Life and Work with Alexandrea Pangburn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandrea Pangburn.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Alexandrea. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I moved to Denver from Columbus, Ohio in September of 2017. I had always done artwork on the side through pet portraiture to earn extra cash, but never thought I would be doing art full-time. Before I moved to Denver, I was intrigued by CRUSH WALLS, which is the annual mural festival in the RiNo Art District that brings in a handful of international artists and dozens of local artists to put murals up. I knew I wanted to be involved but thought I could only go as far as volunteering. Once I moved to Denver, I made it a point to reach out to the RiNo Art District for involvement. Ironically, they were opening up a pop-up store called RiNo Made in The Source and needed some employees, so I jumped on the opportunity and started with RiNo Made part-time. I eventually started managing RiNo Made and curating the monthly art exhibits. During the process, I became introduced to most of the local artists here in the district and really loved the community, so I wanted to advocate for them and create as many opportunities for artists as I could in my job. The RiNo Made program ended up giving back over $90,000 back to the artists between November 2017 and July 2019.

Outside of RiNo Made, I was creating art for myself and selling my pieces through Instagram, which was exciting in itself! I had never sold this many pieces or had this many commissions, so the opportunities were really fun. The president of the RiNo Art District, Tracy Weil, had a lot of faith in me as an artist and really helped me advocate in myself for applying to CRUSH WALLS for 2018. I was ecstatic when I was accepted – I had never worked with spray paint or done a mural any larger than an 8’x8′ square. I was super nervous but had a lot of support from my boyfriend, family, and friends. I collaborated with my boyfriend, Scott Santee, on my first mural for CRUSH WALLS 2018, and it ended up turning out great. I had wonderful feedback and received a number of commissions from that piece specifically.

Not too long after that, I met Robbie and Kallyn, who founded Ironton Distillery. They were just about to open and needed someone to curate the gallery on the property. They gave me full curation rights and I was able to curate a space for local artists to have monthly exhibitions where artists are taken no commission from.

I ended up taking over social media for the RiNo Art District, so when we closed RiNo Made due to location issues in the summer of 2019, I really wanted to focus on artist opportunities and curation since I enjoyed doing that so much. Robin Munro was getting ready to open up his retail gallery and needed some management in the logistics of running it, so RiNo had me step in and help.

In working with the RiNo Art District, I was really lucky to be given such great opportunities, so when they asked me to help with some organizational work for CRUSH WALLS 2019, I jumped at the opportunity. I worked closely with Robin Munro and ended up stepping up into curation and a creative director position on top of my acceptance as an artist for the 2019 line-up. I learned so much and made some great relationships with such great artists, not to mention I did my first female collaboration with local artists, Romelle. Our piece sits at 26th and Larimer between Il Posto and Shea.

I’m currently working on my June 2020 solo show at Ironton Distillery, creating murals, developing a program for artist opportunities in the RiNo Art District, assisting in the opening and managing of Headquarters Gallery, and just newly in the process of planning an all women’s mural festival in Westminster, CO for early summer 2020.

I’m super excited about where I am today and there’s so much rad stuff going on in the artist community here and internationally – we are in the time of the artists and I’m so stoked to be a part of it.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Haha, definitely not smooth. There’s always a learning curve when restarting in a new community. It took me over a year to really make some solid relationships with people and feel comfortable in my work. Especially getting into the mural scene, which is mostly male-dominated. I didn’t let that hold me back, I made connections and met some really great talent.

I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some really great male artists in the community that have been the most helpful and I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for them. But at the same time, I had to be driven and assertive on where I wanted to be, make as many connections as I could and never stop wanting to learn and improve myself as an artist.

My advice to women who are just starting out: network network network. The more people you meet in the community where you want to be, the more educated you are, the more aware you are, and the more involved you are. Put yourself out there, be confident and willing to learn.

My favorite part of being in Denver is meeting all the talent this city has to offer – and it blows my mind how much talent is here.

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Within the RiNo Art District, I am currently focused on artist opportunities through curation projects. Spaces that want art installations can come to us, and I can create that connection between business and artist that allows for such great collaborations.

I’m also working with Robin Munro on opening his new CRUSH WALLS Headquarters Gallery where we will be offering not only a retail gallery, but a space for workshops, demonstrations, mural tours, and a mural curation headquarters.

As an artist, my work is mostly based around flora/fauna (floral and animal) work. I graduated from the University of Kentucky with an Animal Science degree so helping animals have always been a passion of mine – but painting them has become my job. I specialize in spray paint and acrylic paint in my pieces and I’m most proud of the way that I’m able to portray my animals in their body language and movement.

I’m a self-taught artist and I’m so thankful for that.

Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well-positioned for?
There are so many opportunities – and ones that don’t exist yet, we just have to create them.

I don’t feel that any opportunity is gender-focused – nor should it be. If you want to do something, just go out and do it. No one dictates whether or not you can do something. Only you can hold yourself back.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alexandreapangburn.com
• Email: alexandrea.pangburn@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandrea_pang/

Image Credit:
Portrait credit: Tyler Vitello – Instagram: @dittlo_

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