Phil Castle, The Business Times

Sarah Wood has discovered something in both working in and managing unique spaces for artists, nonprofit organizations and others.

“If you build it, they will come,” says Wood, who manages the Fruita Arts Recreation Marketplace.

That’s been the case in refurbishing and repurposing a downtown building that’s now home to an eclectic mix of tenants that includes artist studios, a bicycle repair service and interior design firm. That’s not to mention retail outlets.

Not all of the spaces are yet filled as FARM celebrates its grand opening. But Wood says the response has been something nearly akin to shock and awe. “Wow. This is so cool.”

A grand opening for FARM is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m.  Feb. 10 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 11 at the facility, located at 160 S. Park Square. The two-day event will include open studios, workshops and discounts as well as food, beverages and live music. “It’s really just a celebration of the community that’s come together to build FARM and what it’s become,” Wood says.

FARM — an acronym the reflects a facility designed to accommodate arts and recreation tenants as well as the agricultural heritage of Fruita — houses in a 13,000-square-foot space 20 studios and five retail locations. It’s a place for tenants to both work and sell their products and services.

While smaller spaces with more affordable rents enable tenants to realize entrepreneurial dreams, the overall goal is to foster a community that becomes more than the sum of its parts, says Gavin Brooke, one of the owners and creators of the FARM.

“That’s really rewarding to facilitate that,” says Brooke, an entrepreneur and real estate developer who joined with Alleghany Meadows to develop FARM.

Brooke and Meadows, an entrepreneur and studio potter, purchased the building that houses FARM in 2022. The building previously housed a hardware store and health club.

They remodeled the building inside and out. Five spaces facing South Mulberry Street offer retail locations. Each location includes its own entrance as well as a garage door that serves as storefronts, but also can roll up in good weather to create open areas for customers.

In addition, FARM offers a total of 20 studio spaces over two levels. The spaces offer places for tenants to work, but also sell their products and services. While FARM has open hours, tenants set their own schedules.

Brooke and Meadows brought to FARM experience with a facility they founded in Carbondale. The Studio for Arts and Works houses artists, graphic designers, jewelers, sculptors and writers. SAW serves as a home for nationally recognized professionals as well as an incubator for aspiring artists. SAW also serves as a venue for a variety of community events.

Brooke joined with other collaborators and the Town of Carbondale to launch the Third Street Center, a multi-tenant,
non-profit center in the rehabilitated Carbondale Elementary School.

Brooke also founded Land + Shelter, an architecture, planning and development practice that specializes in sustainable building.

Meadows founded the Artstream Nomadic Gallery and was co-founder of the Harvey/Meadows Gallery in Aspen. He exhibits work nationally.

Wood brings to the operation 15 years of experience in the outdoors industry and 20 years advocating for the arts. For a time, she worked out of the SAW facility in Carbondale.

Brooke says there was a concerted effort to make FARM a different facility that meets the needs of local artists and businesses as well as Fruita. He considers the operation an experiment in progress that will change along with the community.

The diverse tenants at FARM reflect the community, he says.

They include painters, photographers and potters. They also include yoga and Reiki studios and an interior design firm. A mountain bicycle touring and instruction firm also operates out of the facility, as does a mountain bike service and repair business. Allie Daniels relocated her Happy Trails Colorado apparel and gift shop into FARM.

More spaces are available, and Wood says she welcomes inquiries to determine if a tenant and the facility constitute a good match.

Brooke says studio tenants should make things. “It’s a very important aspect for the studio spaces.”

FARM offers smaller spaces with more affordable rents. But the bigger draw, he says, is the opportunity to join in a community of creative professionals who help and inspire each other. Tenants will find in that community mentors and mentees.

The studios offer foremost places to create, but also places to display and sell. For some tenants, that means an opportunity to move their pursuits out of basements and garages and take the next step in their entrepreneurial journeys, he says,

In that respect, Wood says FARM has involved building not only a facility that’s attracted tenants, but also promotes economic development.

The Fruita Arts Recreation Marketplace is located at 160 S. Park Square. For more information, call 462-7747, send an email to hello@farmfruita.com or visit the website at www.farmfruita.com.