Colorado Gives Day can be stressful for people who want to lend a hand to charity as the year comes to a close. And the problem isn’t deciding how much you might donate to the annual fund drive for regional nonprofits — your accountant can help you work that out so you get the biggest deduction possible on your tax return.
The difficulty comes in deciding who should get your money. Should it go to a nonprofit that looks after health care for kids, or another that finds shelter for the homeless? Do you want to boost a museum that sponsors after-school programs, or a hard-working orchestra or theater company that entertains the masses on the slimmest of budgets?
Because I write about culture, I get a close-up look at many of the things that go on in the city’s art, music, stage and design scene. Every year I try to point out nonprofits in that area that people might not automatically think of when it’s time to write that check. I look for groups that are new and unknown, or that are just hitting their stride, or for organizations that have reached higher in the past year to make Denver a more interesting place to live.
Mostly, I look for potential: What groups are on the cusp of doing really important work and might succeed best if they just had a little more help?
Here are a few options for this Dec. 5.
BuCu West
BuCu West might be an unusual choice for folks looking to support art-related causes. It’s a nonprofit development association working on social and economic prosperity along Morrison Road in and around the Westwood neighborhood. But Westwood is Denver’s next target for gentrification and a chance for the city, finally, to get its inevitable urban renewal right. BuCu recognizes and supports “artists” broadly defined — people who make arts and crafts, but also stylists, chefs and other creative types — from a business angle, helping them find space, prosper and stay in the neighborhood. It recognizes that culture and commerce operate together to make a place livable, and that it is just as important to paint murals and plant trees as it is to lure investment in housing and office space. Info: bucuwest.com.
ArtHyve
ArtHyve is a new organization with an ambitious goal: “to celebrate, preserve and document” the creative output of artists across all disciplines in Denver and Colorado. This is a crucial effort right now because the region is flourishing. Painters, poets and musicians are making top-level work, and much of it will be lost unless it is documented and archived. ArtHyve puts on exhibits and public programs, but its real potential lies in the assistance it gives artists in navigating the digital tools they need to preserve their work for the future. ArtHyve takes creativity in Denver seriously; it doesn’t just put us on the map, it also places us into the history books. At least, that’s its potential. Info: arthyve.org.
Art from Ashes
Art from Ashes helps young people in the community who need it the most — kids traumatized by neglect, poverty and abuse. Using artful devices like poetry, drawing and performance, the group goes where its services are needed the most, into detention centers, schools and other places, encouraging self-expression, personal progress and goal-setting. Art form Ashes is lean, relentless and ambitious in its work, and this year it brought the right kind of attention to Denver, winning a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Info: artfromashes.org.
The Kirkland Museum
The Kirkland is one of Denver’s most fascinating — and overlooked — places, even though its collection of paintings and decorative objects is international-class. That will change in March when it opens its new headquarters in the Golden Triangle, just a few steps away from the Denver Art Museum and the Clyfford Still Museum. This is a major move for a cultural institution that has long flown under the radar and a huge uplift for Denver, which will benefit not just from a new museum, but also from the attention and tourism the new Kirkland will inspire. The Kirkland is giving big-time to the city and deserves a little give-back. Info: kirklandmuseum.org.
Denver Architectural Foundation
Denver is experiencing the biggest economic boom in its history, and the city — block-by-block, neighborhood-by-neighborhood — is being bulldozed and born again. The Denver Architectural Foundation is in a key position to be the conscience of all that construction. Its programs, in public schools and, most notably, the annual Doors Open Denver weekend, remind residents that there are architectural jewels all around us, and that serves as a call to preserve the best buildings we have. If Denver is to grow as a design-forward city (and that has, too often, not been the case) education is key. Developers need to be reminded that what they build impacts us all, now and into the future.Info: denverarchitecture.org.
Newman Center Presents
The Newman Center is anything but an obvious target for your giving, despite the fact that it fills an important hole in the city’s cultural scene by presenting dance troupes, music ensembles and jazz artists from around the globe. If the Newman Center wasn’t in business, Denver would simply miss out on seeing some of the most important artists living today. Because the Newman Center is part of the University of Denver, and works closely with students, people assume it has all the assistance it needs. But Newman Center Presents is an independent operator, and the outside help it gets from patrons keeps it moving forward and expanding its repertoire, as it did this year by adding more quality programming for kids. Info: newmancenterpresents.com.
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