Video Credit: Colorado Celebration of African American Arts and Culture. 2024. Community feedback on the 2024 Festival Theme; Rebirth.
~Values~
Building Intergenerational Connections
Safety In Cultural Expression
Creating Space for Artistic Excellence
Colorado Celebration Of African American Arts And Culture
The Colorado Celebration of African American Arts and Culture, home of the Colorado Black Arts Festival (CBAF) is steeped in mission-based work that elevates and recognizes the impact of African American arts and culture in society. The organization serves as a vessel, a powerful medium, for Black artists in the area of the visual and performing arts to share their talents through storytelling- shedding light on history, triumphs, preservation and resilience of African Americans and those of the African diaspora. The generous support from the Colorado Gives will be used to drive our mission to develop, promote and celebrate African American arts and culture in Colorado.
The mission of Colorado Celebration of African American Arts and Culture fondly known as Colorado Black Arts Festival is to seek to involve the total community in helping to establish self-reliance, believing that pride in one's culture is the foundation for long-term stability and prosperity.
Objectives:
Raise the level of appreciation for the role Black arts and culture play in the development, sustainability and mental well-being of the community.
Bring cultural awareness about the Black and African diaspora through education and programming for the community.
The Denver Black Arts Festival (DBAF) had its humble beginnings in 1986 when a small contingent of artist and art lovers felt the lack of opportunities for African American visual and performing artists in the Denver Metro area was detrimental to the survival of the artists who were compelled to do art. They felt this lack of opportunity for the artist denied the African American community the education, ideas, movement, words, voices, beauty, colors, dimensions and expressions of creativity that the arts engender, and that contribute to pride and self-esteem.
The first festival took place in August 1987. It rained the full two days of the festival when a small audience of determinedly fixed believers refused to go home. The next year the Festival moved to July not to be vulnerable to Colorado's August monsoons. In 1988, the second annual Festival drew an audience of well over 30,000. By 1990, attendance reached 60,000. In 2009, the DBAF changed its name to Colorado Celebration of African American Arts and Culture, dba Colorado Black Arts Festival, an appropriate name in light of the state-wide reach of the event. In 2016, the CBAF will celebrate 30 years of operation. The CBAF has attracted patrons and artists from around the world.
Organization name
Colorado Black Arts Festival
other names
Colorado Celebration of African American Arts and Culture, Denver Black Arts Festival and CBAF
1986
Tax id (EIN)
27-1028811
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
P.O. Box 300577Adams County, CO, US
Denver, CO, US
Aurora, CO, US
Colorado Springs, CO, US
Broomfield, CO, US