REVENUE SOURCES
- Concessions & Merchandise Sales
- Venue Rentals
- Parking
- Ticketing
- Corporate Partnerships
Our Story
ArtistiCO and Mariachi Sol De Mi Tierra performing at Sculpture Park | Sunset Cinema - Jonathan Phillips Photography
OUR STORY
Denver Arts & Venues (DAV) is the City and County of Denver agency responsible for operating some of the region’s most renowned facilities, including Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, Colorado Convention Center, Denver Coliseum, Loretto Heights and McNichols Civic Center Building. We also oversee the Denver Public Art Program, funding opportunities like Urban Arts Fund, P.S. You Are Here and EDI Arts & Culture Fund, implementation of Denver’s Cultural Plan and other entertainment and cultural events such as the Five Points Jazz Festival and Sunset Cinema.
Funds generated by the agency are put back into the community through grants for artists and arts organizations, free and low-cost cultural events, art in public spaces, venue operation and maintenance and arts education.
Every good time at one of our venues enriches Denver through arts and culture and helps Denver’s cultural community thrive — for good!
Video produced by Zerosun, voiced by Denver-native and arts activist Theo E.J. Wilson.
MISSION STATEMENT
Denver Arts & Venues enriches Denver’s quality of life and economic vitality through the advancement of arts, culture and entertainment opportunities for all.
EDI STATEMENT
Denver Arts & Venues is deeply committed to an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) practice that closes access gaps in arts and culture with urgency and accountability. We believe long term impact requires changing traditional processes, creating new systems, and developing authentic relationships and transformative work. Our work stands at the intersection of arts, culture and community.
Our Unique Business Model
DAV is a social-cultural enterprise that not only pays for itself, but invests in the city's arts and cultural landscape. A social enterprise uses commerce as a tool to maximize impact and long-term viability for the social good. A cultural enterprise uses a business model that creates greater reach and impact on arts and culture.
Simply put, we generate revenue through the operation of our venues and reinvest these dollars into venue maintenance, arts programs, community grants and free cultural amenities for Denver’s residents. Using good times, for good.
INVESTMENT & IMPACT
- Venue Maintenance
- Venue Infrastructure & Technology Improvements
- Venue Activation & Cultural Programs
- Grants & Cultural Investments
- Sector Leadership, Education & Training
Our Venues
DAV operates several of the area's most renowned facilities for concerts, performing arts, community events and film. We host millions of guests annually across our 1000+ events and throughout our public spaces.
We strive to create a welcoming, inclusive, safe and accessible environment for everyone. We invest in our infrastructure, preserve the legacy of our venues and implement strategies to minimize our footprint.
We want our venues to be enjoyed for years to come.
Our Impact
We believe in the strength and value of arts and culture in building healthy and inclusive communities. DAV is dedicated to supporting the health and vitality of Denver’s creative landscape - artists and culture bearers, non- and for-profit businesses, cultural districts, community-led development organizations and more.
DAV invests in our creative communities through research, exploring where we’ve collectively been to set the course for the future. DAV champions policy development, educational programming and advocacy. Leveraging local and federal grant funds as well as our own funding to create opportunities and platforms for artists and arts organization, DAV works to facilitate a collective path forward with more access and opportunity for local artists and arts organizations to thrive.
We invest in Denver's arts, creative and cultural communities because we know they make our city great, help our community thrive and bring pride to our residents.
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
We love highlighting our amazing local talent and creating more opportunities for Denverites to enjoy them. Every year, we work with creative individuals and cultural organizations to program hundreds of community-style events in our venues and throughout Denver.
GRANTS & CULTURAL INVESTMENTS
We are deeply committed to strengthening Denver’s communities and the arts and cultural sector through various grants and cultural investments.
CREATIVE SECTOR LEADERSHIP
We partner with agencies, non-profits, commissions and cultural funders to facilitate a collective path forward with more access and opportunity for artists and arts organizations to thrive.
Denver Public Art Collection
More than 400 pieces of art can be found in all corners of the city with 50+ projects in progress. Over $40 million invested in the collection, along with historic and donated works of art, providing opportunity for Denver residents to experience art in public places.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge that the land which the Denver Public Art Collection, our venues and programs occupy – land where we stand, live, work and learn – is the traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples. We also recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado. Our nation was founded upon and continues to enact exclusions and erasures of Indigenous Peoples. May this acknowledgement demonstrate a commitment to dismantling ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities, as we intentionally honor and celebrate the Indigenous communities in our city and express our gratitude for their ongoing and significant contributions.
Let’s not forget that this land was theirs long before we made it ours.