The building that housed Boogies’ Diner, one block from the Gondola in Aspen, is as classic as the milkshakes and burgers it served for decades.
This spring, the building is planned to be torn down and redeveloped. But first, the next generation of Aspen’s small business owners are making their mark.
The vaulted glass ceiling in the old diner upstairs lets in the muted winter sunlight - it falls perfectly on the paintings, sculptures and photographs that adorn the walls of the Bird’s Nest gallery - a temporary display of work by local artists. The works were curated by Skype Bird Weinglass, Boogie’s daughter.
“I pretty much just curated everything that I love. I’ve been part of a lot of galleries but It was kind of like a fake it till you make it kind of thing,” said Weinglass.
Downstairs is the BLK MKT (Black Market), a collective of artisan clothes bags and jewelry, artwork and household goods. This is the third iteration of the boutique pop-up in Aspen. Co-organizer Mike Delaney said when all the different elements came together it was clear they had something special on their hands.
“It was just like the wildest project because we were bringing so many people together,” he said “ It was so confusing and so amazingly beautiful, everyone that came in was just like what the hell is going on?”
In only a couple of months, this confusing, roving, amorphous, temporary concept has, created a community. It’s played host to the “nudes and brews” art class, X-Games after parties, storytelling events and a presentation from environmental conservation organization Protect Our Winters.
A review of the shop on its Facebook page reads “No better place to be, period. A vibrancy much needed in a town like ours, well done to all involved.”
It’s a common sentiment. Aspen needs this. It needs a place where the next generation can stretch out their wings, get some experience and get some exposure. And it has worked.
Jason Seigel is a Denver based commercial photographer. His installation “Shoot portraits not people” debuted in January. He has already sold the majority of prints and sculptures on display, and he has been offered a solo show in Sante Fe. He, like Weinglass, got their break in a six-week period of taking over an empty commercial storefront.
Though the pop-up closes Feb. 24, it serves as an example of what connections could be made if the city had a co-work or community space that was accessible to young locals. The idea is out there. The Aspen Power Plant, for example - before City Council backed out on the lease - was meant to be an incubator/event space/brewery. Or more recently, a group of local leaders and landlords threw out the idea of subsidized commercial space as a way to balance the high rents that formula retail chains are able to pay.
It could even turn out that a local business becomes a community classic, like it did for retailer and restaurateur Boogie Weinglass 30 years ago.
