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NEA sends $4.1 million in funding to 26 Colorado arts organizations

By John Moore May 27, 2023 | updated 2 years ago

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John Moore Column sig

John Moore Column sig

Arts journalists tend to make the most noise when politicians are threatening to cut federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Not so much attention goes to where that essential money is eventually distributed. So, here goes:  

The NEA just announced its latest round of grants totaling $103 million. Of that, 26 Colorado organizations will receive $4.13 million to support a wide range of projects and partnerships covering everything from music to live theater to festivals to museums to dance, art installations, the tactile arts and cultural history.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is pleased to support a wide range of projects that demonstrate the many ways the arts enrich our lives and contribute to healthy and thriving communities,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson. “These organizations play an important role in advancing the creative vitality of our nation and helping to ensure that all people can benefit from arts, culture and design.”

The NEA presently distributes about $167.5 million a year in arts funding, or about 0.003% of the federal budget. In 2021, the arts added $16.9 billion to Colorado’s economy and employed more than 100,000, according to the NEA.

Denver considers itself a hotbed for creating new works for both the American stage and the great outdoors, and with these new grants, the Denver Center Theatre Company, Phamaly Theatre Company, The Catamounts, Theatre Artibus and Control Group Productions will receive a combined $100,000 infusion to support developing new productions – three of them to be presented outside.

The Aspen Music Festival, Latino Cultural Arts Center, Su Teatro, Bravo! Vail and Denver Film are among groups whose upcoming festivals all will be bolstered by these new grants. MCA Denver and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center are among museums that will receive a boost.

But these NEA distributions are not created equally. The biggest chunk of the pie – about two thirds – is reserved for what the NEA calls “state and regional partnerships.” In Colorado, that means the nonprofit WESTAF, (the Western States Arts Federation), which has supported artists with both funding and technology services since 1972, will receive $2.5 million to support its mission. That’s 60 percent of the entire Colorado pie. The state’s arts-funding office will receive another $943,000.

A tiny sliver – about 4 percent – supports local government entities working in partnership with local nonprofit organizations, and Silverthorne and Broomfield will benefit from those. 

But there is no such thing as a small infusion of help from the NEA. The Catamounts, a Boulder-based theater company, will use its $15,000 to support “Pride of the Farm.” a new outdoor adventure that will play out from June 1-25 on the historic Metzger Farm in Westminster. The production, commissioned by the city of Westminster, explores the life of former Colorado Attorney General John Metzger, who at one time ran that same farm.

“We are excited to have the support of the NEA as we present the next in our series of productions designed to strengthen our relationship with local land, the history it shares and the lessons that it teaches us,” said Michael Alt, president of the Catamounts’  Board of Directors.

10 Best Aspen Summer Festivals

The Benedict Music Tent at the 2015 Aspen Music Festival. Photo credit: Lovethearts (Wikimedia Commons)

10 Best Aspen Summer Festivals

The Benedict Music Tent at the 2015 Aspen Music Festival. Photo credit: Lovethearts (Wikimedia Commons)



NEW NEA GRANT RECIPIENTS

$2,467,692

  • Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF): To support arts programs, services and activities associated with carrying out the organization’s strategic plan.

$943,331

  • Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (which administers the state’s arts office): To support arts programs, services and activities associated with carrying out the agency’s strategic plan.

$80,500

  • Denver Arts and Venues: To support a grant program for local arts organizations and individual artists.

$75,000

  • City and County of Broomfield: $50,000 to support a series of multidisciplinary arts activities and storytelling workshops that celebrate the history and culture of Broomfield. And $25,000 to support a site-specific multidisciplinary arts installation.

$60,000

  • MCA Denver: To support a group exhibition and catalog exploring American history through the lens of the cowboy.

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Featured Local Savings

$50,000

  • Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College: To support the conservation and renovation of “Arte Mestiza,” a mural created by Emmanuel Martinez.

$40,000

  • Lighthouse Writers Workshop: To support literary programming.
  • Phamaly Theatre Company: To support the production of an upcoming play featuring performers with disabilities.

$37,000

  • National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (Boulder): To support exhibitions and educational programming for its annual conference on the ceramic arts.

$35,000

  • Art Students League of Denver: To support an artist-in-residence and an apprenticeship program.

$30,000

  • Aspen Music Festival and School: To support a residency by composer John Luther Adams at its upcoming festival.
  • The Word, A Storytelling Sanctuary: To support programs designed to foster community among literary artists from historically marginalized communities.

$25,000

  • Latino Cultural Arts Center: To support instruction at the Viva Southwest Mariachi Festival.
  • University of Colorado at Colorado Springs: To support multidisciplinary arts programming.

$22,000

  • University of Denver, Colorado Seminary: To support a national conference for artists, educators and technologists contributing to the development of creative open-source software toolkits.

$20,000

  • Bravo! Vail: To support performances of new works during its upcoming festival.
  • Control Group Productions (Lakewood): To support presentations of a new participatory, site-specific performance.
  • Denver Film: To support the Immersive and Virtual Reality Showcase at its annual Denver Film Festival.
  • Su Teatro: To support its upcoming summit of leading “carpa” practitioners.

$18,750

  • Town of Silverthorne: To support the design and installation of a downtown mural and related community events.

$15,000

  • The Catamounts (Westminster): To support its upcoming original outdoor production of “Pride of the Farm.”
  • cmDance: To support its upcoming Lindy on the Rocks dance festival.
  • Denver Center for the Performing Arts: To support artists participating in its upcoming world-premiere production of “Cebollas” by Leonard Madrid.
  • Transforming Creatives (Morrison): To support personal and professional development resources for artists in rural and underserved communities in and around Denver.

$10,000

  • Theatre Artibus: To support the development and world premiere staging of a new devised theater piece.

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at john.moore@denvergazette.com

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