Business for the Arts Awards honorees named

DENVER —  The Colorado Business Committee for the Arts has announced 12 honorees for its 2024 Business for the Arts Awards, a statewide event honoring companies and individuals for their outstanding partnerships and engagement with the arts. 

Honorees will be celebrated at the Business for the Arts Awards luncheon, presented by Metropolitan State University Denver and U.S. Bank, on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. The event will take place in the Seawell Ballroom at Denver Center for Performing Arts. The annual event is the organization’slargest fundraiser, with 700 corporate, cultural and civic leaders in attendance, as well as statewide livestream participants. 

“The 2024 Business for the Arts Awards honorees illustrate the diverse benefits of arts and business partnerships for the broader community,” Christin Crampton Day, CBCA executive director, said in a written statement. “These cross-sector collaborations are fostering healthier communities, spurring tourism, creating jobs and advancing equity and accessibility for all.”

2024 Arts & Business Partnership Award honorees:

• Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum exhibits site-specific art installations across Denver and Colorado with unique partnerships, such as FEMA and the Frontier Drive-Inn in the San Luis Valley, plus numerous business, civic and cultural partners.
• Colorado Resiliency Arts Lab is a collaborative research initiative between Children’s Hospital Colorado, CU Anschutz Medical Campus and Lighthouse Writers Workshop to evaluate creative arts therapies to build resiliency for health care workers.
• Frasier Life Plan Community partnered with Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art to establish an extensive art program with curated exhibits and a permanent art collection to benefit their senior residents, staff and guests.
• Fuel & Iron Food Hall is a visionary culinary arts hub in Pueblo, featuring a creative restaurant incubator, apprenticeship program, commissary kitchen, workforce housing units, a visual arts gallery and dedicated public art program.
• Jubilee Roasting Co., with a mission to “create well and be good neighbors,” is dedicated to building community and supporting local creatives, including offering artist studio spaces in their main location in Aurora.
• Klein Makerspace, based in La Junta, is fostering creativity and innovation for the betterment of their entire community through education, tourism, economic development, inspiration and local pride.
• The Aurora Highlands is a new master-planned community going above and beyond to integrate a substantial, meaningful and accessible public art program that features nationally renowned artists.
• The Underground Music Showcase is a three-day music festival in Denver that is strengthening the music sector through thriving wages, mental health, accessibility, career development and harm reduction programs.

MSU Denver Next Wave Leadership Award:

• Clelyn Chapin, artistic director, Denver Women’s Chorus  under the Rocky Mountain Arts Association and affiliated with the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, has stewarded impactful collaborations with nonprofits and businesses whose values align with DWC’s mission to promote social change through music.

U.S. Bank Cultural Leadership Award:

• Donald Rossa, owner, DazzleJazz Inc. has supported an inclusive local music scene for over 25 years. A 2015 Leadership Arts alum, Donald facilitated vital resources for struggling musicians during the pandemic, such as transforming Dazzle into a food pantry and a livestreaming venue. 

Volunteer Attorney Impact Award:

• Liz Hartsel, partner, Fortis Law Partners LLC, leverages her employment law practice to provide legal assistance to CAFTA clients and recruits her Fortis colleagues to get involved. She is also active in Colorado Symphony’s Crescendo Society, a 2016 graduate of Leadership Arts and a former CBCA board member. 

John Madden, Jr. Leadership Award:

• Jandel Allen-Davis, CEO and president, Craig Hospital, has infused creativity into every aspect of her life as a physician, healthcare executive, board member, philanthropist and renowned fiber artist. Jandel has stitched a professional and artistic legacy guided by equity and community service.

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