“It’s just a love of art thing,” says Garrett Day, owner of Orbit Art Space, which opened in September. “There was a huge need for this, but I didn’t fully realize how much.

Day had meandered past the space many times since he moved to the Grand Valley 10years ago, peeking into the windows, drawn toward its energy. “I’ve spent a lot of time going to art galleries, and this room was screaming ‘gallery,’ ” he recalls.

At first, he thought about making it a wine bar. Originally from Wisconsin, Day fell in love with the subject of wine while living in Aspen, and then worked as a buyer in Napa Valley for two decades, tasting upwards of 15,000 wines a year before landing in Fruita.

“I’m encyclopedic about the things that I love, so in that way, there’s just endless amounts of information and beauty to enjoy about the art world, just like in the wine world,” Day continues.

As a photographer, Day had begun to connect with other photographers around the world while selling his work informally online, which helped nudge him toward his calling of building a home for Western Slope artists and art lovers. “For me, it’s about trying to attract people to enjoy the art in the same way as fine wine.”

Because forward momentum starts with the makers, Day’s mission is, first and foremost, to cultivate and elevate a community of artists by giving them a great place to show their work. While some galleries can feel sterile or uninviting, his hope is to create a welcoming and accessible atmosphere by offering a wide range of affordable art, photography, books and gifts. For the Small Works opening this past winter, he asked that artists bring works priced at $100 or less, driving home a feel of community supporting community. Fruita’s growing wave of artistic energy continues to climb at a collective level with the addition of the neighboring Fruita Arts Recreation Marketplace (known as ‘FARM’ Fruita), a multi-unit retail and private studio space for creatives that opened in January.

This container of community continues in a series of artist-centric events at Orbit Art Space, like the new ‘Art Tag’ series for local creatives.“ The idea is to create an artist round table, a place to talk about art,” Day says. “Consider the gallery yours, come in, bring art, seek and give real encouragement and feedback.” Teaming up with his friends Kyle Harvey and Danny Rosen of Lithic Bookstore upstairs, Orbit Art Space also hosts a series of literary events with authors, like Western Slope native and rugged naturalist Craig Childs, who chronicled his exploration of the Canyonlands in his book Stone Desert.

Garrett Day in Fruita Orbit Art Space — Garrett Day

Located in Fruita’s old bank building that was built in 1904, Orbit Art Space is a platform for the works of over 40 local and international artists. Beginning in March, Day plans to keep things dynamic with a spring season of solo shows, opening the first Friday of each month. Among the most influential and notable painters in Western Colorado for decades, the March opening brings the works of celebrated artists Martha and Roger McCoy. In April, Fruita’s own Ajay Gustafson, who has a studio in FARM Fruita, will bring her realist still-lifes and portraits to Orbit Art Space. May welcomes another Colorado native, abstract artist Ami Purser, for her solo exhibition. With a rotation of monthly shows and a calendar of cultural events, Day intends to get people in as often as he can, for as many reasons as he can.

“The people who love art, this community, has at times been overwhelming,” Day says. “This community is doing everything it canto support me, so I want to honor it back as much as possible. The local art scene is orbiting around us, and we’re orbiting around it.

Originally published in the Spring 2023 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Orbit Art Space: Otherworldly Community In Fruita