The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation is awarding $1.8 million in grant funds to 34 arts and culture organizations in Denver.
The organization gave out $3.2 million last year to organizations that struggled earlier in the pandemic.
"Denver has an extraordinary community of arts organizations and artists and especially in these times when they continue to recover from the impact of the pandemic and historic funding inequities, we are especially proud to be a source of consistent support to help sustain our creative vitality," said Gary Steuer, Bonfils-Stanton Foundation's President and CEO.
Steuer said his team understands the need to create more equity in terms of which groups get support.
Practicing equity in giving begins with, "doing a deep self-examination of ourselves and our funding practices," Steuer said.
Some of the funding adjustments the organization has implemented include funding caps to avoid bigger institutions getting larger pots of the money, a more accessible application process, and the implementation of the Inclusive Communities grant which provides $5,000 in unrestricted funding to organizations that are informed by, majority-led by and serve BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and communities with disabilities.
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CPRD), a long-standing cultural ambassador for Black arts and culture in Denver, has benefited from the support of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation over the years.
When Steuer first joined Bonfils-Stanton in 2013, he remembers some of the early conversations with CPRD focused on how they could better support the organization. CPRD at the time needed a full-time development director to prioritize funding and someone to run their school. Bonfils-Stanton pushed its funding from $20,000 to $80,000 for a three-year period to help jumpstart the efforts of CPRD.
"For Bonfils-Stanton to have had the confidence to invest in CPRD is extremely meaningful and they recognized early on the impact CPRD had on the state," said Lisa Hogan, member of the CPRD Board of Directors.
This year, CPRD is getting the second of three payments in the amount of $60,000 from Bonfils as part of their partnership. They are also receiving an additional $500,000 multi-year grant to support the expansion of their Five Points facilities.
For Steuer, investing in all arts and culture organizations, with an emphasis on those who have historically suffered from inequitable funding practices is, "critically important to the cultural life of Denver."
These are the groups benefitting from the grants:
Access Gallery: $20,000 for general operating support
The Alliance for Music Education Equity: $20,000 for general operating support
American Association of Museums: $20,000 to commission and highlight a diversity of artists to feature their work throughout the 2023 American Alliance of Museums Annual Meeting & Museum Expo
Athena Project: $15,000 for general operating support
Augustana Arts Inc: $15,000 for general operating support
Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado: $15,000 for general operating support
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance: $60,000 three-year general operating support grant (payment 2 of 3) and $500,000 multi-year capital grant to support facilities expansion.
Colorado Business Committee for the Arts: $15,000 for general operating support
Colorado Children's Chorale: $40,000 for general operating support
Colorado Symphony Association: $180,000 three-year general operating support grant (payable at $60,000/year)
Curious Theatre Company: $48,000 for general operating support
D3 Arts: $22,000 for general operating support
The Denver Architecture Foundation, Inc.: $20,000 three-year general operating support grant (payment 3 of 3)
Denver Digerati: $20,000 for general operating support
Denver Film Society: $30,000 three-year general operating support grant (payment 2 of 3)
Denver's Art District on Santa Fe: $20,000 for general operating support
History Colorado: $22,400 to support the Sand Creek Massacre Knowledge-Building Seminars
Inside the Orchestra Inc: $15,000 to support in-school and community programs, and the virtual resource hub
Mizel Center For Arts And Culture: $20,000 for general operating support
Newman Center for Performing Arts at University of Denver: $105,000 three-year award to support a series of extended international artist residencies that include public performances and community engagement programs (payable at $35,000/year)
No Credits Productions: $12,000 to support Destination Freedom Black Radio Days
Opera Colorado: $60,000 three-year general operating support grant (payment 3 of 3)
Philanthropy Colorado: $7,000 for general operating support
PlatteForum: $81,000 three-year general operating support grant (payable at $27,000/year)
Radical Arts Academy Denver: $20,000 to support the planning and implementation of arts partnerships and programming in far Northeast (FNE) Denver and other locations around the city
RedLine Contemporary Art Center: $120,000 three-year general operating support grant (payable at $40,000/year)
Rino Gives Back: $20,000 to support RiNo ArtPark's Phase 2 construction
Rocky Mountain Public Media Inc: $30,000 to support the KUVO JAZZ musician and events fund to be named in honor of Carlos Lando
St Martin's Chamber Choir: $10,000 for general operating support
Stories on Stage: $10,000 three-year general operating support grant (payment 2 of 3)
Su Teatro: $50,000 three-year general operating support grant (payment 2 of 3)
Swallow Hill Music Association: $30,000 three-year general operating support grant (payment 3 of 3)
Union Hall: $15,000 to support the Rough Gems Curatorial Program
Wonderbound: $156,000 three-year general operating support grant (payable at $52,000 per year)
Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect Bonfils-Stanton's total contributions for the fiscal year.
