Five Points Jazz Grants | Denver Arts & Venues

ABOUT FIVE POINTS JAZZ GRANTS

Five Points Jazz is a series of grants and activations, ushering in a new era of year-round, jazz-focused events in the historic Five Points Neighborhood.

Denver Arts & Venues will work with the Five Points Business Improvement District (BID) and the office of Councilman Darrell Watson to distribute $225,000 to businesses, nonprofits and creatives that present jazz and jazz-related programming throughout the year in the Five Points neighborhood.

The goal of Five Points Jazz is to invest in jazz artists more significantly and to enable artists and residents to enliven the neighborhood in a more consistent manner, honoring the history of jazz in Denver and supporting those who continue this legacy in the Five Points neighborhood today.

Out of the $225,000 total investment Denver Arts & Venues is making, $100,000 is dedicated to grant giving.

Eligible projects may apply for grants up to $10,000 each.
Applicants can be neighborhood-based groups, Registered Neighborhood Organizations, place-based organizations, individuals residing or working in the Five Points neighborhood or individuals working with one or more of the aforementioned.
Applicant projects should be tied to jazz, whether that’s through music, artists, a play or other creative endeavor.

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Virtual Information Session

Denver Arts & Venues hosted an information session on Wednesday, March 5 for interested applicants, covering the program's background, guidelines and the application process.

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Project Guidelines

Program Goals

The goal of this grant is to support jazz performance and jazz related activities in Five Points, both to celebrate the history of jazz in the "Harlem of the West" and to look forward to fostering a new generation of jazz artists in the neighborhood with contemporary, innovative jazz programming.

Grant Criteria

- All programming must take place within the designated funding footprint (see "Activation Area" below), however you do not need to live within the boundaries to apply.
- Funds must be used for jazz-related programming (examples could include: Five Points tours highlighting jazz history in the neighborhood, creating a new and innovative performance piece highlighting jazz as an artform, creating a visual art piece celebrating jazz music, or hiring jazz artists to perform in local venues).
- Five Points Jazz Grant funded programs must be accessible to the public.
- Grant recipients will be selected by a panel comprised of individuals such as those knowledgeable about jazz and the local community, representatives of the Commission on Cultural Affairs, Councilman Watson’s office, and Five Points community members.

Activation Area

The shaded area represents where Five Points Jazz Fund activities must take place. This map is meant to serve as a reference point – if you need more information or have a specific question about location and eligibility, please reach out to Sonia Rae at Sonia.Rae@denvergov.org.

The boundaries are as follows and encompass businesses and organizations located on both sides of the street:

20th Avenue between Broadway and Downing Street
Downing Street between 20th Avenue and 31st Avenue
32nd Street between Downing and Arapahoe Street
Arapahoe Street to Broadway
Broadway to 20th Avenue

Funded Applicants

If your program/project receives funding, you will be required to provide a schedule of events, program description and/or a list of the bands that will be performing at least a month in advance so DAV can assist in the promotion and marketing of events.
At the end of the grant funded period, we will ask grant recipients to share stories of impact with us. As such, DAV will need grantees to provide information such as images and photos, the number of attendees or people served, how the project/program benefited Denver and Five Points, etc.

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Questions?

For more information, please contact Sonia Rae, Cultural Affairs Program Manager.

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Language Access

Denver Arts & Venues complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, gender or language. It is your right to request oral or written language assistance services in your primary language, if needed. Please contact Denver Arts & Venues and these services will be provided to you free of charge.

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