25 Grants Awarded Across 13 Colorado Counties
DENVER — The Colorado Creative Industries (CCI) Division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced today 25 artists and arts organizations across Colorado that have been awarded Folk and Traditional Arts Project Grants. From Alamosa to Grand and Montezuma to Pueblo counties, these grants will help preserve, celebrate and document local artistic traditions and the heritage of Colorado’s unique communities.
“Colorado’s vibrant cultural tapestry is also a powerful driver of economic vitality, and the recipients of this year’s Folk and Traditional Arts Project Grants embody that connection,” said OEDIT Executive Director, Eve Lieberman. “By supporting these vital traditions, we not only preserve our state’s rich heritage, but also strengthen the creative industries that fuel local economies and draw visitors to our great state.”
The Folk and Traditional Arts Project Grants seek to enhance community well-being, cultural identity, economic vitality, and sense of place across Colorado. Funds will support the creation, presentation, or teaching of folk and traditional arts, and/or the documentation of folk or traditional arts and cultural heritage through community archiving, oral histories, photojournalism, video or other creative works.
Among the recipients, Hmong American Association of Colorado’s (HMAAC) Hmong Dance Academy will teach traditional Hmong dance to youth ages six to 18 in Adams County. A project from the Center of Southwest Studies in La Plata County will showcase rare and uncommon techniques in Diné (Navajo) weaving practice at the center’s textile exhibition, “Beyond the Fringe: Navajo Textiles that Disrupt” curated by Diné weaver and educator Venancio Aragon. In Denver County, the Askkanwii Filmmaking Hub will create a documentary short film highlighting traditional arts within Colorado’s Cameroonian community including music, dance, textile weaving, and oral storytelling. Finally, Grand Lake Creative District will host workshops focused on Western leather trades including tooling and wallet making. As part of the grant’s preservation efforts, all funded projects will be archived in the State Archives and made accessible to the public through History Colorado.
“Folk and traditional arts are the conduit to the history and cultural identity of Colorado's diverse communities. We are honored to support the artists and organizations who uphold their communities' traditions and contribute to making art accessible to all,” said CCI Director, Josh Blanchard.
A total of $75,000 is being awarded to 25 artists and arts organizations. Each recipient will receive $3,000. Today’s recipients include:
Adams County
- Cuerdas Y Canciones Center for Mariachi Arts and Culture - Mariachi
To develop training workshops for music educators interested in or currently running Mariachi programs.
- Hmong American Association of Colorado (HMAAC) - Hmong Dance
HMAAC’s Hmong Dance Academy will teach traditional Hmong dance to youth ages 6 to 18 in Adams County.
Alamosa County
- Alamosa Senior Citizens, Inc. - Colcha Embroidery
To support the presentation of a free Colcha embroidery workshop open to all ages in Alamosa, Colorado.
Arapahoe County
- Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA) - Film Camp Activities
Empowering youth to explore and preserve their cultural heritage through the creation of original documentaries at DAVA’s 2025 Film Camp in Downtown Aurora.
- Avante Garde - Folk and Traditional Artists
To support folk and traditional artists through storytelling, visual art, and performance-based documentation in Denver and Byers, CO.
Boulder County
- Firehouse Art Center - Mexican Artesania
Firehouse Art Center's Mexican Artesania Artist Residency within the St. Vrain Valley School District.
- Samba Colorado - Salsa Music and Dance
"Viva La Salsa!," a three-day cultural event and dance-theatre production in Boulder, celebrating Afro-Caribbean and Latinx salsa music and dance traditions.
Denver County
- In Lak'ech Denver Arts - Puppetry
“Puppets in Westwood,” In Lak’ech Denver Art’s free ten-day summer camp where fifth to 12th-graders learn puppetry and oral storytelling.
- Askkanwii Filmmaking Hub - Traditional Cameroonian Arts
Highlighting traditional arts within Colorado’s Cameroonian community including music, dance, textile weaving, and oral storytelling through a short documentary film.
- Isaac Lucero - Block Printmaking
Hands-on community block printing workshops in Denver led by artist Isaac Lucero at Hecho en Westwood, inspired by the Taller de Grafica Popular movement.
- Chicano Humanities and Arts Council (CHAC) - Chicano Arts
CHAC’s annual exhibition and workshop series focused on retablos and santos in Denver, Colorado.
- ReCreative Denver - Traditional Folk Art
Immersing community members in traditional folk-art practices, focusing on clay, weaving, and papier-mâché, through a three-month program led by resident artist Cal Duran.
- Catrinas en Mi Ciudad - Papier-Mâché
Offering free papier-mâché workshops alongside Catrinas en Mi Ciudad, an annual outdoor exhibit in Denver showcasing Día de Muertos art and traditions.
Douglas County
- Toluwanimi Obiwole - Adire
The Aso Ebi project reconnects Afro-diasporic communities with their cultural heritage through the documentation and creative archiving of the Yoruba tradition of textile-based storytelling.
- Neena Massey - Chicano Muralism
Creating a mural in Denver, led by artist David Garcia, to honor the history of Escuela Tlatelolco, Corky Gonzales, the Chicano Movement, and the Chicano community in Colorado.
Grand County
- Grand Lake Creative District - Western Leather Trades
Supporting workshops focused on Western leather trades, including a Leather Tooling Workshop and a Leather Wallet Making Workshop in Grand Lake, Colorado.
La Plata County
- Durango Cowboy Gathering - Harmonica
The Durango Cowboy Gathering's school programs provide free harmonicas and lessons to over 350 fifth-grade students in Southwest Colorado.
- Center of Southwest Studies - Diné (Navajo) Textile Weaving
Highlighting rare and uncommon techniques in Diné weaving practice in "Beyond the Fringe: Navajo Textiles that Disrupt," a textile exhibition at the Center of Southwest Studies curated by Diné weaver and educator Venancio Aragon.
Larimer County
- Arcinda - Javanese Gamelan, Dance and Puppetry
Presenting free public performances of Javanese gamelan, dance and puppetry in Denver.
Montezuma County
- Alexander Bond - Blacksmithing
For "A Community Transforming Iron, Iron Transforming a Community," a series of youth blacksmithing classes in Montezuma County, culminating in a public art installation honoring generations of local ironworkers.
Phillips County
- Phillips County Family Education Services - Spanish Folkloric Dance
Three-week summer program offering Paquimé Spanish Folkloric dance lessons and a recital for the community of Holyoke, Colorado.
Pueblo County
- April Bojorquez - Adobe earth-building technique
Building an Adobe Gateway for Desert ArtLAB’s indigenous ecological land art installation in Pueblo, Colorado, to preserve indigenous and Chicanx dryland food and cultural practice.
- Iskra Dafne Merino - Dance Folklórico
Supporting "Danza, Identidad y Comunidad: A Ballet Folklórico Experience in Pueblo", an in-school workshop designed to celebrate and preserve Mexican heritage in Pueblo, Colorado.
- Grupo Folklórico Del Pueblo - Dance Folklorico
Presenting public programming focused on the cross-cultural influences of African dance traditions on Mexican Folklorico in Pueblo, Colorado.
Summit County
- Breck Create - Mexican Folk Art
Artist Juan Fuentes and Mountain Dreamers will create a multimedia installation using wheatpasting, photography, video, found objects, and archives to share stories of migrant families who call Colorado’s mountains their home.