2026 Business for the Arts Awards Luncheon
Dream Create Inspire (DCI) Tour performing at 2025 Business for the Arts Awards. Image by Amanda Tipton Photography
SAVE THE DATE! CBCA’s 2026 Business for the Arts Awards luncheon will be on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 from 11:00 am – 1:30 pm at the Seawell Ballroom, Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA). Tables and tickets will go on sale in January 2026.
This annual celebration is CBCA’s largest fundraiser of the year. It honors innovative cross-sector partnerships, generous philanthropy, creative businesses, corporate engagement in the arts, and exemplary leadership across the state. The Business for the Arts Awards luncheon is the only statewide event honoring companies and individuals for their outstanding business partnerships – plus a diverse line-up of performances and creative surprises. Learn more about past award honorees and luncheons.
Sponsorships are available for the 2026 Awards Luncheon. Contact Sarah Braverman at sbraverman@cbca.org for more information.
2026 Business for the Arts Award Nominations
CBCA is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Business for the Arts Awards. Please review the full 2026 Award Categories & Criteria. The 2026 award honorees are selected by an independent judging panel. Award honorees will be notified in mid-December and will be publicly announced in late December 2025. All 2026 honorees will be recognized at CBCA’s annual Business for the Arts Awards luncheon on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
Nominations are submitted online here. Nominations are due by end-of day Monday, November 10, 2025.
2026 Arts & Business Partnership Award Nomination
The Arts & Business Partnership Award Honorees are exemplary companies that have gone above and beyond to support the arts and creative industries. Honorees embody the mutual benefits of business and arts partnerships. They make Colorado a better place to live, work, and play through innovative collaborations, arts integration into business practices, creative workplaces, economic development in the creative sector, arts advocacy, employee engagement, and/or philanthropy.
Judges will select up to 8 diverse companies as a cohort of 2026 Arts & Business Partnership Award Honorees.
Eligibility Criteria
- For-profit businesses, government agencies, educational institutions or non-artistic organizations in Colorado are eligible.
- The focus of the nomination must be outside the entity’s day-to-day business or mission.
- Arts & culture organizations are NOT eligible for this award. If a cultural organization is partnering with a business, the business should be the nominee.
- Nominee cannot be a previous winner of a CBCA Business for the Arts Award within the last five years. Past nominees and finalists are encouraged to reapply.
2026 Next Wave Leadership Award Nomination
The Next Wave Leadership Award honors emerging professionals and business leaders who are leading the future of our cultural community through their volunteerism, philanthropy, innovative cross-sector partnerships, and/or arts advocacy. These leaders are just starting out, but already making big waves!
Eligibility Criteria
- Nominee must be a Colorado resident.
- The focus of the nomination must be for activities outside their day-to-day job or business.
- Nominee must be recognized for recent work they’ve been engaged in for five years or less.
- Nominee cannot be a previous winner of a CBCA Business for the Arts Award within the last five years. Past nominees and finalists are encouraged to reapply.
- Posthumous nominations are eligible.
2026 Cultural Leadership Award Nomination
The Cultural Leadership Award recognizes an outstanding graduate of CBCA’s Leadership Arts program who has made and/or continues to make an impact on arts & culture in Colorado.
Eligibility Criteria
- Nominee must be a Colorado resident.
- Nominee must be a graduate of CBCA’s Leadership Arts program.
- Nominee cannot be a previous winner of a CBCA Business for the Arts Award within the last five years. Past nominees and finalists are encouraged to reapply.
- Posthumous nominations are eligible.
2026 John Madden, Jr. Leadership Award Nomination
Named for CBCA’s founding chairman, the John Madden, Jr. Leadership Award recognizes a business leader who has made significant contributions to advancing arts and culture in Colorado. This lifetime achievement award recognizes extraordinary leadership and a legacy of support for the arts.
Eligibility Criteria
- Nominee must be a Colorado resident.
- The focus of the nomination must be for activities outside their day-to-day job or business.
- Nominee cannot be a previous winner of a CBCA Business for the Arts Award within the last five years. Past nominees and finalists are encouraged to reapply.
- Posthumous nominations are eligible.
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. This award honoree must be a Colorado resident who has gone above and beyond to support the creative industries through CAFTA.
The Volunteer Attorney Impact Award has a closed nomination process. The honoree is selected by the CAFTA Advisory Committee based on direct engagement in CBCA’s Colorado Attorneys for the Arts program.
