Calling All Fine Artists: Lynn Baker Wants to Show Off Your Passion!

You can find art all over town — not just on gallery walls. In this series, we'll be looking at some of the local artists who serve up their work in coffeehouses and other non-gallery businesses around town.

This fall California expat Lynn Baker will formally launch her new venture, Good Morning Coffeehouse & Art Gallery — but you don't have to wait until November to join in the celebration, because Baker has waited long enough herself. She's finally realizing a dream that she's had since she was nineteen. “Fast-forward 25 years, and it's time to stop talking about it and just do it,” she says. 

A school talent show first awakened her desire to promote the arts. “When I was in eighth grade, I started a new school,” she recalls. “I was not the most popular person.” But when she entered a talent show, all that changed: “People suddenly knew who I was; it was like I was able to express myself through doing what I loved to do.

"Art has the ability to change people," she continues. "And we all know that people change the world.”
Baker moved to Denver five years ago, bringing her dream with her. “I’m fairly new, if that’s still considered new,” she says. “I’m still getting used to the weather, but I love it out here.”

Her first step to realizing her dream was to found Passion4Arts, a platform that helps fine and performance artists get their work into the community where it belongs. Now she's scouting for a spot in east or south Denver where she can open Good Morning Coffeehouse; she'll link that place with Passion4Arts, offering another place in town where artists can show work. “Our goal is to bring community and art to the coffeehouse through local artists,” she explains.
Good Morning Coffeehouse will be her first brick-and-mortar business, but she's managed offices and operations for other ventures. “I do have that background,” she says. The budding entrepreneur is a coffee lover and, more important, an art enthusiast. “I’m more about the art scene than the coffee,” she admits.

She's passionate about providing a platform for local and emerging artists. “We all know how hard it is for local artists, financially speaking,” Baker says. “Without the support of community members, local artists don’t have the opportunity to do work capable of impacting others.”

On Wednesday, November 2, Baker will host a Passion4Arts celebration at Balistreri Vineyards. Emceed by Tony Kovaleski of 7News, the event will feature live music, spoken-word poetry and exhibitions by local artists, including contemporary Native American artist April Tsosie and the urban abstract street duo of Alonso Michel Velazquez and Nicolasa Gonzales, also known as VelArt. 
You don’t have to wait until November to get involved; Baker’s currently searching for fine artists to add to the lineup and work with Passion4Arts; send samples to [email protected].