CBCA’s largest annual fundraiser and celebration, the Awards luncheon honors companies and individuals for their outstanding partnerships and engagement with the arts.
ColoradoBiz Staff //March 10, 2023//
CBCA’s largest annual fundraiser and celebration, the Awards luncheon honors companies and individuals for their outstanding partnerships and engagement with the arts.
ColoradoBiz Staff //March 10, 2023//
Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) recognized 12 honorees at its 2023 Business for the Arts Awards, presented by EY and PNC Bank. This sold-out event was attended by 700 corporate, cultural and civic leaders at the Seawell Ballroom, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, as well as live streamed to attendees. CBCA’s largest annual fundraiser and celebration, the Awards luncheon is the only statewide event honoring companies and individuals for their outstanding partnerships and engagement with the arts.
Founded in 1985, CBCA has been producing this inspiring, arts-infused event for 35 years, featuring exemplary honorees and a variety of homegrown entertainers and Colorado artists. CBCA has honored over 200 companies and individuals in that time.
“It was wonderful to be back with another sold-out Awards luncheon,” said Dustin Whistler, CBCA Board Chair and Founder & Principal, Forte Commercial Real Estate. “This year’s honorees truly demonstrated the impact of CBCA’s mission and how arts and business partnerships can foster innovation, inclusion and economic growth.”
The Awards luncheon program was emceed by CBS4 Anchorman and award-winning Journalist Jim Benemann, who has emceed this event for over a decade and retires later this month. The program was punctuated with four diverse live performances featuring Colorado-based artists, sponsored by Moye White. The program kicked off with a moving performance by Denver singer, songwriter and performance artist Kayla Marque. Leela Dance Collective, an international touring dance company, performed the North Indian dance form kathak. The Boulder Bassoon Quartet showcased a range of musical genres and Wild Heart Dance closed out the event with a riveting contemporary dance piece.
Prior to the event, guests mingled at a networking reception, sponsored by Xcel Energy, featuring music from Denver-Boulder area singers and instrumentalists, Planina: Songs of Eastern Europe. Honorees and sponsors attended a VIP Reception, sponsored by Anythink Libraries, with live music from singer, songwriter and musician Casino Perosi at Prelude + Post.
The original Award Artwork presented to each honoree was commissioned from interdisciplinary artist Autumn T. Thomas, and sponsored by HealthONE. Each of the illuminated mixed media table centerpieces were crafted by the Art Students League of Denver, and sponsored by Bellco Credit Union.
The Arts & Business Partnership Award honorees are exemplary organizations that have gone above and beyond to support the arts and creative industries.
The EY Next Wave Leadership Award honors rising professionals who are leading the future of our cultural community.
The PNC Bank Cultural Leadership Award recognizes an outstanding graduate of CBCA’s Leadership Arts program who has made an impact on arts and culture in Colorado.
The Volunteer Attorney Impact Award recognizes an outstanding attorney who has provided pro bono legal services to Colorado creatives and advanced CBCA’s Colorado Attorneys for the Arts (CAFTA) program.
Named for CBCA’s founding chairman, the John Madden, Jr. Leadership Award recognizes a lifetime of extraordinary leadership and a legacy of support for the arts.
CBCA thanks our generous sponsors who make this event possible. The Business for the Arts Awards are presented by EY and PNC Bank. Generous support is also provided by HealthONE, Bellco Credit Union, Moye White, Xcel Energy and Anythink Libraries. In-kind and media partners are CBS4, ColoradoBiz Magazine, Denver Business Journal, Ligature Creative, Moxtopia, and The Publishing House.
Colorado Business Committee for the Arts (CBCA) advances Colorado’s creative economy by connecting business and the arts through arts engagement, advocacy, training, research, and volunteerism. CBCA is a 38-year-old 501c3 nonprofit membership organization of leading Colorado companies who recognize the link between cultural vitality and economic success. Learn more at www.cbca.org.