Volunteer for the Arts

Why Join?

You’ve never felt anything like this. This is a unique society composed of unique individuals. Together, we orchestrate the renaissance happening right now across the planet earth — from right here in Denver. Volunteer for the Denver Art Society.

A previous renaissance like Periclean Athens, 14th century Florence, or 20th century Harlem saw the cures of the world’s major diseases, record lows in crime, exploration of the globe, and advances in the arts, music, science, literature, politics, and philosophy. We work, not to raise the bar for failure, but to raise the bar for excellence. By working together, who knows how much we can achieve?

Getting it done

It’s funny — you walk into the Denver Art Society and instantly switch into “let’s get it done” mode. It’s not a place to be lazy or unproductive. The pay is terrible, when there’s pay at all. Some of us ate oatmeal and ramen for two years. Some of us lived in a storage closet. And yet, we know that every day we have a chance to change the world.

The art world

Many people get tongue-tied when meeting talents like Mos Def or Banksy. The Denver Art Society has a habit of introducing people like this to senators and world-renowned scientists. It’s a source of true inspiration to have such great minds roaming the halls.

Some people can’t handle it. We’ve seen very well-spoken people simply get cotton-mouth, speechless. Certain personalities in the art world can do that to you. It truly makes it a magical, adventurous, challenging place to work.

Lucky to be here

If anything is typical, people here typically go through three phases when they get involved with the Denver Art Society. First, you say “I’m very luck to be here” and feel profound appreciation for the weight of the space. Then, you feel a sort of equality, as if it were a great blessing of your life to be a part of such a movement. Lastly, you realize you know everything, you realize you are in charge and no one else is. You think “Holy cow, I’m a leader of this community and I don’t know what the heck I’m doing!” It’s a profound sense of power and overwhelming humility at once.

Learning by making mistakes

Oftentimes you’ll say something, hear the words coming out of your mouth, and wish you could put the words back in. Everyone makes mistakes. Here at the Denver Art Society it’s no different. A member once said “At first, I thought artists in the Society were crazy. How could someone spend so much effort simply for a few arts classes? Then, little by little, I started thinking others were crazy — how could education not be our first priority?” Part of learning is making mistakes.

We’re friends. We work together. We all have problems. Our Executive Director is the first to remind everyone he’s a mumbly, timid, soft-spoken artist whose horrified of public speaking. Perhaps this admission of humanity is something that helps us be more human — certainly it helps us teach the humanities.

Fear of failure

Courage is a sign of overcoming a fear of failure. Good volunteers are optimistic and competent, but clearly are not devoid of fear. This common feeling helps create a place where people can come together, and no one gets left behind.

Trust in the power of truth

Here at the Denver Art Society, we soon learn that trust is everything. The ability to respect and appreciate everyone allows us to work with diverse cultures across our city and across our planet. We learn to tell truth to power, and rely on common understanding and mutual learning as the source of our power.

It’s exhilarating, challenging, invigorating, empowering, and adventurous. It’s a place where everyone is looking forward, to the future, in search of the next big idea.

Human potential

We are filled with a sense of potential: Here’s where we are; here’s where we could be. So we ask ourselves: “How much better can we be than we are now?”

It’s hard to make these decisions. You need a sort of moral compass. You have to do what’s right. We could have given in to peer pressure many times, but we did outgrow it. We are here to serve the community in which we live.

You have to say, “this is more important than my job, my popularity, and my pride.” We may lose our position but we will not lose our values. We can not be scared by issues — we will raise the stake of public debate instead.

Staying awake at night

Russell Takeall, Principal of the Treehouse Youth Arts School, once said to his staff “I can’t guarantee you will get a good night’s sleep every night, but I can guarantee if you’re not sleeping I’m not sleeping either.” We’ve tackled some pretty big problems here, the kind that keep you up at night. In turn, this has simply strengthened us as a movement, and catalyzed our friendship.

Solidarity

We’ve come together to develop a sort of brotherhood, or sisterhood, built on common faith in one another. It’s altogether different than a movement based on a doctrine, a book, or an ideal alone. It is a belief in one another, our common humanity. By reinvigorating the humanities in our community we become friends. In fact, we’ve become more than close friends: we’ve become family.

Trust is the key

We’ve learned that in order to rely on people, they must trust us. You can give them the reasons they need for strangers to trust you, for friends to trust you, for family to trust you. But you must earn that trust. At the Denver Art Society, we’re held to an absolute standard of honesty, integrity, and transparency.

Rejuvenation

What is more important than rejuvenation? By rejuvenating leadership in our community we stand to hurl our city into a new creative renaissance of art, music, literature, science, and politics. By raising the bar of excellence, we have the chance to bring millions of people with us. By demonstrating to people our personal improvement we offer a roadmap for them to help themselves.

Leaders everywhere

Every volunteer here does the best they can. When you see some of the art here, or at the Denver Art Museum, you may think people have superhuman powers. Some artists, musicians, and dancers, are simply beyond belief. But this is a building filled with human beings. It is our shared humanity that binds us.

It is our shared humanity that empowers us and gives us the tools to learn and grow together as a Society of human beings.

Click here to volunteer for Denver Art Society.