DAV Arts & Culture Fund Projects
For the grant cycle 2024-2025, Denver Arts & Venues provided $164,200 in funding to 13 organizations.
2024-2025 Funded Organizations
Access Gallery
$15,000: Access Gallery
2025 Access Gallery Exhibitions by Artists wiith Disabilities
Funding will support 12-15 gallery exhibitions in 2025 featuring artwork from Denver artists with disabilities. Access Gallery expands creative and economic opportunities for people with disabilities through three focus areas: • Access Studio: A space to explore and create with high-quality materials, supplies and instruction in a supportive community. Through the studio, Access Gallery supports artistic exploration, development and creation. • Access Gallery: A professional presentation space and retail outlet designed for sales and increasing artists’ exposure. In 2020, the gallery was remodeled to showcase and elevate the art of people with disabilities to challenge misconceptions. Artists with disabilities learn how to hang the artwork and prepare for a show. • Creative Services: An award-winning program through which people with disabilities can explore careers and gain job skills while earning additional income, empowering them to enter the workforce through the arts.
Art Students League of Denver (ASLD)
$15,000: Art Students League of Denver
The Visiting Artists of Color Residency
The Visiting Artists of Color (VAC) Residency supports a visiting artist who identifies as (or connects with) Black, Indigenous, Latino/x, Person of Color (BILPOC) with the goal to increase visibility and provide resources to support historically marginalized artists. The program is part of ASLD’s Visiting Artist Series that brings notable national and international artists to Denver to complement existing courses, diversify programming to include new artistic perspectives and media, and broaden teaching practices to enrich and enliven the faculty. The residency provides a monthly artist stipend, housing and dedicated studio space for the artist to create a body of work that culminates in a solo exhibition at ASLD’s gallery. For each residency, ASLD and the artist collaborate to develop programming to align with their residency. The 2024-2025 VAC Resident Artist is Desirae Brown, who creates sculpture work using found objects and identifies as a Black biracial single mother.
Birdseed Collective
$15,000: Birdseed Collective
Alto Gallery
Alto Gallery is a contemporary art gallery owned and operated by Birdseed Collective since 2016. Through this space, Birdseed Collective mainly offers local emerging artists opportunities to exhibit their work. Programming consists of monthly exhibitions with receptions that are free to the public. Additionally, Birdseed Collective offers free artist talks, demonstrations and workshops throughout the year. In an effort to remove some of the economic burden of creating works for display, funding from the DAV Arts & Culture Fund will be used to pay exhibiting artists an honorarium. Guest curators would also be given an honorarium for their work. The awarded funds will also be used to expand programming and offer more free events and activities for the public to enjoy, while paying individuals for providing this enriching programming. The grant will also fund supplies, refreshments, marketing and photography for the programming.
Celestial Alegria (LLC)
$10,000: Celestial Alegria (LLC)
Movimiento Music
Movimiento Music will be a free and all ages concerts at a Denver venue for Latin Heritage Month. This series records the live performances of each artist for the “Youth Voices in El Movimiento” curricular project archive, stewarded by the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (In)Equality (IRISE) at the University of Denver. Lead coordinator Celeste Andrea Martinez is currently a Community Scholar working on this project, and all the artists included in this series shared their oral history through an interview or panel. The artists include: Izcalli, LatinSoul, Lolita, Los Mocochetes, Pink Hawks, and Soy Celesté. The goal of this series is to expand the archive materials and make the concert series accessible to live and online audiences. This series is produced in partnership with Bruce Trujillo from Manos Sagrados on booking and show production, and contract a Denver-based media company to lead on AV recordings.
City Park Jazz
$10,000: City Park Jazz
DEI Expansion Efforts for City Park Jazz
Through this funding, City Park Jazz will expand DEI and accessibility of all City Park Jazz summer concerts. This includes ASL Interpretation at every concert and the hiring of a Contracted DEI Consultant to guide City Park Jazz into the future of DEI, strengthening the accessibility of the free summer concert series.
Colorado Dragon Boat
$15,000: Colorado Dragon Boat
Colorado Dragon Boat Programs
The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival is a, grassroots, vibrant celebration of AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander) culture, held annually in Denver. It features the exhilarating sport of dragon boat racing, where teams paddle in sync to the beat of drums. Spectators are treated to a spectacle of color and culture as dragon boats glide across the water. Beyond the races, the festival is a cultural extravaganza, showcasing music, dance and arts from various AANHPI communities. Visitors can savor delicious Asian cuisine from food vendors, explore artisanal crafts and engage in interactive activities for all ages. With its lively atmosphere and diverse offerings, the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival is a cherished event that fosters unity, appreciation and understanding of AANHPI heritage.
