Latino Cultural Arts Center Hosting Celebratory Groundbreaking Ceremony for Las Bodegas on Earth Day

When Alfredo Reyes, the executive director of the Latino Cultural Arts Center, was meeting with contractors to plan the construction of Las Bodegas, he discovered that he had an unlikely connection with a Mexican couple who specialized in concrete and excavation.

“They were from a town sixty miles away from where my mama was born,” Reyes says. “We got to talking… and it turns out they met me when I was five. I obviously don’t remember meeting them, but they were so proud to see a young person leading a project like this, and to see me opening opportunities for others to benefit from it.”

This spontaneous moment of connection is just one of the countless threads that have intersected and overlapped to create the strong web of support, community and perseverance that has brought LCAC to the point of breaking ground on Las Bodegas, a cultural hub that will provide educational resources for different aspects of the arts, the environment and local communities.

Over the years, LCAC has connected with organizations like the Colorado Health Club and Colorado Creative Industries, political figures such as Senator Michael Bennet and former President Joe Biden, as well as thousands of private donors across the country. These partnerships ultimately led to LCAC raising over $7 million to support its work, and to the cultivation of a passionate community seeking to bring Reyes’ vision to life.

Now, after almost a decade of planning, connecting and fundraising, LCAC will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at Las Bodegas on Earth Day, April 22.

The project will remodel two warehouses in Denver’s historic Westside neighborhood to fulfill Reyes’ vision for a "cultural innovation hub." Las Bodegas, literally "the Warehouses," will be a place to foster community with creatives from diverse backgrounds and utilize such resources as the hub’s art classrooms, recording studio and digital media lab, in addition to providing space for education surrounding environmental stewardship and Denver’s creative economy.

Reyes sees access and connection to art as an essential tool to understanding and finding hope in the world around us. “Art can be a vehicle into so many other things,” Reyes says. “[Las Bodegas] is not just about the arts. It’s about mental wellness, it’s about the economy, it’s about our planet, and specifically, it is deeply relevant to the future of our country.”

Finding ways to discuss the major national issues through the arts is key to what Reyes has always wanted to cultivate most: imagination. “Without art you can’t heal, and if you can’t heal, you can’t imagine what a brighter future looks like,” Reyes says. “Imagination is the most important muscle you can develop as a person. To imagine something from nothing; to create value where there was none; to create community where there was division… For the most part, humanity has all the research and knowledge we need. What we’re lacking is the political imagination to do things differently. That’s not going to come from academia or government; it’s going to come from community, art and culture.”

Reyes has long applied imagination when introducing the project to interested community members, especially when hosting tours of the old warehouses to describe his vision for the project. “I would walk into two shitty warehouses that were falling apart and invite people to imagine with me what could be there,” Reyes says, laughing. “I’m kind of beside myself sometimes when I think back on how I managed that.”
The groundbreaking ceremony will be an occasion for the whole community surrounding the project — including newcomers who are interested in learning more — to celebrate all their hard work, and to foster Latinidad. “At the groundbreaking, I am most looking forward to seeing the embodiment of how we have defined Latinidad. We define Latinidad geopolitically: It’s indigenous, it’s African, it’s Asian, it’s European, and it’s always evolving," Reyes explains. "If you look at the ways people from all over the world have found their ways to the Americas, you see that there’s a home for everybody in how you define Latino. So I’m looking forward to seeing this incredible network of supporters who are so resilient and creative come together and meet each other.”

Reyes also hopes that the event will bring in more donors for Las Bodegas and LCAC’s other ongoing projects. Individual donations are more important than ever for the nonprofit in the face of frozen federal funding and tariffs being projected to raise material costs in the near future. “Whether you want to donate $5 a month or $50 a month, those individual grains of sand are what add up and make the difference for us,” Reyes says. “We greatly appreciate everyone who has supported this project.”

Breaking ground for Las Bodegas on Earth Day was very intentional. Upon completion, it will stand as one of the first buildings in Denver that is entirely powered by electricity, providing a model for visitors to learn more about environmental stewardship and how to express gratitude for the earth through sustainable practices. But the date also holds personal weight for Reyes. “April 22nd happens to be the fourth anniversary of my mother’s passing,” he says. “So to be able to honor my mom and dad, to be able to honor the earth and the connection we all have to each other… It’s deeply, deeply, personal to me.”

The ceremony will include food, music, a few speeches and an official groundbreaking, all in celebration of everything the community has accomplished and in recognition of what is still to come. Together, LCAC and its supporters will welcome all that they’ve imagined for this project over the last nine years into reality.

The Groundbreaking Ceremony for Las Bodegas will be held at 1935 West 12th Avenue from noon to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22; donate to LCAC and learn more on its website.