About New

“New” is a philosophical approach to recontextualization and innovation. It’s collage as a practice more than a medium. Specifically, we are a project-based arts initiative focused on cultivating innovation through collaborations, grants, and exhibitions.

Less Safe,
More New

There’s a special kind of magic that happens when an artist is able to give themselves permission to explore freely. It’s lighter, more playful. It brings out something raw and human and fully uncontrived. The weight of expectations placed on the end-product is lifted, and joy and childlike curiosity take its place.

But that kind of permission can be elusive, regardless of where the artist is at in their career. Whether they have debts to consider, funders to satisfy, or masses to please, there are no shortage of good and valid reasons why people aren’t more adventurous in their practice.

That’s where we step in.

Permission
to Play

Through our grants and collaborations, our goal is to give artists a push to do something fundamentally new that they otherwise wouldn’t have done. Our hope is that our funding and support might be just the thing they need to finally take the first step and venture off into unfamiliar territory where something refreshing and unpredictable might emerge.

The stories of these projects represent one of our most precious assets. Sharing them is the lifeblood of our community. The other is our growing collection, which has been build up exclusively of artifacts contributed by the artists we’ve supported. 

Ultimately, we believe that our work will yield not only more great art, but also more great artists, ones who are unafraid to try something truly different and new.

The Team

Mario Zoots
Mario Zoots
Curatorial Manager
Mario Zoots is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, and researcher specializing in contemporary collage. He graduated from the University of Denver with an MFA in Media Arts in 2015. His studio and curatorial work highlight the beauty in everyday materials while researching themes of nostalgia and identity.
mariozoots.com
Amber Cobb
Amber Cobb
Program Manager
Amber Cobb is an artist, educator, and curator. Her research in methods of ideation, exhibition design, and collection management are integral to her position as Program Manager at New Collection. In her practice, she begins with the body as a point of departure, unpacking the physical and psychological responses to life’s complicated interactions through abjection, attraction, and humor.
amberdcobb.com
Madelaine Jo
Madelaine Jo
Vault Manager
Madelaine Jo is a sculptor and maker; she received a BFA from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in 2020. Her playful sculptural practice is rooted in an inquiry of tactility, materiality, and absurdity. Madelaine’s experience as a technician in a woodshop and ceramics studio benefits her role as Vault Manager with New Collection.
madelainejo.com

Events

No Current Events

Joel Swanson: The Distance Between Words
2-7 pm, The Vault, Denver

Stay up to date on open grant applications, exhibitions and events, and content from our blog "Fragments"

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