Colorado Native
$15,000: Colorado Native
Colorado Cultural Enrichment Program
The Colorado Native Cultural Enrichment Program is the only weekly Native American Arts and Culture Program in the Denver Metro Area, offering a safe space where Native youth and families are free from judgment and discrimination. They have built a strong community, which has ultimately saved lives. Their open door policy has given thousands of people a place where they feel like they are welcome and included. Fiscal sponsor RedLine Contemporary Arts Center helps to expand the program's audience by providing a space where people from all backgrounds can see/experience their classes. The program engages the local Indigenous community by providing weekly cultural arts classes and workshops such as: beginner beadwork, sewing, powwow dancing, singing/drumming and basket weaving, offering 3-4 culture classes every Wednesday from 6:30-8:30pm.
Colorado Symphony Association
$15,000: Colorado Symphony Association
Music for All Abilities
In the 2024/25 Season, the Colorado Symphony (CSA) will partner with the Denver Young Artists Orchestra (DYAO) to expand the scope and intended audiences of our Sensory Friendly (SF) offerings through three collaborative programs: 1) Throughout the season, they will perform multiple side-by-side chamber concerts at venues such as retirement homes, hospitals, autism centers and other health and wellness centers around Denver to expand the number of SF performances they offer and audiences reached beyond special education classrooms. 2) The fourth presentation of the In Conversation Panel will occur in early spring 2025, focusing on Disability in the Arts. Potential panelists include a DYAO student with visual impairment, an actor from Phamaly Theater, and others recommended by a planning committee. 3) The annual side-by-side concert at Boettcher Concert Hall will showcase DYAO students performing alongside CSA musicians with a featured piece composed by Molly Joyce, a disabled composer.
Denver Film Society
$10,000: Denver Film Society
The 47th Denver Film Festival
Denver Film (DF) will use funding to support the 47th Denver Film Festival (DFF), a signature cultural event celebrating world-class cinema from local, national and international filmmakers. With more than 230 films, special events, red-carpet presentations, industry parties and filmmaker discussions, the festival unites more than 20,000 arts patrons for ten days in November. DFF showcases diverse voices and perspectives, fostering dialogue and engagement through curated conversations such as our filmmaker panels, Q&As and networking events, cultivating an engaged community. From thought-provoking documentaries to captivating narratives, the festival offers a wide range of cinematic experiences contributing to Denver's vibrant cultural landscape. With support, DF aims to continue providing high-quality programming that entertains, educates and inspires Colorado audiences while promoting the art of filmmaking and enriching the Rocky Mountain region's cultural fabric.
Grapefruit Lab
$14,200: Grapefruit Lab
Action Change Theatre (ACT) Ensemble
ACT Ensemble is a pioneering program exploring the intersections of performance, art, dance and narrative within correctional facilities. The project aims to create inclusive spaces of possibility, where individuals can explore their creativity and humanity. Embracing storytelling and embodied practices, the ACT philosophy centers on the transformative power of the performing arts as a means of liberation and self-discovery. With a commitment to holistic rehabilitation, ACT Ensemble empowers individuals to reclaim their narratives and envision a brighter future. ACT facilitators develop collaborative artistic ensembles inside prison walls that foster community. Membership in these ensembles encourages participants to develop a positive self-concept and to identify as artists, both as individuals and within the context of community. Activities include solo and collective script writing, dance, theatre, acting and improvisation. These creative skills culminate in performances for facility residents, staff and invited members of the public.
Innervision
$10,000: Innervision
KINV-DB Innervision FM Diversity podcast and music showcase
For almost thirty years, Innervision has taught disabled, blind and grass-roots artists the business of music and how to be financially independent. Cofounded by two men who are blind, Innervision teaches artists how to produce and promote their music. Innervision combines classroom workshop training and hands-on mentoring to allow participants to learn, practice and master skills for success. Students receive rigorous training necessary for successful music and broadcast industry employment, including finance, budgeting, event booking, securing underwriters to sponsor podcasts, locating guests from the community to be on shows and preparing shows. Training is delivered through in-person workshops and online virtual training. Innervision’s staff and volunteers, many of whom are blind or disabled, mentor trainees in groups of two so they can learn, practice and master skills in real-time.
Japanese Arts Network
$15,000: Japanese Arts Network
Inheritance Kitchen
Inheritance Kitchen is an immersive theatrical work that centers around a liminal kitchen in a house in Five Points harboring the collective memories of three families (Japanese, Mexican, and African American) who inhabit it in separate decades over the past eighty years. Audiences will be introduced to narratives about cultural foods that have connected Denver’s Five Points neighborhood throughout the years and will be asked to consider what is possible for our society when a safe community with shared resilience and joy exists. Through this multi-sensory experiential production, audiences will deep dive into interwoven stories about post-WWII Japanese American resettlement in Denver, family and community traditions around Dia De Los Muertos, and the historic Five Points Juneteenth celebration. Inheritance Kitchen strives to deepen empathy for the narratives and histories of Denver's cultural communities, to emphasize the solidarity in shared community ideals, and to create entry points for connection across generations.
