Local photographer Jace Romick has a long history with the building, that houses his
two-level gallery in downtown Steamboat Springs. During his childhood, it was the Dell
family’s jewelry store with a toy shop in the back. “I remember standing looking up at
the model airplanes, wishing I had the money to buy one,” he says.
Fast forward several (and several more) decades, he found himself standing in the same
spot hanging his own artwork with his own name above the doorway.
Jace’s journey in the artworld started in the 1990s when he founded Into the West, an
interior design store, where he showcased his own hand-built furniture. While he
continued to create signature pieces, his deep-set passion for photography kept calling,
until his time holding a camera surpassed that of a hammer and nails.
A natural storyteller at heart, photography morphed into the perfect way for him to
share stories of the West and the world he’s spent his life immersed in. He stepped
away from Into the West in 2015 and opened a small gallery several doors from where
his current gallery sits. In summer 2017, Jace decided he needed to expand the
floorspace and went looking for a larger premises.
He saw a “for lease’ sign on the door at 837 Lincoln Avenue, put in an offer and set
about renovating the space. After months toiling over drywall and laying floor, decided
to buy the property with the foresight to build multiple galleries within one location.
The Jace Romick Gallery officially opened in fall 2017 during First Friday Artwalk to a
line out the door. “It was humbling to see so much local support for what I was doing.”
Since then, the space has expanded twice. The first addition was R Diamond Gallery to
house fine art by local artists. In summer 2022, he opened the Roland Reed Gallery,
with the intent to showcase the works of the turn-of-the-twentieth century pictorialist,
whose glass plate negatives, and artifacts had spent over a century in storage.
Jace purchased the collection and chose a handful of images to create a limited-edition
compilation to sell and honor Reed’s life work.
As former professional Alpine skier on the US Ski Team, and rodeo competitor, Jace
continues to pursue his passion for perfection through photography and hand building
his signature frames. That adrenaline which he fueled traveling downhill at 80 miles-
per-hour on skis, is now felt while stalking wildlife, camera in hand.