2026 Business for the Arts Awards Luncheon

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 are on sale now!

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.

Agenda

• 10:30 am VIP Reception (Invite-only)
• 11:00 am Networking Reception
• 11:45 am Luncheon program begins
• 1:30 pm Luncheon program concludes

There is still time to secure ad space in the 2026 Awards Luncheon program book. Contact Sarah Braverman at sbraverman@cbca.org for more information.

2026 Business for the Arts Awards Honorees

2026 Arts & Business Partnership Awards

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 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 design and its power to support community through culture and 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.

2026 Business for the Arts Awards Judges

• Luella Chavez D’Angelo, Senior Advisor | Executive Coach, LHH
• Rebecca Givens, Partner, Frost Brown Todd
• Deborah Jordy, Strategic Advisor & Former Executive Director, Scientific & Cultural Facilities District (SCFD)
• Peggy Lyle, Director, Downtown Fort Collins Creative District
• Aikta Marcoulier, Chief Business Development Officer, Denver Economic Development Office, City of Denver
• Marcia Romero, Vice President | Community Affairs Manager, U.S. Bank
• Claire Swinford, Executive Director, Bee Vradenburg Foundation

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.