orientation! Our ArtLab interns enjoyed playing a games of “this or that,” discussing if a hotdog is a sandwich, and creating goals for the upcoming ArtLab year.

Stay tuned for the incredible work that our ArtLab interns will make in collaboration with jewelarae

So is a hotdog a sandwich?

08/25/2026

You still haven’t seen this Future Archives!?

This Friday, August 28th is your last day to witness the multidisciplinary exhibition created by Erica Rawson and our ArtLab interns.

GALLERY HOURS
- Thursday, Aug. 27th, 12pm-5pm
- Friday, Aug. 28th, 12pm-5pm

ADDRESS
910 Galapago St Suite C, Denver, CO 80204

Visit us before it’s too late! ✨

08/22/2026

(3/3) Wrapping up our exciting lineup we present Eun Mi Lam, our Summer 2027 Artist in Residence! Eun Mi Lam is a Korean American interdisciplinary artist who explores light, memory, and emotional perception through layered, atmospheric imagery, often informed by subtle references to Korean visual symbolism and cultural traditions.

Inspired by her experience navigating life between Korea and the United States, she creates contemplative landscapes that inhabit an in-between space where identity remains fluid and unfolding. Through poured acrylic washes and luminous layers of oil paint, Eun Mi constructs dreamlike environments that evoke nostalgia, stillness, and quiet reflection.

In recent years, she has expanded her practice to include printmaking and sculptural artist books alongside paintings in oil, acrylic, encaustic, and traditional Korean pigments. Working across diverse media, she investigates the shifting relationships between perception, place, memory, and belonging, inviting viewers into spaces where the undefined can be felt rather than explained.

Eun Mi worked as a visual merchandiser and interior textile designer in Korea. She is also an active educator who has taught art for more than nine years at the Korean Academy of Colorado and the Art Students League of Denver where she fosters creativity, cultural connection, and artistic confidence through community engagement.

08/21/2026

(2/3) Meet Ruth Álvarez Luna, our Spring 2027 Artist in Residence! Ruth Álvarez Luna (she/her/ella) is a Mexican multidisciplinary artist born in Durango, México. At the age of fourteen, she immigrated to the United States with her family in pursuit of the so-called “American Dream.” Living between cultures has deeply influenced her artistic practice, leading her to examine migration, identity, memory, and belonging through both personal and collective narratives.

Ruth earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2025. Alongside her studio practice, she has dedicated much of her career to mentoring and supporting immigrant and first-generation youth, experiences that continue to shape the way she approaches art. For Ruth, creating and caring for community are inseparable practices.

Working across installation, ceramics, printmaking, painting, performance, and mixed media, Ruth allows each concept to determine its material form. She is interested in how everyday objects, cultural symbols, and personal archives become vessels for storytelling. Through material experimentation, she transforms intimate narratives into spaces for reflection, dialogue, and collective recognition.

Rather than offering definitive answers, Ruth’s work invites viewers to question systems of power while recognizing the resilience, complexity, and humanity embedded within immigrant experiences.

08/20/2026

(1/3) We are excited to officially announce our lineup of Resident Artists for 2026-2027, starting with Jewelarae, whose residency will begin this Fall!

jewelarae (b. 2001) is a fourth-generation Coloradan growing mutant objects that play with gender and sexuality. They are an artist, jeweler, and designer exploring q***r theory and industrial spirituality, with work that lives in, on, and around the body.
Rae’s practice treats information and knowledge systems as material—something to cut, solder, splice, and reconfigure. Through these objects, they examine how bodies and technologies shape one another, and how making can open new ways of being within—and against, beyond, and underneath—these systems.

Rae holds a BS in industrial design with minors in sexualities and jewelry. They have exhibited their work across the US, the EU, and Colombia, at Munich jewelry week, NYC jewelry week, ARTBO, and in print media. They were a finalist in the third cycle of current obsession’s GEMZ talent acceleration program and are currently an organizer of DUNG30Ndwellercult—a curatorial project pushing boundaries and building community across art and craft disciplines.

08/11/2026

Congratulations to the ArtLab class of 2026!! Along with their senior celebration, a mini-film festival was held showcasing films ranging from stop-motion narratives to horror parodies. Whether they’re off to college, diving into the arts, or paving a new path entirely, we know they’ll carry their passion, artistry, and activist spirit wherever they go. We can’t wait to see what these talented creatives go on to do next!

Also! Thank you to the amazing The Bug Theatre for being able to bring our teens’ visions to life with an amazing venue

08/06/2026

Thank you to everyone who came to support the opening reception of Future Archives, an exhibition by Erica Rawson and our ArtLab interns! Missed the opening, or want to revisit themes of memory, identity, and creativity through analog artmaking? Attend our gallery hours and immerse yourself in these vibrant artworks! We will also have our space open during this First Friday until 8:30pm.

GALLERY HOURS UNTIL AUGUST 28TH
•Thursdays and Fridays from 12pm to 5pm
•First Friday, August 7th, from 12pm to 8:30pm
•910 Galapago St Suite C, Denver, CO 80204

07/25/2026

Part 2 of Mic’d Up with Axel is here! The opening reception is coming up, and final touches are being applied everywhere. Save the date for July 31st, from 6 to 8 pm, to see what artworks ‘Future Archives’ has in store!

Working across collage, printmaking, and sculpture, ArtLab interns along with artist-in-residence Erica Rawson transformed personal experiences, family histories, observations, and collected materials into original works of art. Alongside these hands-on practices, emerging technologies and reflections on how digital tools shape memory, creativity, resource use, authorship, and our everyday lives are examined. All, of course, with the support of our resident goofball AXEL LEONHARDT

Opening will be at our new space: 910 Galapagos Street Suite C, Denver, CO 80204

07/11/2026

Chatting with Erica Rawson in her studio to learn about what’s to come! Save the date: July 31st from 6pm to 8pm, when the work our ArtLab interns have been developing alongside will be unveiled. Prepare for an evening exploring memories, change, technologies, and resistance through screen printing, copper patina, and everything else in between.

OPENING RECEPTION
- July 31st from 6pm to 8pm
- 910 Galapago St Suite C, Denver, CO 80204

07/02/2026

A peek into the summer so far as we settle into our new space with artist in residence Erica Rawson and the screen printing process! With our ArtLab interns, they’ve been experimenting with a series of quirky hand-drawn creatures and are now incorporating digital imagery into the prints. We’re excited to see how these new techniques continue to develop. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes updates!

OPENING RECEPTION
- July 31st from 6pm to 8pm
- 910 Galapago St Suite C, Denver, CO80204

Address

3575 Ringsby Court
Denver, CO
80216

Telephone

+13038930791

Website

http://platteforum.org/artlab-graduate-success-stories/

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