Colorado Creative Industries Summit

See the summit program or Whova app for session times and locations.

Arts Philanthropy and the Future of Colorado Creative Communities
Presenters:  David Siegel, Tariana Navas-Nieves, Ellen Sandberg, Chrissy Deal, Monique Johnson, Riley Phipps 
COVID-19 rocked creative communities across Colorado, so what comes next? This session brings artists, administrators, advocates, and funders together for facilitated conversations about the recovery of the creative sector. What role can art play as communities emerge from the pandemic? How did COVID-19 change the need for philanthropy within the creative sector? And most importantly, how must arts philanthropy evolve to meet changing needs and opportunities across the state? This session is designed as a two-way conversation between art creators and art funders to generate specific ideas for the evolution of arts philanthropy across Colorado.

Youth Led Creative Placemaking Memory Projects in Colorado
Presenters: Marissa Adela Volpe, Alejandra Cortes
History Colorado's Youth Memory Projects are youth-centered writing and storytelling programs geared towards elevating young voices within their communities and neighborhoods. These projects use community narrative, writing, storytelling, and art to create oral history projects through which the young of a community reanimate their local history. Youth serve as community historians, developing project objectives, designing oral history protocol, interviewing their community members, and creating a final project to share with the community. Join three History Colorado staff leading these efforts with case studies that highlight one Denver urban community and another San Luis Valley youth project. Learn best practices and tips for establishing your own youth memory project!

Can I Post This?: Putting Creative Content Online
Presenters: Meredith Badler and Dave Ratner
There has been a surge of virtual creative content and arts experiences being offered online. Many artists, cultural organizations and venues are finding new ways to reach audiences and participants through digital platforms.
However…do you know if you have the rights to share that creative content on that distribution platform? Do you have the rights to play that song during your online dance class? Is it OK to re-post a recording of your past live theatre performance? What are the rules to know before livestreaming that concert?
This interactive conversation is designed to answer questions and provide general guidance on putting creative content (recorded or live) on digital platforms, as well as provide some basics of copyright.

The Power of Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations
Presenters: Dagny McKinley, Jennifer Robinson, Emmanuelle Vital, Jill Bergman, Karen Foglesong
Panelists speak to a variety of cross-disciplinary collaborations and how those have helped them expand their reach within their communities, create fully immersive experiences and bring together creative communities throughout Colorado.

Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp Tour
Over a hundred years ago, two ladies came to the frontier mountain town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. They arrived as debutantes but quickly became pioneers and visionaries, letting nature inspire art. Although the town was populated with people primarily engaged in mining and ranching, it was Charlotte Perry and Portia Mansfield’s dream to explore art, dance and theater in the great out-of-doors.  Quickly regarded by the locals as the “mad ladies of Steamboat,” Charlotte and Portia founded Perry Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp in this spectacular mountain setting – a 76-acre campus 7,000 feet above sea level and 150 miles northwest of Denver.  
Today Perry-Mansfield is the oldest continuously operating performing arts school and camp in the country and attracts 250 students (ages 7 through adult professional students) from across the country, showcasing over twenty performances each summer. With the nation’s best faculty, staff and students, Perry-Mansfield is the place where innovation and imagination are expressed in theatre, musical theatre, and dance.  
Please wear comfortable walking shoes. This is a camp setting with no paved walkways. 

Chamber Champions: Best Practices for SmART Partnerships
Organizer: Christin Crampton Day
Presenters: Andrea Stewart, Mitzi Schindler, Betse Grassby, Deborah Malden, David Holland
As the arts and creative sector focuses on recovery and building back stronger in Colorado, it's more essential than ever to develop and strengthen stakeholder relationships and elevate and align strategic partnership opportunities. Where do arts and business intersect and share common goals in your community's economic recovery? Learn how to leverage local Chambers of Commerce as vital partners and advocates for the arts. Hear from Chambers and arts leaders from rural and urban communities in the state about high impact partnerships with win-win outcomes.

Arts in Society: Healing in Extraordinary Times
Organizer: Lares Feliciano
Presenters: Tony Diego, Kim Keith, Tara Rynders
Founded in 2017, Arts in Society is a collaborative grant-making program that fosters cross-sector work through the arts by supporting the integration of arts and culture into multiple disciplines critical to the health and well-being of Coloradans. In 2020, Arts in Society grantees across Colorado were faced with the sudden challenge of a pandemic reality filled with new and urgent needs in their communities. These Colorado artists, educators, organizations, and leaders immediately shifted their programs to meet those needs. Join us for a panel discussion with Arts in Society grantees and hear about their challenges and successes throughout the pandemic.

