28
Apr
2025
Governor's Creative Leadership Awards
Program Summary
The Governor's Creative Leadership Awards recognize individuals that have demonstrated significant support or participation in activities statewide to advance the value of the creative industries in Colorado communities. Nominations are accepted under the following categories:
- Arts and creative placemaking: Honors individuals who use the arts to envision new futures through activities such as activating a public space, animating a community, or sparking redevelopment. This category is intended to celebrate the integration of arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities.
- Arts and community action: Honors individuals who work to solve critical social or community problems, have demonstrated selfless service, and have taken action to catalyze change in their community using the arts. This category is intended to celebrate those who have created meaningful change in their communities.
- Arts and advocacy: Honors individuals who work to advance economically vibrant, healthy, and/or equitable communities by ensuring that arts, culture and the creative industries and its workforce are valued and supported through policy, research, civic and community engagement, professional services and access. This category is intended to celebrate those who are working to create more equitable access to arts and culture through systematic change.
Nominations for 2026 are now open and will be accepted through October 24, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.
Overview
Type: Award
For: Community members that support the creative industries
Application period: Nominations open and will be accepted through October 24, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.
OEDIT division: Colorado Creative Industries
- Nominees must be a Colorado resident.
- Nominations may be submitted by Colorado residents or a Colorado based organization or business.
- Selected awardees are invited to attend the Governor's Creative Leadership Award ceremony on June 4 or 5, 2026 in the Trinidad Creative District.
Online Nomination Submission
Nominations must be completed online, and include a nomination letter (2 page maximum), work samples, and optional support material from the nominee. We recommend that you keep a copy of your nomination for your records. Please review the 2026 Governor's Creative Leadership Awards Nomination Guidelines program guidelines (Google Doc) prior to submitting.
Written Nomination
The nomination shall be made in a letter (not to exceed two typed pages in a Microsoft Word document) describing the unique way the nominee has demonstrated a significant commitment to Colorado's creative landscape through civic leadership and volunteerism including advocacy, vision, collaboration, or innovation in one of the categories described above. Be sure to briefly address your relationship with the nominee.
Work Samples
You must provide work samples that demonstrate the excellence and impact of the nominee's work. Work samples may include press clippings, photos, video or audio samples, letters of support, or printed programs. You are limited to 3 items. An "item" may be an audio file, video file, a single web link, a PDF, a Word document, an Excel document. All of the items must be uploaded into the 2026 Governor's Creative Leadership Awards Nomination Form.
Optional Nominee Support Material
Nominators have the option to include one letter or work sample directly from the nominee in support of their nomination. While this is optional, it provides the nominee the opportunity to directly share any information regarding their work with the selection committee. The support material should follow the guidelines of the nomination letter and work sample:
Limit work sample upload formats to Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Adobe PDF, mp4, mp3 or .jpg with a maximum file size for each item of 1 GB (gigabytes).
If you have an existing audio or video file online (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo or SoundCloud), hyper-linking to the website might be more convenient than uploading into your application. Please label uploaded files in the following format:
- nomineefirstname_nomineelastname_sample1.filetype
- A letter from the nominee should be no longer than 2 pages.
Nomination Checklist
- Completed online nomination letter (maximum of 2 pages)
- Work Samples (up to 3 items)
- Optional Nominee Support Material
Submit your nomination through the 2025 Governor's Creative Leadership Awards Nomination Form.
After the October 24, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. deadline, a selection committee will review materials based on the review criteria and select a list of finalists to be submitted to Governor Polis, who will make the final award selection in each award category. All applicants will be notified via email of results.
The winners will be announced during the Governor's Creative Leadership Awards ceremony at the CCI Summit June 4-5, 2026 in the Trinidad Creative District.
Each year, Colorado Creative Industries commissions four original artworks to serve as the awards presented to the Governor’s Creative Leadership Honorees during the ceremony at the annual CCI Summit. Three awards are presented to the individual award winners. The fourth award becomes part of Colorado’s permanent Governor’s Creative Leadership Award collection.
The call for the awards artist is open to residents of the county in which the CCI Summit takes place that year. The 2026 call is currently open to artists located in Las Animas County and will close on September 12, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.
Interested applicants should read the 2026 Governor's Award Artist Call for Entry Guidelines and apply through the Governor's Creative Leadership Awards Artwork 2026 Form.
2025 Awardees
Dana Valdez Maestas - Arts and Community Action Award
Andrew Sanchez - Arts and Advocacy Award
Cindy and David Starr - Arts and Creative Placemaking Award
2024 Awardees
Grace Gillette - Arts and Advocacy
Tom Shepard - Arts and Community Action Award
Cynthia Ramu - Arts and Creative Placemaking Award
2023 Awardees
Andrea Rabold - Arts and Social Change
Michael Paglia - Arts and Creative Placemaking
Ed Dwight - Lifetime Achievement
Ann Lukacs - Arts and Community Action Award
2021 Awardees
Mary Hockenbery
Kennedy Pugh
Chrissy Deal
2019 Awardees
Amy Kimberly
Evan Weissman
Tony Garcia
2018 Awardees
Rodney Wood
Armando Silva
Wayne Gilbert
2017 Awardees
Damon McLeese
Maryo Ewell
Aaron Abeyta
2016 Awardees
Maureen Hearty
Francisco Nevarez Burgueno
Tim Schultz
2015 Awardees
Jessica Cooney
Lissette Riviere
Don Richmond
2014 Awardees
Dean Coombs
Curt Bean
Walt Pourier
Program Manager
