2024 Business for the Arts Awards Luncheon

Join us for the 2024 Business for the Arts Awards luncheon, presented by MSU Denver and U.S. Bank, on Tuesday, March 12 from 11:00 am – 1:30 pm at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Seawell Ballroom.

CBCA’s 2024 Business for the Arts Awards Luncheon is officially SOLD OUT. Livestream-only tickets are still available.

Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA)’s annual celebration and largest fundraiser honors innovative cross-sector partnerships, generous philanthropy, creative businesses, and stellar leadership across the state. The annual awards luncheon is the only statewide event honoring companies and individuals for their outstanding business partnerships and engagement with the arts. Read the full event press release.

2024 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.

• Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum exhibits site-specific art installations across Denver and Colorado with unique partnerships, such as FEMA and the Frontier Drive-Inn in the San Luis Valley, plus numerous business, civic and cultural partners. Watch their video!
• Colorado Resiliency Arts Lab (CORAL) is a collaborative research initiative between Children’s Hospital Colorado, CU Anschutz Medical Campus and Lighthouse Writers Workshop to evaluate creative arts therapies to build resiliency for healthcare workers. Watch their video!
• Frasier Life Plan Community partnered with Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA) to establish an extensive, high-quality art program with curated exhibits and a permanent art collection to benefit their senior residents, staff and guests. Watch their video!
• Fuel & Iron Food Hall is a visionary culinary arts hub in Pueblo, Colo., featuring a creative restaurant incubator, apprenticeship program, commissary kitchen, workforce housing units, a visual arts gallery and dedicated public art program. Watch their video!
• Jubilee Roasting Co., with a mission to “create well and be good neighbors,” is dedicated to building community and supporting local creatives, including offering artist studio spaces in their main location in Aurora. Watch their video!
• Klein Makerspace, based in La Junta, Colo., is fostering creativity and innovation for the betterment of their entire community through education, tourism, economic development, inspiration and local pride. Watch their video!
• The Aurora Highlands is a new master-planned community going above and beyond to integrate a substantial, meaningful and accessible public art program that features nationally renowned artists. Watch their video!
• The Underground Music Showcase (UMS) is a three-day music festival in Denver that is strengthening the music sector through thriving wages, mental health, accessibility, career development and harm reduction programs. Watch their video!

MSU Denver Next Wave Leadership Award

The MSU Denver Next Wave Leadership Award honors rising professionals who are leading the future of our cultural community.

• Clelyn Chapin, Artistic Director, Denver Women’s Chorus (DWC) under the Rocky Mountain Arts Association and affiliated with the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA), has stewarded impactful collaborations with nonprofits and businesses whose values align with DWC’s mission to promote social change through music. Watch her video!

U.S. Bank Cultural Leadership Award

The U.S. Bank Cultural Leadership Award recognizes an outstanding graduate of CBCA’s Leadership Arts program who has made an impact on arts and culture in Colorado.

• Donald Rossa, Owner, DazzleJazz, Inc. has supported an inclusive local music scene for over 25 years. A 2015 Leadership Arts alum, Donald facilitated vital resources for struggling musicians during the pandemic, such as transforming Dazzle into a food pantry and a livestreaming venue. Watch his video!

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.

• Liz Hartsel, Partner, Fortis Law Partners, LLC, leverages her employment law practice to provide legal assistance to CAFTA clients and recruits her Fortis colleagues to get involved. Liz is also active in Colorado Symphony’s Crescendo Society, a 2016 graduate of Leadership Arts and a former CBCA board member. Watch her video!

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.

• Jandel Allen-Davis, MD, CEO and President, Craig Hospital, has infused creativity into every aspect of her life as a physician, healthcare executive, board member, philanthropist and renowned fiber artist. Jandel has stitched a professional and artistic legacy guided by equity and community service. Watch her video!

The 2024 Arts & Business Partnership Award honorees, MSU Denver Next Wave Leadership Award, U.S. Bank Cultural Leadership Award and John Madden, Jr. Leadership Award were selected by an independent panel of judges.

• Alex-Marie Baez, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP
• Ashley Cornelius, Pikes Peak Region Poet Laureate and Co-Director, Poetry719
• Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, President and CEO, Rose Community Foundation
• Dave Goe, Community Engagement Manager, Downtown Grand Junction
• Charles Leslie, Director, Community Concert Hall, Fort Lewis College
• Curtis Robbins, Community Health & Engagement, Kaiser Permanente Colorado
• Ana Valles, Vice President of Marketing, Fitzsimons Credit Union

The Volunteer Attorney of the Year Award was selected by the CAFTA Advisory Committee.