The Lost Year: Reinventing and Rebuilding Live Music in Colorado and Beyond
Presenters: Lisa Gedgaudus, Andres Cladera, Chris Zacher, Miguel Aviña, Bri Long, Nikki Swarn
The global music industry is worth over $50 billion, with live music performances making up over 50%. Colorado’s music industry is responsible for over 16,000 jobs and $1.4 billion in revenue. The “Live Events” industry subsector represents $489.8 million in revenue and 4,649 jobs. After the pandemic led to the collapse of live music performances, we now have new protocols, innovations, and transformations in how music is working to recover and prevail. This session will explore topics including best practices for reopening live music safely, negotiating with artists and transforming tours, what future audiences want, bringing the gig economy back, and potential long-lasting changes. We'll take a closer look at what recovery looks like, despite continued uncertainty, and focus on the new future for music.

Leaning into Inclusion: Using Art and Cultural Engagement to Make and Impact
Presenters: Rachel Hanson and Madi Vargas
This session will be a case study. Learning by example and sharing our story, we will dive deep into the journey and development of an historical exhibit, which examines a snapshot of racism and a fight for civil rights within small town Colorado of 1935. The exhibit, “Racism and Discrimination at the Lafayette Swimming Pool, 1935,” was on display during the summer of 2020 at The Collective Community Arts Center.
The session will look at how civic agencies can move from looking at issues of diversity to incorporating inclusion by way of developing trust, giving voice to underserved populations, and facing demons from the past. We will share what we have done to grow, the pitfalls that we faced, and results of the exhibit.

West Side Creatives – Studio Tours and Demos 
Location: See map included in your summit bag for locations and addresses
The West Side Creatives Tour is a free self-guided tour of local artist studios, creative businesses, and breweries, which aims to display and demystify the creative process to the Steamboat Springs community and visitors. Through demos and educational displays in businesses and artist studios, visitors will meet the creators personally, see and purchase original artwork, and learn about how and where our community creates ceramics, fine art prints, framing, glass and stone, silk screen prints, hand crafted knives, sustainable carved wood goods, graphic design, signage, beer, graphite art, photography, painting, sculpture, and more! 
Details: There will be 10-12 different studios participating in the tour within a 1 1/2 mile closed loop off the main road just north of downtown. Attendees are welcome to drive or walk the loop. Limited shuttle service will be available. Sign up at the Depot Arts Center in advance. 

Creative Aging: Complex not Complicated
Presenters: Jason Diminich and Damon McLeese
Creative Aging is a national movement to advance understanding of the vital relationship between creative expression and healthy aging, and a term used to encompass the many types of quality arts programs that support and enrich the lives of adults across the aging spectrum. This session will focus on the role of the arts in conscious aging and will provide both a theoretical and hands-on approach to implementing and sustaining high-quality arts programming in a variety of settings serving older adults.

Arts and the Rural West - Regional Trends and Colorado Leadership
Presenters: David Holland, Richard Saxton, Mandy Ritter, Audrey Sayles, Staci Beauford
Rural arts is an area of renewed focus for arts funders and policymakers across the country. WESTAF is facilitating new networks to better connect rural advocates in the West with this advancing national agenda. Colorado has become a leader nationally in developing new initiatives that integrate the arts into rural economic and community development strategies. This session will present trends and case studies in rural arts from across the region and explore the ways in which art is supporting economic opportunity and community wellbeing in Colorado's rural communities.

Making the Leap from Gallery Artist to Public Artist, What You Need to Know
Presenters: Brendan Picker, Jeanne Quinn
This presentation will cover the steps in applying for a public art project, including preparing a statement and choosing images of past work. We will also discuss how to create a winning proposal once you have been selected as a finalist for a public art project, including the do’s and don'ts of presenting in front of a public art selection panel. Lastly, we will touch on the project management side of the process, once you have been selected for a commission. Artists who have never received a public art commission, but are interested in the process, are encouraged to attend.

Collective Care: Holding Fatigue, Grief, and Joy Through the Arts
Presenters: Tara Rynders
Join nurse, dancer, and creative caregiver Tara Rynders as she guides you through an interactive, multimedia experience of the art and science of caring for others and yourself. As a truth-teller and disrupter, Rynders embraces vulnerability, confession, grief and failure as means to end burnout and its detrimental effects which acutely impacts our patients of color. Drawing from her experience creating theatrical performances in hospital settings and intimate arts and play-based workshops for nurses, Rynders harnesses her passion for nursing and the arts to collectively honor our shared humanity by creating a culture of caregiving nested in self-compassion, curiosity, creativity, and joy. This presentation is an immersive invitation to care for oneself through truth-telling, self-compassion, creative expression, and ultimately, the freedom to celebrate pleasure.

Iconic Steamboat Springs Walking Tour
Presented by Tread of Pioneers Museum and Steamboat Creates, this easy stroll through local history highlights the historic buildings and development of downtown Steamboat Springs and unveils the stories of the town's founding and early settlers. Start at the Tread of Pioneers Museum, 800 Oak St. 

Future Gazing: Radical Imagination, Accountability, and the Future
Presenters: Bobby LeFebre
Join us as we play a conversation game (centering radical imagination), and consider, dream, and posit better futures.

