Nine Denver arts organizations are getting National Endowment for the Arts grants

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A small audience watches “Sleep Dealer” during XicanIndie Thursdays at Su Teatro, Sept. 7. 2017. (Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite)

The National Endowment for the Arts today announced the recipients of $27 million in grant money -- nine of them in Denver.

A total of $115,000 went to the Academic Skills Program, the Art Students League of Denver, the Central City Opera House Association (technically Denver, though performances are in the mountains), the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, MCA Denver, Museo de las Americas, Su Teatro, the University of Denver and Wonderbound. Each grant was in the $10,000 to $20,000 range.

There are 10 recipients from elsewhere in Colorado: Adams State College (Alamosa), Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, EcoArts Connections (Boulder), Breckenridge Creative Arts, Sprinkle Art Inc. (Colorado Springs), Tethered by Letters (Elbert), Center for the Arts Evergreen, Colorado State University, Anderson Ranch Arts Foundation (Snowmass Village), Colorado Dragon Boat Festival (Wheat Ridge, though the event happens in Denver).

There are two kinds of grants here. The main one is the Art Works grant, for which a panel reviewed 1,605 eligible applications and awarded 972 grants ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 and totaling more than $25 million. The other is the Challenge America Grant, awarded to "mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to underserved populations -- those whose opportunities to experience the arts are limited by geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability," according to the NEA. Experts reviewed 221 eligible applications and awarded 138 grants of $10,000 each for a total of $1.38 million.

Here's the breakdown of who in Denver got how much money and for what, via the NEA:

Academic Skills Program: $10,000 Challenge America grant "to support a dance festival featuring American street and social dance forms such as hip hop and breakdancing."

Art Students League of Denver: $10,000 Challenge America grant "to support the Visiting Artist Series, featuring community arts programming led by visual and multidisiplinary artists."

Central City Opera House Association: $15,000 Art Works -- Opera grant "to support a production of Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten with related community engagement programming.

Colorado Dragon Boat Festival: $10,000 Challenge America grant "to support the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival."

Denver Center for the Performing Arts: $20,000 Art Works -- Theater grant "to support the world premiere of Last Night and the Night Before, a new play by Donnetta Lavinia Grays."

MCA Denver: $10,000 Art Works -- Artist Communities grant "to support an artist exchange residency program."

Museo de las Americas: $10,000 Challenge America grant "to support an exhibition and educational programming featuring work by artist Gaal Cohen."

Su Teatro: $10,000 Art Works -- Theater grant "to support the creation and presentation War of the Flowers, a new play by Anthony J. Garcia and composer Daniel Valdez."

University of Denver: $20,000 Art Works -- Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works grant "to support a series of performing arts presentations at the Newman Center."

Wonderbound: $10,000 Art Works -- Dance grant "to support the presentation of Boomtown, a dance choreographed by Artistic Director Garrett Ammon, featuring an original score by the band Chimney Choir."

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