While many come to our region for skiing and natural beauty, the vibrant arts scene adds additional color, culture, and depth. This past Tuesday, the State of the Valley Arts Symposium brought together local artists,.
DJ Lo G, Belly Up Aspen, Friday, 10 p.m. It was a decade ago that Logan Garrison, better known as DJLo G, first took the stage to spin sets for crowds in the snowy towns of Lake.
Candace Krebs
The Ag Journal
Anything from a pizza box to a grain elevator can be a canvas when businesses and rural communities open their eyes to the creative potential that exists for capitalizing on the talents of local artists to enhance customer loyalty, improve creative problem-solving and contribute to healthier, more vibrant communities.
Meredith Badler, deputy director for the Colorado Business Community for the Arts, talked about optimizing the intersection between the arts and business during a recent webinar hosted by Pro15, an advocacy group for Colorado’s northeastern counties.
Thinking strategically about how to blend the two spheres feeds tourism and the arts at a time when both have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, she said.
Candace Krebs
The Ag Journal
Many years ago, when Ft. Morgan-based business consultant Cathy Shull was president of the Colorado Rural Development Council, she attended a meeting in Cripple Creek.
Someone in the area had written a play about suicide among rural teens, which featured a few student actors sitting around on hay bales talking about their lives and struggles.
“It was the most eye-opening thing I ever saw,” she recalls now. “That brought the issue into focus for me better than all of the Power Point presentations or articles in the newspaper could have done.”
Shull, who is director of Pro15, an advocacy group for northeastern Colorado, was reminded of its impact during a recent “Plain Talk” webinar she hosted with Meredith Badler, deputy director for Colorado Business Community for the Arts.
ColoradoBiz Magazine
CBCA live-streams annual awards event
March 9, 2021
Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) brought a new sense of accessibility, creativity and purpose to its annual Business for the Arts Awards.
In its 36th year, the statewide event was scheduled for March 9 to honor companies and individuals for their partnerships and engagement with the arts, with a (virtual) twist. The event was live-streamed from the People’s Building in the Aurora Cultural Arts District and featured some pre-recorded performances and videos of honorees.
As the state’s art industry grapples with the devastating effects of COVID-19, the event celebrates the resiliency of the arts community and the businesses that continued to lift the community. Not only were Colorado’s art and creative industries hit hard when the pandemic forced the closure of arts and cultural venues, but corporate giving and support to the arts declined significantly in 2020.