ADVOCACY

Create Boulder actively monitors developments that influence the arts and culture landscape, advocating for policies and initiatives that foster a thriving creative community. We work to create a powerful force for change by bringing together the voices and strengths of our arts and culture community, their constituents, and other community leaders.  Create Boulder’s advocacy efforts have helped restore City of Boulder support for arts grants at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, led to allocations of a portion of the City’s federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to support recovery in Boulder’s arts and culture sector, and culminated in successful passage of Ballot Measure 2A in November 2023.  

2023 City of Boulder Ballot Measure 2A – Dedicated Long-Term Sales Tax Funding for Arts, Culture and Heritage

Ballot Measure 2A was a once-in-a-generation opportunity initiated and led by Create Boulder to secure long term dedicated funding for Boulder’s arts and culture ecosystem and improve the lives of Boulder residents.  It was overwhelmingly supported at the ballot box in November 2023 by 75% of City of Boulder voters. 

The 20-year, 0.15% sales tax extension will allocate 50% of the tax collections to arts, culture, and heritage and 50% to the City’s general fund. Starting in 2025, this tax is expected to provide $3.8 million of dedicated arts and culture funding annually as compared to $1.8 million in budgeted general fund arts and culture support in 2023.  It will significantly narrow and perhaps even close a gap in Boulder’s per capita support for arts and culture compared to peer cities. 

More information about Ballot Measure 2A is available here. 

FUNDING

Create Boulder currently contributes to other arts and culture grant programs to increase their giving capacity and leverage the support of our donors.  We seek a ‘seat at the table’ in the grant making decisions and encourage streamlining grant applications and reporting requirements.  This reduces the grant writing and administrative burden on grantees, allowing them to allocate more of their resources to the actual work they do on behalf of the community.  

Events, Arts & Culture Grant Program
Since 2021, Create Boulder has committed $25K a year to augment Visit Boulder’s annual Events, Arts & Culture Grants.  These grants support new and on-going events by arts and culture organizations and artists to enliven our community. Our partnership with Visit Boulder was initiated at the peak of the pandemic to mitigate funding cuts to the program and help support the arts and culture ecosystem of Boulder. More information is available here.   

PRIOR GRANT PROGRAMS

COVID-19 Arts and Culture Relief Fund
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Create Boulder joined Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, The Denver Foundation in launching the COVID-19 Arts & Culture Relief Fund to support nonprofit organizations experiencing a dramatic, unexpected loss in revenue.  Create Boulder contributed $62K -- $22K from the City of Boulder’s Office of Arts and Culture and another $40K from private donors.

Ultimately, more than $2 million was raised and distributed in two rounds (July 2020 and February 2021) to 72 organizations throughout the Metro Denver.  Eight Boulder-based arts and culture nonprofits received $288.5K of funding, a crucial lifeline that helped keep them and their workforces afloat.  More information, including an impact report, is available here. 

Creative Neighborhood COVID-19 Work Projects
In the spirit of the Work Projects Administration of the 1930’s, this program quickly delivered funding to artists whose livelihoods were threatened at the start of the pandemic.  Create Boulder provided $20K of matching funds to the City of Boulder’s Office of Arts and Culture to double the number of artists that received funding under this program.  Funds were distributed to 66 artists in April 2020 on a first-come, first-served basis. More information, including  a detailed description of projects that were made possible through this funding, is available here. 

Relief Mini-Grants
In late 2020, Create Boulder distributed almost $50K in small grants of up to $2.5K each to bolster 37 arts and culture organizations that were recipients of general operating support grants from the City and whose funding was threatened to be cut back in 2021.  The $50K was positioned as a challenge grant and helped restore another $100K of City general operating support grants at a time of looming City budget cuts that would have disproportionately impacted the arts and culture sector. 

CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Create Boulder is working with other community leaders to address critical cultural infrastructure needs in Boulder.  This effort began in late 2022, when Create Boulder convened a panel of experts to conduct a community visioning workshop (the “Boulder Arts Complex Visioning Workshop”) to help identify a vision for an arts complex that could support a wide range of needs for Boulder artists and arts and culture.  The panelists’ major near-term recommendations included creating an umbrella organization to provide leadership and other support and repurposing existing buildings to meet arts and culture needs. More information available here.