An Interview with the Co-Founders of Rainbow Dome

Rainbow Dome prove themselves, event after event, to be a team of artists capable of toting a mecca of creativity wherever they go. From flash mobs of people wearing white overalls dancing and gliding on roller skates to inclusive, queer, artful roller rink popup events, Rainbow Dome hosts events that are not to be missed. Artists Frankie Toan (they/them) and Therin Zimmerman (they/them) teamed up to realize their vision of being full-time creatives after working together in a queer art collective.

How did you come up with the idea for Rainbow Dome? 

TZ: We worked together along with other people in an art collective called Secret Love Collective where we did maximalist art installations. We wanted to do something more permanent.

FT: We also wanted to turn the dream of working together, collaborating, and making large projects into something we could do full-time.

TZ: As we brainstormed how to make this happen, we went through all sorts of ideas, from opening a gallery to a coffee shop. At some point, someone mentioned the idea of a queer roller rink, and we latched onto that idea.

FT: One of our goals for Rainbow Dome is to create an art space that is also a community space that gets away from the traditional notions of what an art space is. We want to create something that is a little more playful. It is also important to us that it is more accessible. The roller skating idea was fun for us because it gives people an activity to do in the space and facilitates an experience in the space; it also potentially gives people a way to socialize. When you are on roller skates, you can’t take yourself too seriously–It is kind of an equalizer!

TZ: We are not great skaters ourselves and love to engage with people of all skating abilities.

I know one of your goals was finding a permanent rink space. Where are you with that goal, and what kind of space do you have now?

FT: In 2019, we thought we would move directly to a brick-and-mortar location with a roller rink. We began to learn a lot about real estate and were taken aback. We realized that we could do events in other people’s venues, but that what we really needed immediately was a fabrication space. We were able to secure a warehouse in Denver. A lot of people didn’t want to rent to us because we were artists, and they thought we would be messy and loud. We landed at our current location just about two years ago.

TZ: We continue to pursue spaces that would allow us to have a permanent rink as well. We envision that this would act as a gathering space for roller skating, art, music, and events.

What kind of art do you make in your own practices?

FT: I am a soft sculptor, and I do large-scale installation artwork. I have an ongoing series called Queer Gardens, which is an iterative installation that changes and grows every time. In that work, I am really focused on queer ecology and relationships between both humans and non-humans alike. There is self knowledge that comes from non-human relationships. I think about the world around me and how I am a part of the larger world and how I am somewhat unimportant in a lot of ways.

TZ: I am primarily a painter and illustrator. I am always looking for ways to make my work more accessible and make it into things like stickers and prints so that more people can collect it. My work has to do with the process of transformation within myself, within the environment, or the world in general, which also ties into queer ecology.

What drew the two of you to working together?

FT: What drew us together as friends, collaborators, and now business partners is that our art practices are both community-focused. We both often show in nontraditional spaces, and we like that. We like letting go of some of the typical and inaccessible art rules and we like to have community around that. We also have four other people on our team that we love working with.

Where is the next place you can go to experience Rainbow Dome?

TZ: Rainbow Dome will be doing an installation for Meow Wolf’s Vortex music festival taking place August 25, 26 and 27 at the Junkyard. We are working on a large overhead installation that is primarily fiber sculpture and papier-mâché and continues themes of nature and garden imagery that Rainbow Dome consistently works with. We love working with themes of gardens, animals, and harvest, as we find many lessons of resistance, mutual aid, and shared abundance here. 

You can find out more on Instagram @therainbowdome or on their website, rainbowdome.com.    

Photos by Kennedy Cottrell and Maria Levitov