A Patron of the Arts in Denver Who Was ‘Saved by Collecting’

Some collectors buy art because they enjoy it, some do it to show off and some simply want to fill their walls.

For others, collecting is a true lifeline, and Amanda Precourt falls into that category.

Precourt, a real estate developer who lives in Denver, is also a mental health advocate and philanthropist who has been frank about her own struggles. She and her father, Jay Precourt, were the lead funders of the Precourt Healing Center, an inpatient behavioral health facility in Edwards, Colo. — opening this week near the Vail ski resort — where she also has a home.

“I’ve been speaking out about it for seven or eight years,” said Precourt, 51. “I’ve always struggled with anxiety and depression. Eventually, I just said, ‘This is who I am, I don’t want to hide it anymore.’”

Her openness and advocacy has overlapped with, and informed, a burst of serious art buying. Collecting, she said, is one of “the myriad ways that art has saved me.”