Meet Jason Evenson | President of the Greeley Creative District Board of Directors

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jason Evenson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jason, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
The success of the Greeley Creative District is in the talents within our community. Our creatives sit on our board, they fuel our businesses, draw in new residents, and power our economy. Our mission is to support and elevate their projects, talents, and efforts which is both challenging and rewarding. Of course we couldn’t do what we do without the support of our sponsors and patrons, through several annual fundraisers every year.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In my path to an arts leader/supporter I started out as a stagehand working in municipal theatres, went on tour as a Lighting Director for several months and found that travel for work wasn’t the same as travel with family for fun. When I returned I opened my own production company, building sets, designing sound, lights, and special effects. In 2005 I returned to municipal theatres when I was hired to run the Technical division of the Union Colony Civic Center and after 8 years was promoted to the Management of the Culture Division. I’ve been fortunate to participate in a wide variety of the creative groups that Greeley has to offer over the many years I’ve been with the City. I’ve consistently leveraged customer service skills, high quality communication, and providing the training and development that teams need to be successful in my various positions. No matter what positions I’ve held it’s always the people that make the difference, treating them with dignity, respect, and in as close to the way that they want to be treated has been critical to developing and maintaining stable teams of interactive creatives.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, since my best friend would be visiting with his family and he’d definitely want to share a “when I was in High School” moment with them we’d have to catch pizza and a Greek salad at Fonta’s Pizza one night. For the kids you can’t miss the Colorado Model Train Museum, you’ll need at least 3 or 4 hours to marvel at the detail of the model layout, chat with their volunteer train operators, and brows the gift shop. His wife is a visual artist so we’d have to catch the newest Uptown Trees on 8th Avenue, and maybe the Art Alley downtown. If we have a chance for a guys night out I’d take him to one of several amazing breweries here in Greeley, Weld Works (national award winners) or Wiley Roots both have amazing verities and rival the best the country has to offer.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Becky Safarik, is the hardest working woman in Greeley. Greeley Creative District was the brain child of a powerhouse of several strong creative women and our community wouldn’t be what it is without her unceasing leadership and support. Along with the creative talents of Pam Bricker and Rhonda Welch, launched Greeley’s bid for full district status in the second year of the program at the State level. Becky has held several leadership roles on the board of directors, including returning from retirement to act as Secretary temporarily!

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