Kerrie Joy Landell
$15,000: Kerrie Joy Landell
Five Points: Unstudied
Five Points: Unstudied is a series that tells the tales of a vibrant city that Black artists brought to life through jazz. The Harlem of the West is not a relic. The stories, the music, the culture, the vibe: they are still very much alive today and there is a cohort of local jazz artists that will prove it. Third-generation musicians, transplants, and legends occupy the land we now call Denver...and they have never stopped breathing harmony and life into the Mile High City.
Unstudied is this gathering and celebration of jazz, both old and new, in the historic Five Points neighborhood. As a poet, Kerrie Joy Landell brings the element of storytelling and placekeeping into the event, to ensure that attendees leave with more reverence than they came with. This event takes place in the historic, Black-owned, venue, Urban Sanctuary, which was once a mortuary owned by the son of Fredrick Douglass
Lighthouse Writers Workshop
$10,000: Lighthouse Writers Workshop
Lighthouse Hard Times Program Expansion
Hard Times is a transformative weekly writing workshop conducted collaboratively with libraries and nonprofits across the Denver metropolitan area, tailored for those grappling with poverty, homelessness or addiction. This program addresses a critical community need. Despite significant efforts, Denver remains one of the nation's top five cities contending with homelessness. Facilitated by experienced instructors, workshops provide a nurturing environment for individuals to explore their stories and refine their writing skills. Through guided prompts, participants feel empowered to express themselves authentically, fostering deep connections with peers and instructors who share similar life experiences. Selected works are compiled into an anthology and shared with the community. Two talented Hard Times writers are provided free Lighthouse classes annually through the New Voices fellowship. Additional funding will be used to expand Hard Times to more partners and participants across Denver.
LuneAseas
$10,000: LuneAseas
5 Points Nutcracker: A Jazz Experience
This immersive dance theater experience celebrates the history of Five Points, a historic black community in Denver, Colorado. It creatively uses the 1960 Ellington/Strayhorn jazz arrangement of the Nutcracker, performed live by a band led by BIPOC musical director, Denver resident, and native, Tenia Nelson, and supported by the Boulder Philharmonic. The production parallels archetypal characters from the Nutcracker with significant figures from Five Points, showcasing their stories through a fusion of ballet, jazz, breakdance, physical theater, spoken word poetry, shadow puppetry, and mixed media videography. The Five Points Nutcracker is led by Five Points native and Denver resident Larea Edwards, bringing her expertise of local history to fuel the vision. Local professionals from Denver's Five Points embody these characters, bringing to life the neighborhood's rich heritage. Launched in 2023, this immersive experience captivated sold-out audiences with its powerful storytelling and innovative portrayal of often-overlooked history.
New Cottage Arts, Inc.
$15,000: New Cottage Arts
The Clara Brown Commons Music Sessions: A Celebration of Intergenerational, Musical Community-Building
This project, in collaboration with Clara Brown Commons affordable housing community in Denver's Clayton/Cole neighborhoods, fosters community-building through free, weekly, 2-hour, drop-in live music sessions, music education workshops and performances. Participants, from youth to seniors, engage in guitar, piano, voice, songwriting, music production and group music-making, promoting intergenerational learning and bonding. Led by instructor Elyjah Tribe, known for his diverse musical background and commitment to holistic healing, the project emphasizes pro-social skills, familial relationships and community cohesion. Monthly town hall meetings facilitate resident engagement and feedback, ensuring program alignment with community needs. Events such as a summer block party and a holiday celebration recruit participants and gauge community interest. The culmination of the project is the production of a record EP, capturing the essence of the project's musical journey. Through accessible programming and cultural enrichment, the project amplifies local arts, nurtures inclusivity and contributes to Denver's vibrant cultural landscape.
PlatteForum
$10,000: PlatteForum
PlatteForum Artist Conversations
PlatteForum’s Resident Artist Program, now in its 22nd year, hosts four unique professional artists per year, for a 6-8 week residency to create new work, collaborate and teach youth from our award-winning ArtLab Internship Program, and engage with the community. This year, PlatteForum is launching “PlatteForum Artists Conversations,” an enriching panel discussion series bringing together artists, activists and youth to engage with social justice issues that matter most to them. Using a format developed by PlatteForum, these talks will allow youth to interview Resident Artists along with activists and experts who will bring cross-sector topics to the forefront, including topics such as environmentalism, racial equity and mental health. The event will hold space for youth, artists, activists and experts to have engaging and formative conversations about the present and futures of our communities and our world.