CENTRAL CITY — Did you know that Central City has a beautiful art gallery located on the second floor of one of Colorado’s oldest buildings?

Built in 1862, Washington Hall was originally the courthouse and jail. Now the historic building at 117 Eureka Street is home to the Gilpin County Arts Association.

A gift shop at the top of the stairs greets visitors with paintings, prints, cards, jewelry, and other locally made artwork.

The multi-level atrium of the gallery is unique, with several rooms. The gallery space features natural lighting, brick and rock flooring, and stone walls. A garden on the hillside meets the second-floor rear entrance.

The members’ show begins in the fall after the annual juried art show and will run through the holiday season this year.

A reception to celebrate the opening of the annual members’ show took place on September 13, 2026, featuring artists working with a wide range of materials.

Local artist Mary Waters has been doing beadwork for about 10 years. She worked at a law firm before retiring but said she always did art on the side.

Waters uses tiny seed beads to decorate necklaces, belt buckles, gourds, guitars, skulls, and other pieces. Some of the beads are glued on just five or six at a time with a toothpick.

Mary Waters’ intricate beadwork includes jewelry and a decorated skull.

Photo by Mindy Leary

One of her beaded skulls won first place at the gallery in 2022. Her piece in this year's show, “Calypso,” sold on the first night for $1,400. The mixed-media piece uses a real skull covered in seed beads.

Waters doesn't keep track of how long the pieces take. 

“I don't know. It just takes as long as I feel like,” Waters said. “Because I only do it when I feel like it.”

She said the beadwork is therapeutic for her.

“Oh, it's totally therapeutic,” she said. “That's why I do it.”

Painter Mary Ann Billingsley, of Coal Creek, also had four pieces in the show. Most were inspired by places in the area.

One came from a trip to Taos with the Plein Air Artists of Colorado. Billingsley was painting outside when little birds kept flying around her. She later decided to create a larger studio version so she could add the birds to the scene.

Other paintings show Clear Creek, Middle Boulder Creek near Rollinsville, and Cherry Vale Farm in Boulder.

Billingsley has painted the farm many times and said she likes that it still feels rural, even as development encroaches. One painting, “Afternoon Shadows,” shows tree branches casting shadows across a red shed on the farm.

She said her first attempt at art happened when she was three years old and took a purple crayon to her mother's antique wallpaper.

“It did not go over well,” she said.

Luckily, her mother was an art major and understood. She made sure her daughter had plenty of paper after that.

Billingsley was mostly self-taught until she was about 29. She then studied under a portrait painter and learned a classical, realistic style. Today she teaches small groups of adult students in Lafayette.

Dawna Quillin, of Idaho Springs, works in a very different medium. She is a printmaker and has several monoprints and solar prints in the show.

Artist Dawna Quillin sits beneath two of her colorful rooster prints, featuring Rodney.

Photo by Mindy Leary

Quillin explained that a monoprint starts by inking a plate, putting paper over it, and running it through a press. Only one print is made.

A solar print starts with a photograph that is turned into an etching using the sun. The plate can then be inked and used to make more than one print.

One of Quillin's subjects is a rooster named Rodney. The original Rodney was a collage created by cutting up 43 pieces of old prints. She then photographed the collage and turned the image into solar prints. One version was made with Japanese rice paper.

Quillin didn't go to college to study and learn art until after her youngest son graduated from high school and went to college himself.

She graduated from high school in 1964 and earned a master's degree in art in 1994, 30 years later. She has been printmaking since the early 1990s and has been working with solar prints for about eight or nine years.

The members’ show follows a busy summer for Gilpin Arts. More than 200 people attended the opening of the association's 79th annual juried show. And there are more events planned for this fall.

Gilpin Arts is holding an open mic on the last Friday of each month at 6 p.m. Music, poetry, short stories, and comedy are welcome. A book signing, painting event, and workshops are also being considered during the members’ show.

There may also be changes ahead for Washington Hall. During the reception, members talked about the possibility of Central City Opera eventually taking over the historic building. The idea would allow the Opera to seek grant funding for repairs that the building needs.

About $200,000 has been discussed for repairs, including work on the roof and foundation and possibly a new elevator. But there are still details to work out.

Next year will also be a big one for Gilpin Arts. The organization will hold its 80th annual juried show in 2027. The prospectus is expected to be posted in January.

A GCAA supporting membership costs $55 per year, while an active artist-plus membership costs $75.

To become a member, donate to the organization, or find more information, visit the Gilpin County Arts Association website at gilpinarts.org.