Denver's Cultural Commitment | Denver Arts & Venues

DENVER CREATES: A COLLECTIVE COMMITMENT TO THE ARTS

DENVER CREATES: A Collective Commitment to the Arts is the city's roadmap for a thriving arts and culture ecosystem. Grounded in research and driven by community voices, this roadmap outlines three key commitments: broadening access, cultivating the cultural community and supporting the economic vitality of Denver’s creative sector.

Together, we’re building a city where the arts thrive and our culture flourishes.

The Guiding Vision of DENVER CREATES: To grow and strengthen Denver's arts and culture ecosystem for everyone to enjoy.

Arts, culture and creativity are integral to Denver’s identity, intentionally woven into the very fabric of our city through public art programs, cultural investments and iconic landmarks.

Read the full roadmap and learn more about DENVER CREATES.

Denver-Creates.com

The Research Process

Crafting a strategic roadmap is critical to shaping the creative future of Denver. DENVER CREATES was built on comprehensive, inclusive research and provides a framework that serves as a practical guide to strengthen and grow the city’s arts and culture ecosystem. Key steps of the research included:

Community Engagement: Over 2,500 voices were heard.
Arts and Culture Sector-Specific Research: More than 100 in-depth interviews were conducted.
Supplemental Data Analysis: Trends in participation and funding were examined.
Collaborative Planning: Advisory committees, focus groups and targeted outreach ensured representation.

Research Process

The Three Collective Commitments

DENVER CREATES consists of three commitments, bolstered by actionable strategies.

Broaden Access to Arts and Culture
Cultivate the Cultural Community
Support the Economic Vitality of Denver's Cultural Sector

Learn more about the strategies and action items under each commitment below.

The Three Commitments

DENVER CREATES Programs

DAV will support initiatives, facilitate partnerships and track sector progress, ensuring strategies remain aligned with Denver’s evolving cultural needs — ultimately helping Denver’s cultural community thrive — for good.

These programs will include:

A bi-annual summit
Conversations, talks, panels or interactive events
Impact teams
Funding
Yearly progress updates

Learn more

Join Us

DENVER CREATES is a roadmap designed to shape the future of arts and culture in our city. From artists and arts sector employees to community leaders and passionate arts supporters — each of us has something to give — and something to gain — from supporting arts and culture in Denver.

While Denver Arts & Venues (DAV) will steward DENVER CREATES and serve as a convener of the cultural sector, this is our collective invitation to co-create a city where imagination thrives, expression is everywhere and creativity belongs to us all.

Whatever role you choose to play —center stage or behind the scenes— your voice and your passion matter. Together, we can make a lasting impact.

Join Us

DENVER CREATES: Digging Into the Data

Join Denver Arts & Venues and our data partners, Corona Insights and Civic Arts, on November 19 for a deep dive into the data that informed Denver’s new cultural plan DENVER CREATES: A Collective Commitment to the Arts. We will share how Denver residents feel about arts, culture and creativity and what we heard from our arts and cultural sector when asked about their hopes, challenges and priorities.

RSVP TO ATTEND

City-Led Initiatives

Denver Arts & Venues (DAV) will launch four new programs, shaped by community-identified needs from DENVER CREATES, to maximize impact, leverage DAV resources and foster collaboration with partners and other City agencies.

Arts Complex Creates: This initiative will maximize unprogrammed time in DAV-operated venues, our rehearsal studio and the outdoor Galleria to support artists and arts groups and to sustain a thriving and inclusive cultural environment at the Arts Complex. This will include the award of annual partnerships to rehearse, perform, produce and create new work in Denver, to stimulate innovation and collaboration.
Artist as Career:
- Arts Marketplace and Pilot Artists-in-Residence Program – DAV is proposing an arts retail marketplace and a pilot program for artists-in-residence in downtown Denver, to support creative careers and to bring arts activation to downtown.
- Creative Economy Data – in partnership with state research organizations, DAV will develop market analysis and research-backed recommendations to support the private cultural sector in Denver and the wider creative economy.
Sector-Wide Strategy for Arts Amplification: With our partners, DAV will build a coalition to develop an arts and culture brand campaign, promoting the vitality, diversity and strength of Denver’s cultural organizations and our regional cultural sector. This will be an inclusive process to drive attendance for cultural organizations and boost arts-driven tourism.
Arts and Youth: DAV will fund a cross-agency collaboration to provide arts and culture engagement for youth ages 12 and up during out-of-school time in City-owned facilities.

History of Cultural Planning: IMAGINE 2020

In the Spring of 2013, Denver’s community gathered to provide a strategic vision and future platform for arts, culture and creativity in the city that became IMAGINE 2020, the first cultural plan for the city since 1989. The community-based plan reflected the vision, goals and aspirations of thousands of residents and stakeholders to help guide resources, support and direction for the future of arts and culture in Denver.

DAV and the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs have stewarded the cultural plan over the years by fostering adoption and implementation of its guiding principles, surveying the community consistently to identify growth and areas of improvement and ensuring the plan evolves as the city and the sector do.

Learn more about IMAGINE 2020

Questions?

For more information, please contact us at Denver.Creates@denvergov.org