PRESS RELEASE: CAST Colorado $600,000 in Seed Funding

For Immediate Release: July 24, 2025
PRESS RELEASE

Media Contacts:

Catherine Nguyen, Director of Marketing & Communications - CAST cnguyen@cast-sf.org | 415.556.9888 x111

Anthony Grimes, Director of Communications & Policy - Bonfils-Stanton Foundation anthony@bonfils-stanton.org | 303.825-3774x105
 

RedLine Executive Director to join Community Arts Stabilization Trust, deepening focus on Denver’s need for affordable space for arts and culture

CAST expands its work in Colorado to create more sustainability for artists and cultural organizations
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DENVER, CO – July 24, 2025  - After 15 years of advancing affordability in the arts sector as Executive Director of RedLine Contemporary Art Center (RedLine), Louise Martorano today joins Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) as Managing Director in Colorado. Robin Alli Gallite is assuming the role of Interim Executive Director at RedLine, alongside Jane Burke, who will serve as Chief Curator & Regranting Director.

In 2019, Martorano spearheaded the launch of RedLine’s Satellite Studios Program in response to the ever-growing need for affordable studio space and housing for artists, as well as accessible space for arts and culture in Denver. The Satellite Program has grown to nine locations, and Louise will continue to grow the program under CAST.

“I have always felt that I did not and do not want to live in a community that does not provide affordable spaces for artists and arts and culture—the individuals and entities that reflect the soul of our communities—so the inventory of accessible and affordable spaces for artists and organizations needs to be addressed,” said Louise Martorano. “I’ve dedicated my work at RedLine to addressing this crisis, and partnering with CAST will allow us to take bold steps toward real solutions, rooted in local relationships and long-term strategy.”

CAST Managing Director Louise Martorano, photo by Brien Hollowell

Why Denver, Why Now?‍

Bonfils-Stanton Foundation has stepped in to support this responsive work with a seed grant of $600,000 over three years. Gary Steuer, President & CEO of Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, first introduced the foundation to CAST in 2018.  

“CAST brings together Louise’s vision and deep roots in the Denver arts ecosystem, our foundation’s commitment to equitable access to cultural space, and the city’s strategy to revitalize downtown through the arts,” said Gary Steuer, President & CEO of Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. “This partnership is a milestone moment in Denver’s cultural history, and we’re honored to help lead the way.”

‍Growing a Global Community of Practice
Over the last decade, CAST has grown from a response to artist displacement during the first dot-com crash of the Bay Area into a proven model for ensuring artists and cultural workers can stay anchored where they create. Since its founding in 2013, it has become a global thought leader in cultural space stabilization, directly inspiring new entities like London’s Creative Land Trust, Vancouver’s Cultural Land Trust, and Seattle’s Cultural Space Agency. CAST was recently highlighted as one of the first innovators in this field at the most recent Creative Land Trust Summit hosted in San Francisco this past May.

Extending CAST’s capacity to Denver is a natural evolution, given the shared experiences of Denver and the San Francisco Bay Area and the ongoing displacement of artists and cultural workers from the communities they call home.

“What Louise has accomplished with RedLine is extraordinary. She is a generous and resourceful strategist who has earned the trust of the Denver arts community in an arts town,” said CAST CEO Ken Ikeda. “We are thrilled to welcome her to CAST and eager to learn from her leadership. Louise will allow us to formalize CAST’s work outside the Bay Area and we are so excited the City of Denver is our first partner in this work, bringing our expertise to other regions and participating in a growing, global community focused on art and cultural spaces.”  
                                                       
New Partnerships Grounded in Collaboration
RedLine’s Satellite Studios Program is providing the on-ramp for CAST’s expansion to Denver, and represents the potential to build a more permanent ecosystem of support. Since launching in 2019, RedLine introduced 25 affordable live/work residencies for artists, enabled four galleries to open new commercial spaces, created 74 affordable studio spaces between Denver and Trinidad, and helped establish one multi-artist-owned property. Martorano is currently providing technical support to multiple organizations as they explore property acquisitions to enhance their operational stability. As part of her leadership transition, the existing satellite locations that RedLine has set up with support of RedLine’s Board of Directors over the past eight years will transition to CAST under Martorano’s care.

“I am so grateful to RedLine’s Board of Directors and staff for embracing this opportunity and recognizing how CAST’s capacity and expertise can support our Satellite locations and the work that is in motion for cultural space stabilization and studio space in downtown, the River North Arts District, Englewood, Trinidad and the Western Slope. It’s partnerships like these—with cities, funders, and local leaders—that will help make policy and financing systems work for culture, rather than against it, and in turn, hopefully inform and secure new models to share for arts & culture stabilization locally and nationally,” said Martorano.

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About Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) 

Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) is a community-centered real estate organization committed to ensuring artists and cultural workers can stay anchored where they create. Founded in 2013, CAST works in deep partnership with communities across the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly communities that have endured systemic oppression and historical underinvestment. CAST models new ways to secure and steward affordable, inclusive spaces for creative and cultural expression by applying real estate financing tools and structural models in innovative ways, building community knowledge and agency, and creating and holding space for visioning and arts activation. Its programs and services have helped arts organizations like CounterPulse and Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco build pathways to ownership, enabled artists to secure long-term affordable leases, and created dedicated spaces for cultural connection and exchange. Learn more at cast-sf.org or follow CAST LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky.

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About RedLine Contemporary Art Center

RedLine is a nonprofit contemporary art center that fosters education and engagement between artists and communities to create positive social change. Located in Five Points, RedLine combines exhibition spaces and an artist residency program with project-based engagement in the arts. By merging contemporary art with arts education and community involvement, RedLine helps bring the transformative power of art to the surrounding neighborhoods and beyond.

About Bonfils-Stanton Foundation

Bonfils-Stanton Foundation believes extraordinary arts and leadership are essential to a vibrant Denver. The Foundation’s mission is to invest in inclusive, diverse, and equitable arts and culture organizations and social sector leaders to create a thriving and just city. Through strategic grantmaking, impact investing, and bold advocacy, Bonfils-Stanton advances a more imaginative and equitable future. Since its founding, the Foundation has awarded more than $95 million in charitable support. Learn more at www.bonfils-stantonfoundation.org.

About Denver Arts & Venues

Denver Arts & Venues’ mission is to enrich Denver’s quality of life and economic vitality through the advancement of arts, culture and entertainment opportunities for all. Denver Arts & Venues operates Red Rocks Amphitheatre, DenverPerforming Arts Complex, Colorado Convention Center, Denver Coliseum, Theatre at Loretto Heights and McNichols Civic Center Building, using proceeds from events at these venues to run and maintain these facilities and to provide access to art for all through free and low-cost community events, grants for artists and arts organizations, public art and art education. Using Good Times, For Good. For more information, visit www.ArtsandVenues.com.

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_{Cover photograph courtesy of RedLine Contemporary Art Center.}