Gretchen Marie Schaefer

Schaefer was born, raised, and currently lives and works in Denver, Colorado. She earned a B.A. in English Literature and Visual Arts from Regis University. She is a co-founding member of artist-owned and operated TANK Studios, LLC., a sustainable, community-centered studio space for professional artists in Denver. Schaefer is a former board member of Tilt West, a non-profit dedicated to fostering critical dialog in art and culture through roundtable conversations and a publication.

Since 2013 Schaefer has directed the Visiting Artist, Scholar, and Designer Program at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design where she curates the annual theme and artists including Miranda July, Andrea Zittel, Judy Chicago, Starlee Kine, Dario Robleto, Sondra Perry, Paul Pfeiffer, Sara Cwynar, Kalup Linzy, Michael Jones McKean, Christine Sun Kim, Kevin Beasley, Lynda Barry, and Kevin Young among many others.

In 2014, Schaefer was listed as one of Denver Westword’s “100 Colorado Creatives” and in 2016 she received Westword’s “Best Of” for her work directing the visiting artist program at RMCAD. Her artwork has been exhibited at numerous locations including the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the University of Colorado Boulder Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Rule Gallery in Marfa, TX, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, CO.

Schaefer was an artist-in-residence at RedLine Contemporary Art Center (Denver, CO) and Breckenridge Creative Arts (Breckenridge, CO). In addition to the public speaking she does regularly as the director of a visiting artist program, her public talks and presentations include a Q+A for her solo exhibition Folding and Thrusting at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, a presentation as part of her residency at Breckenridge Creative Arts, and a presentation at the Denver Art Museum’s 20th Annual Symposium in Art and Art History.