Kickstart Town Hall, a Women-Run Event Space, Opening in May

Lauren Beno and Denise Day, who have been best friends for a decade, began talking several years ago about using their collective marketing skills to open an event space in the heart of the Santa Fe Art District. The result of those efforts, Town Hall Collaborative, will open in May, but Day and Beno are hoping to raise enough funds to fill their Kickstarter campaign by Wednesday, March 16.

The two signed a lease in mid-October for the 7,700-square-foot space at 525 Santa Fe Drive, which they are transforming into a venue for arts, music and more.

"Town Hall is an event and gathering space, but we'll also have a full bar, food trucks and a makers' space for classes and workshops, like DIY creative classes," Day explains. "We started talking about the concept of doing something together and creating our own business pre-COVID, but we became really serious about doing it during COVID."

She adds that Town Hall is "all about bringing people together and really being committed to bringing real community in here, and the second thing is about empowering and supporting women."

Day says that from the beginning, she and Beno have been thinking about how Town Hall can support other women-owned businesses. "When we started thinking about what beer we wanted to serve at the bar, we looked at women-owned breweries in Colorado," she says. "Out of over 400 breweries in the state of Colorado, there are only five that are women-owned. The coffee space is similar: There are hundreds of roasteries in the state, but less than, I think, three or four women-owned coffee roasteries. So we're using all of those for beer and coffee."

The owners will also concentrate on hiring women, particularly from marginalized communities, to teach creative classes on subjects such as pottery, basket weaving, painting, drawing, beading, jewelry making and more. "We very much envision the classes to be for all skill levels and all kinds of people teaching with abilities and disabilities," Beno says. "We want to have kid classes and teen classes in here, as well, which could look like gardening, cardboard carpentry — all sorts of fun classes."

Town Hall will be a music venue, too, and all acts are on the table. "We're focused on underrepresented musicians and people who are trying to get up into that space, and so we want to offer a stage for them," Day says. "And of course we'll also do fun things like karaoke nights."

Day and Beno are in talks with Headroom Sessions, a nonprofit that supports underrepresented artists. "We're in conversations right now about what a partnership could look like," Beno says. "They do live recordings and live sessions, and they're very excited about bringing those artists here for bookings and recordings, and just empowering and amplifying the voices of people who aren't always seen or heard."

Beno adds that while she and Day have their own idea of what they want to do, "we first want to get a sense of what the surrounding community is looking for and really needs." They're crafting a survey to send out on social media as well as through the Santa Fe Art District, the Baker Neighborhood Association and neighboring local businesses.

"It's all driven through this goal that Lauren and I have of bringing community together," Day says. "Yes, we all love a good place to go get a drink or get a bite to eat, but there are not many options where you can come and do that but also have a chance to come together as a community and create something together."

Day and Beno are offering rewards for those who donate to their Kickstarter campaign that donors will receive when Town Hall opens. They range from from three coffees and baked goods for $25 donations to a one-night rental of the entire venue for $1,000 donations. They are about halfway toward their $45,000 goal so far, and have until noon on Wednesday, March 16, to raise the rest.

"Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform, so if we don't hit the goal, we get none of it," Beno notes.

Support the Town Hall kickstarter campaign in this link.