Music and Youth Resilience
Presenters: Riley Phipps, Mary Claxton, Erick Ocampo, Whitney Bakarich 
Meaningful opportunities for musical expression and connection are vital to the emotional and social health of young people: particularly those from traditionally marginalized communities. During the pandemic, new music programs and strategies among classroom teachers, working musicians, and community service providers were developed to meet students’ needs. In this session, participants will learn about this work and hear about the successes, challenges, and next steps in ensuring all students in Colorado have access to inclusive and culturally responsive music instruction. Session attendees can also expect to learn more about Take Note Colorado and its responsive grant program. And, of course, there will be music!

NEA Research Projects: US Art and Design Market
Presenters: Jeffrey Taylor
Art markets, i.e. the commercial exchange of ownership in art and design goods, have been historically difficult to measure. This ground-breaking report by the M.A. in Gallery and Museum Management program at Western Colorado University has been funded by a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Research: Art Works grant, and makes use of US government labor and tax statistics to measure the occupations and industries of the art market. This session will be the first public presentation of the findings.

Relevance in the Arts: Art and Activism
Presenters: Juliette Leon Bartsch, Adrian H Molina, Leah Brenner Clack, Danielle SeeWalker
Since 2017, Boulder County Arts Leadership Forum (BCALF) has presented panels on “Relevance in the Arts” featuring arts professionals from across the Front Range. As a follow-up to those panels and in partnership with Street Wise Boulder, we are embarking on an exploration of the intersection of art and activism with local artists and activists. Each panelist will present their work, followed by a moderated discussion and time for audience questions. The panelists will address resilience, recovery, wellness, and healing.

Creating New Flows: Art + Science + Action in Colorado
Presenters: Emmanuelle Vital, Celeste Moreno, Lisa Schwartz
Learn about art + science integration frameworks that grow inclusive, sustained community engagement and action on critical environmental and social issues. Artists and scientists from CU Boulder and Colorado communities will engage participants with methods for developing exhibitions and events, including visual arts and Virtual Reality, theatre, creative computing, and more. We will focus on natural resources, from water to space, as connective elements among all Coloradans and ways we can address local and regional, social and scientific issues through the arts. Interactive examples drawn from the projects of our inaugural Art + Science + Action community artists and CU Boulder scientist cohorts will support participants in brainstorming and forging new connections. This workshop is organized by the CU Boulder Office for Outreach and Engagement.

Making In Colorado: A Data Perspective from Makerspaces
Presenters: Jeanette Breton
Making in Colorado is an evergreen, changing landscape as both spaces and makers evolve to their changing environments and their passions. Is data available to identify where we are as a ‘maker community’ and a ‘supporting ecosystem’?

Historic Preservation Through Creative Expression
Presenters: John Lanterman and Chula Beauregard
Two artists and one history museum partner capture the history and heritage of Northwest CO in unique and compelling ways. Both artists bring a new awareness to historic preservation and the rapidly changing landscapes through their artistic medium. The Tread of Pioneers Museum is devoted to preserving and celebrating the history and heritage of the region, and seeks new opportunities to create partnership and inspire stewardship.

The summit is an annual opportunity for experienced creatives and emerging leaders to sit side-by-side, learn from each other, and improve Colorado’s statewide creative community.

Platinum Sponsor – $5,000

As a platinum sponsor, you will receive:

• 5 conference registrations
• 1 vendor table
• the opportunity to contribute marketing materials to welcome bags and vendor tables
• name and linked logo recognition as a Platinum sponsor in the event program, website, on-site signage
• reserved seating at the head table during large group events/meals and Governor’s Awards

Gold Sponsor – $2,500

As a gold sponsor, you will receive:

• 3 conference registrations
• 1 vendor table
• the opportunity to contribute marketing materials to welcome bags and vendor tables
• name and linked logo recognition as a Gold sponsor in the event program, website, onsite signage, and individually with a selected sponsorship option
• reserved seating at the head table during large group events/meals and Governor’s Awards

Silver Sponsor – $1,500

As a silver sponsor, you will receive:

• 2 conference registrations
• the opportunity to contribute marketing materials to welcome bags and vendor tables
• name and linked logo recognition as a Silver sponsor in the event program, website, onsite signage, and individually with a selected sponsorship option

Bronze Sponsor – $750

As a bronze sponsor, you will receive:

• 1 conference registration
• the opportunity to contribute marketing materials to welcome bags and vendor tables
• name and linked logo recognition as a lunch sponsor in the event program, website, and on-site signage
• the option to work with CCI to develop and facilitate lunch breakout session content or the option to have CCI develop and facilitate the content on behalf of the sponsor 

2021 - Steamboat Springs Creative District (PDF)
2019 – Salida SteamPlant Event Center and Creative District (PDF)
2018 – Greeley Creative District (PDF)
2017 – Breckenridge Creative District (PDF)
2016 – Carbondale Creative District (PDF)
2015 – Fort Collins Creative District (PDF)
2014 – Salida Creative District (video)