About Art Department
Fresh Tape exists because of Art.
Fresh Tape Media’s Founder and CEO Jared Kleinstein, like his father, has an insatiable love for sports. So, after Vine went under in 2016, Jared was searching for his next big step. He knew he wanted to pursue two of his biggest passions - his family and entreprenuership. He packed his bags and moved to Colorado where his immediate family resided to start what we know today as Fresh Tape Media.
When not building a startup, Jared could always be found with his dad Art. The two of them rarely missed an Avs or Nuggets game, always seated on the bottom staircase of Box 1. Art was a generous and inspiring person who epitomized that true happiness is only achieved when given away. Which is why upon Art’s passing in 2020, Fresh Tape Media established The Art Department. A branch of Fresh Tape Media solely devoted to giving back to the community and making the world a better place, because that’s what Art inspired us all to do.
If you work for a non-profit or charity and are in need of social media, video assistance, or just good old fashion volunteers, please reach out! We’d love to hear from you and see how we can help! See below for a few of the organizations we’ve had the pleasure to work with thus far.
Art Department Work
Food for Thought
Since 2020, the employees of Fresh Tape Media and Gondola have been regularly volunteering with Food For Thought Denver.
FFT is a 100% volunteer-operated organization whose mission is to fight childhood hunger in the greater Denver area. Every Friday their crew meets to pack & load up take-home food bags to be dropped off at over 75 schools - and they have a ton of fun doing it! We highly recommend volunteering with this incredible group. Learn more HERE.
WiST Sizzle Reel
Women in Sports Tech (WiST) is a nonprofit organization that empowers transformative growth opportunities for women and employers in sports tech and innovation, at all stages of their career, from the classroom to the boardroom. WiST develops and delivers innovative programs, original content and a global community that provide tangible value for women and employers alike.
In 2023, WiST reached out to Fresh Tape Media to provide video support in the form of a sizzle reel for its flagship initiative, the WiST Fellowship Program. The program provides internship experiences and grants for highly motivated college and graduate school students to pursue summer projects in sports technology. Additional WiST programs include the WiST Next Gen Resource Hub “Discover Sports Tech” for high school students, the original content series WiST Presents, and the WiST NETWORK career hub, the single source for diverse hiring in the sports tech industry. WiST is supported by donations from numerous corporations and organizations. Learn more at https://www.womeninsportstech.org/ or email info@womeninsportstech.org.
Move Ukraine Beer Campaign
The MoveUkraine beer initiative is a collaborative effort amongst breweries, their customers and MoveUkraine (a charity whose mission is to re-build homes for internally displaced persons-IDPs in Ukraine). The effort is focused on raising awareness about the challenges the Ukrainian people who have lost their homes are facing. We want to show support for the Ukrainian people and raise critical funds to fuel the rebuilding of Ukraine one home, one family and one community at a time.
To provide support, Fresh Tape Media created social assets for MoveUkraine to promote their campaign including lifestyle content, social/email graphics, templates and a promotional video
Learn more about the cause HERE & check our our content HERE.
Cherry Creek Trail Cleanup
Everyone who lives in Denver enjoys a nice stroll along the Cherry Creek Trail. Unfortunately, with that much foot traffic there tends to be a build up of litter. Looking for an excuse to get out of the office, the FTM staff gathered together with bags and gloves and collected multiple bags of trash along the streamline. Because we’re a competitive bunch, of course we threw in a little competition of who could gather the most trash - winning team won free breakfast.
BlackLight x AfroPunk
Amidst the social unrest in 2020 brought about by the murder of George Floyd, Fresh Tape Media took a look in the mirror and realized in our industry, minorities are grossly underrepresented. We wanted to make an impact, not by just posting our support, but by actually taking action. So, we set out to do something simple but important: Pay. Black. Creators. Partnering with AfroPunk and Whalar, we created BlackLight where underrepresented and traditionally underpaid creators are compensated for telling their stories - whatever they want the world to see and hear - in video format. The intention being to energize empathy and connection, elongate the movement, and showcase a wealth of Black talent that has not been given a world stage until now.
Check out the entire BlackLight series HERE.
Covered Colorado
Human trafficking, and more specifically sex trafficking, is occurring today in all parts of the world and is a form of slavery with limited means of escape, even here in Denver, Colorado. There are countless organizations committed to ending sex trafficking, but fewer exist to help support survivors after they have escaped the cycle. Enter Covered. After hearing their founder speak about how they empower survivors towards a future life of healing and self-sufficiency, Gabby knew Art Dept had to help in any means possible. To encourage donors to contribute, Fresh Tape Media hosted an impactful Zoom call to hear from a group of long-term Covered donors on why they chose to give to Covered and how it has shaped their lives. The campaign went live on Giving Tuesday 2020 with hopes that these videos will encourage recurring contributions to help survivors break the bondage of trafficking.
Kipp Middle School
Given the impact that COVID-19 had on the education community, we knew we wanted to give back. So, when Fresh Tape Media was approached by a local Denver brand called False Ego to help create an inspiring and promotional piece to help Kipp Middle School win a $40,000 grant, we knew we had found the right fit. The proposal highlighted a group of young women and men displaying greatness in their crafts, including but not limited to: poetry, dance, mathematics and activism.
To get involved, we encourage you to reach out to teachers in your community and ask how to support them and their students, attend local school board meetings, support your public library, volunteer at a school near you or donate to teacher projects.