CBCA Celebrates 2026 Business for the Arts Awards Honorees at Annual Luncheon

Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) held its 2026 Business for the Arts Awards, the only statewide event honoring companies and individuals for their outstanding partnerships and engagement with the arts, on April 21 at the Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Center for Performing Arts (DCPA). This arts-infused event honored 8 organizations and 4 individuals, and hosted 640 corporate, cultural, and civic leaders, as well as livestream participants from around the state. The event was co-emceed by Michelle Griego with CBS Colorado and Betty Hart with Local Theater Company and Colorado Theatre Guild.

“We congratulate the 12 outstanding 2026 Business for the Arts Awards honorees and thank them for their contributions to their local communities and our state. It is inspiring to learn of the many ways that arts and business connect and collaborate throughout Colorado, demonstrating CBCA’s mission in action,” said Christin Crampton Day, CBCA executive director. “We also want to thank the magnificent performers who entertained us at this year’s Awards luncheon, displaying Colorado’s deep and diverse artistic talent,” she added.

The annual Business for the Arts Awards luncheon is also known as a showcase highlighting the excellence of Colorado’s artists and performers. The program was punctuated with four live performances featuring regional artists. It kicked off with a performance by Denver-based soul and jazz singer, DZIRAE GOLD. The Kalama Polynesian Dancers entertained with a selection of dances from the islands of Polynesia, including a hula lesson for all in attendance. DCPA Broadway presented a song from Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen, offering a taste of the current National Broadway Touring Production. Rocky Mountain Rhythm closed out the event with a high-energy tap dance performance, keeping everyone’s toes tapping and hands clapping along in celebration. The event’s entertainment was sponsored by Anythink Libraries.

Award honorees and sponsors attended a VIP Reception before the luncheon with live music by Colorado Springs-based singer-songwriter Edie Carey. Guests mingled at a festive networking reception, featuring unique characters from Theatre Artibus, a Denver-based nonprofit theatre company. The original Award Artwork, presented to each honoree, was commissioned by Denver artist Gina Vernon, known for her fabric-formed sculptures molded directly from live models. CBCA’s 2026 Award features her piece, “Tempest,” which is based on a former Colorado Ballet dancer. At each table were colorful globe-inspired centerpieces evoking Earth Day and in celebration of migration and global interconnectedness, crafted by students of Downtown Aurora Visual Arts, sponsored by PNC Bank.

2026 Arts & Business Partnership Award Honorees

The Arts & Business Partnership Award honorees are exemplary organizations that have gone above and beyond to support the arts and creative industries.

• The Benson Hotel and Faculty Club on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora features an extensive Colorado-centric art collection, collaborates with local cultural organizations, and embodies a commitment to health & wellness through arts integration.
• DAR Chocolate Art Bars, an artisan chocolate company based in Thornton, is passionate about adding art into daily life to uplift the human spirit by showcasing visual art on every chocolate bar, selling prints of featured artwork, and partnering with local nonprofits like Art from Ashes.
• Fort Greene Bar, located in Denver’s Globeville neighborhood, is more than a cocktail lounge—it’s a meeting space where art, music and connection intersect. They host art exhibits, literary readings, film screenings, DJ nights, experimental performances and more to amplify diverse community voices.
• MATTER is a graphic design consultancy, printing press, manufactory, and retail bookstore for designers, revolutionaries, and creative thinkers, offering frameworks for ethics and models for change that elevate design’s role in the communities where we live and work.
• Nocturne is a modern jazz and supper club in Denver’s RiNo Art District that has gone above and beyond to support Colorado’s live music scene through community engagement, artist development and youth education, serving as a platform for cultural growth and social good for the last decade.
• Our Lady of Perpetual Motion, based in Fruita, is a renovated church turned “Art Hotel” on the Western Slope with a permanent art collection, regular music performances and community events, and an annual Artist-in-Residency program.
• Semple Brown is passionate about quality architecture and design and their power to support community through culture. Semple Brown has demonstrated this commitment for over 40 years, as evidenced by a recent project to build a permanent home for the Colorado Photographic Arts Center in collaboration with Nichols Partnership.
• Vermilion, based in Boulder, is a certified B Corp creative agency that builds brands worth believing. For more than 40 years, Vermilion has used their creative superpowers for good—supporting clients in arts & culture whose missions are rooted in helping Coloradans and their communities thrive.

2026 Next Wave Leadership Award

The Next Wave Leadership Award honors rising professionals who are leading the future of our cultural community with new initiatives and innovative approaches.

• Lisa Branner, Executive Director of the Silverton Creative District, volunteered to lead the creation of Silverton’s new state-certified creative district, transforming how this high-mountain town of 700 people views creativity as a vehicle for year-round vitality and a cross-sector bridge for community building.

2026 Cultural Leadership Award

The Cultural Leadership Award recognizes an outstanding graduate of CBCA’s Leadership Arts program who has made/continues to make an impact on arts and culture in Colorado.

• Bala Thiagarajan, PhD, Artist and Founder of Colorado South Asian Artists Group, fostered community and inclusion within her Leadership Arts 2023-2024 cohort and beyond. Bala launched Colorado South Asian Artists Group in 2025, a collective of multidisciplinary artists with ancestral ties to South Asia, which hosted an acclaimed group show, supported the Governor’s first Diwali celebration, and has four exhibits planned for 2026.

2026 Volunteer Attorney Impact Award

The Volunteer Attorney Impact Award recognizes an outstanding attorney who has provided pro bono legal services to Colorado creatives and advanced CBCA’s Colorado Attorneys for the Arts (CAFTA) program.

• Morgan English, Attorney and Founder of MAE’s Gallery and Law Firm, has been an active volunteer with CAFTA since 2022. A talented visual artist, as well, Morgan combines art and law through events at her studio in the RiNo Art District, speaking on panels about A.I. and copyright, and providing pro bono legal representation and education through CAFTA and beyond.

2026 John Madden, Jr. Leadership Award

Named for CBCA’s founding chairman, the John Madden, Jr. Leadership Award recognizes a lifetime of extraordinary leadership and a legacy of support for the arts.

• Dan Caruso, Managing Director of Caruso Ventures in Boulder, exemplifies how business can be a catalyst for creativity, innovation, and community vitality. Through meaningful partnerships with initiatives like the Roots Music Festival and Sundance Film Festival, he is championing a vision that links Colorado’s entrepreneurial drive with its artistic spirit—advancing our state’s standing as a national hub for both.

The 2026 Arts & Business Partnership Award honorees, Next Wave Leadership Award, Cultural Leadership Award and John Madden, Jr. Leadership Award were selected by an independent panel of judges. The Volunteer Attorney Impact Award was selected by the CAFTA Advisory Committee.

CBCA thanks our generous sponsors who make the 2026 Business for the Arts Awards possible. The 2026 awards luncheon is generously supported by Metropolitan State University of Denver, U.S. Bank, Anythink Libraries, PNC Bank, FBT Gibbons, and East West Partners. In-kind sponsors are CBS Colorado, Philosophy Communication, Occasions Catering, The Publishing House, Black Dove Studios, Visualanties, and PBS12.