DATELINE FOREVER

Four years ago dateline was started by artists Jeromie Dorrance and Adam Milner in what is known as the RiNo Arts District. Milner left to go to graduate school at Carnegie Mellon a year after it opened and Dorrance took the reins of running the gallery space. In that short time, the landscape of Denver has drastically changed and this has affected many artists and galleries alike. Dateline continues to push forward and offer an exhibition space for local, national and international artists as well as a community space that has become a stronghold for new, diverse and innovative programming. 

Derrick Velasquez: You've been open as Dateline for almost four years now and I've been going to openings since show 001. Alot  has changed since then. Tell me about how the gallery started and how it has flexed in that amount of time.

Jeromie Dorrance: Dateline was started by the artist and curator Adam Milner and myself. I was sitting in Berlin feeling bummed out ‘cause my girlfriend had just broken up with me, and I was on Craigslist looking for apartments ‘cause I had to move back to the states. I messaged Adam (who was living in Denver at the time) randomly on Facebook and he mentioned that he was getting kicked out of his living situation at the time. Literally, at the same moment, I got a message from my friend who was living in the space where Dateline is now saying that he had gotten drunk at a bar with this random girl and they ran away to the Bahamas and gotten married, so he was moving out. It's weird how things work in the Universe. That night we came up with the plan to start Dateline. Since then, Adam moved  to Pennsylvania to get his MFA  at Carnegie Mellon. He said he'd be back in two years-- it's been three Adam if you’re reading this it's time to come home!

DV: In addition to  how the gallery has morphed overtime, do you think it has been influenced by the direction of Denver (the changes in the city) and its art scene?

JD: This neighborhood has changed so rapidly since we've opened. I feel like I am just kind of digging in now, waiting to see what happens...there have been a lot of gallery casualties around here. But living and working in your space condenses expenses nicely.  

DV: Where do you see Dateline going? In the sense of your location, your impact, and conversely, the impact these factors have on you.

JD: Things have been interesting to say the least. But sometimes not in a good way.Denver used to be a cool city to show art in,  but now I'm not so sure. I feel like, now, more people come into the gallery to use the bathroom, not to look at art. There's an infinitely more successful art gallery down the street and it's attached to a bar.  I had a woman buy some art at an opening all tipsy off wine once. The next day I got a phone call from her threatening to call her lawyer on me if I didn't give her a refund, then later said the artwork simply didn't look good in her bathroom. For the most part,, though everyone who's stayed in Denver that cares about art really do a good job of supporting cool art, if that makes sense...it's like Mad Max out here...

DV: The entire space is a true live/work/gallery. Many artists and galleries need to have that separation, but as an artist you work here and use it as a studio as well. How does that affect your entire life?

JD: I'm kind of a hypochondriac, so when I read online somewhere that white lights make 7/11 clerks go crazy, I made an effort to separate my gallery space from my living space as much as possible. But for awhile I was living in this gallery setting under bright lights for quite sometime, feeling like I was losing my mind. At one point I realized people outside could see everything I was doing, making me super paranoid and shit. Now I know why people need separate spaces...at another point, I realized that I had spent the last four years of my life painting walls white every month. Like 48 paintings worth of white walls, was this a waste of time and effort? In the end I got really good at it I guess, lol.

DV: You've taken a small hiatus from the gallery, but it's about to reopen in 2018. What do you want to see with Dateline going forward?

JD: I just want to have fun with the space now, while still being able to show emerging artists from all over the world...while keeping my programming focused on current art trends.

DV: Tell me about the next show at Dateline. Who is showing, and what gets you the most excited about it?

JD: We have a pop-up digital art show that's affiliated with the Wrong: Digital Art Biennial and then we are going to begin running six-week shows starting with Sarah Bowling and a yet to be determined artist from Europe in February, which is also our 4 year anniversary.

DV: What kinds of things are influencing you in general right now, personally, artistically, gallery wise?

JD: I’m really into what is coming out of Berlin. The idea for Dateline started there and I will always draw influence from anything that is happening in Europe.

DATELINE is, at its heart, a project space for artists featuring exhibitions from national and international artists alongside a rotating roster of guest curators. Founded in 2013.
ddaatteelliinnee.com

Derrick Velasquez is an artist, curator educator and organizer based in Denver Colorado. He is a 2017 recipient of Joan Mitchell Grant for Painters and Sculptors and recenetly founded Yes Ma'am Projects, a gallery and Artist Grant. 
derrickvelasquez.com

REGION
A comprehensive feature on any state, area, or city that lacks mainstream coverage. Region considers the various factors that influence a particular art scene or art-making community, and how it sustains itself. Region also includes profiles of individuals influencing the area (be they curators, writers, artists, professors, etc.), and is always written by people familiar with the topography of the region’s art community. It can include interviews, op-eds, or dialogue in man other forms. Region aims to demystify specific art scenes for interested artists, educators, dealers, curators, advocates, and everything in-between.