Mesa County Libraries 970West Studio Open House

• WHAT: Mesa County Libraries 970West Studio Open House
• WHEN: 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015
• WHERE: 970West Studio, Fifth Street and Ouray Avenue, Grand Junction

The public is invited to walk through and learn more about the new Mesa County Libraries 970West Studio at an Open House from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. This unique public multimedia production studio is located at Fifth Street and Ouray Avenue, just north of the Central Library.

The public Open House will include self-guided tours and refreshments, and library staff will be available to answer questions about the studio.

The 970West Studio building contains a studio/training room capable of holding 10-20 people for training; a control room; a space for an artist in residence; storage space for equipment and materials; and parking for approximately 10 vehicles. Once the studio opens, Mesa County Libraries will provide studio customers with access to basic recording equipment, such as cameras, microphones, and green screens, and customers will have access to editing stations and software to create finished products.

The library anticipates that studio customers will use the studio for a wide variety of purposes, including recording family histories in both audio and video format, performing music, creating podcasts, recording poetry and other compositions, digitally preserving artwork and photographs, creating and completing video homework assignments, and learning and practicing editing techniques. The library also will offer a variety of classes in topics related to the studio and digital arts.

Because it will take some time to install and test all of the studio equipment, the library anticipates that the 970West Studio will be available for public use sometime in December 2015.

Once it is available for public use, the 970West Studio will be open by appointment only, and it may be reserved by calling Mesa County Libraries at 970-243-4442. Studio use will be subject to certain rules and conditions, and there will be no charge to use the studio.

When calling for a reservation, potential studio customers will be asked about their knowledge, skills, and abilities regarding studio equipment before they are allowed to use the studio. Classes will be available for those who are unfamiliar with studio equipment but who wish to learn in order to be able to use the studio.

970West Studio construction began in July 2015, with completion in late October. The project was finished on time and under the projected cost of $1.35 million. The project was funded primarily by the Mesa County Public Library District's cash reserves. The Mesa County Public Library Foundation contributed $250,000 toward the project, and the project also received a $50,000 grant from the Mesa County Mineral Lease District, as well as other private funding of more than $137,000.

Asset Engineering of Grand Junction was the project's general contractor, and the architect was Chamberlin Architects of Grand Junction.