Skip to main content
National Endowment for the Arts logo National Endowment for the Arts logo
Search
Follow us on X Follow us on facebook Follow us on LinkedIn Apple store Follow us on instagram Follow us on youtube
Menu
  • Grants
    Grants
    • Grants for Arts Projects
    • Challenge America
    • Our Town
    • Research Awards
    • Partnership Agreement Grants
    • Creative Writing
    • Translation Projects
    • Volunteer to be an NEA Panelist
    • Manage Your Award
    • Recent Grants
  • Initiatives
    Initiatives
    • ArtsHERE
    • Arts Education Partnership
    • Blue Star Museums
    • Citizens' Institute on Rural Design
    • Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network
    • GSA's Art in Architecture
    • Independent Film & Media Arts Field-Building Initiative
    • Interagency Working Group on Arts, Health, & Civic Infrastructure
    • International
    • Mayors' Institute on City Design
    • Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge
    • National Folklife Network
    • NEA Big Read
    • NEA Research Labs
    • Poetry Out Loud
    • Save America's Treasures
    • Shakespeare in American Communities
    • Sound Health Network
    • United We Stand
  • Stories
    Stories
    • American Artscape Magazine
    • NEA Art Works Podcast
    • National Endowment for the Arts Blog
  • Impact
    Impact
    • States and Regions
    • Research
    • Accessibility
    • Arts & Artifacts Indemnity Program
    • Arts and Health
    • Arts Education
    • Convenings
    • Creative Placemaking
    • Disaster Readiness & Recovery for the Arts and Culture Sector
    • Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
    • Literary Arts
    • Media Arts
    • Native Arts and Culture
  • Honors
    Honors
    • NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships
    • National Heritage Fellowships
    • National Medal of Arts
  • News
    News
    • Press Releases
    • Upcoming Events
  • About
    About
    • National Council on the Arts
    • Leadership and Staff
    • What Is the NEA
    • Publications
    • National Endowment for the Arts on COVID-19
    • Open Government
    • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
    • Office of the Inspector General
    • Civil Rights Office
    • Appropriations History
    • Make a Donation
  1. Home
  2. Impact
  3. State Profiles

Colorado

Facts and Figures

In the past five years, the National Endowment for the Arts distributed $39,035,629 in federal funding, either directly or through state and regional partners, in Colorado.

In the most recent information (2023) from the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA), which is produced jointly by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Office of Research & Analysis and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Commerce Department, Colorado...

  • Added 3.7 percent or $19.7 billion to the state economy from arts and cultural production
  • Employed 121,228 workers in the arts and cultural industries, with workers earning wages and benefits totaling more than $10.5 billion

Nearly 40 percent of Colorado’s adults attended live music, theater, or dance performances, while more than 25 percent attended art exhibits, according to the 2022 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau.

In addition to offering direct grants, the NEA supports national initiatives benefiting people across the country. Over the last five years:

The Blue Star Museums program provided free admission to thousands of active military personnel and their families at 94 participating museums in Colorado.

More than 2,529 students from 66 high schools in Colorado participated in Poetry Out Loud.

The NEA Big Read program generated community events focused on reading outstanding American literature and involving more than 88,222 adults and students in Colorado.

The Shakespeare in American Communities program in Colorado enabled schools to offer 8,206 children the opportunity to see live professional performances of Shakespeare, or to engage in educational programs.


Colorado Fact Sheet

On this page, find information on the arts and culture for Colorado, and how the National Endowment for the Arts has supported the arts in communities throughout the state. 

To find a list of grants awarded by the agency to Colorado, go to our Recent Grant Search. 

State Highlights

A group of bedraggled children perform as orphans in a production of Annie
Art Talk with Phamaly Theatre Artistic Director Regan Linton
Oct 24, 2018
We talked with Regan Linton, artistic director of Denver's Phamaly Theatre, which exclusively casts performers with physical, emotional, cognitive, and intellectual disabilities.
Read Blog
a group of students sitting at a long table making postcards
Grant Spotlight: Adams State University Social Practice Residency
Mar 27, 2019
Adams State University (ASU) is located in Alamosa, Colorado, and with the help of Challenge America funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the university is expanding that program to include social practice artists working in theater, music, or the visual arts.
Read Blog
Portrait of woman in black feathery hat and dress.
Dianne Reeves
2018
2018 NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves can effortlessly sing in whatever style she wants with her far-reaching range, whether it’s rhythm-and-blues, gospel, Latin or pop. But jazz always was—and continues to be—her musical foundation.
Go to profile

State & Regional Contacts

Colorado Creative Industries 
1600 Broadway, #2500
Denver, CO 80202
303/892-3802
coloarts@state.co.us

Creative West (Regional Arts Organization)
1743 Wazee Street, suite 300
Denver, CO 80202
303/629-1166
wearecreativewest.org 

Stay Connected to the National Endowment for the Arts

Sign up for our newsletters and magazine
Newsletter Signup Magazine Signup
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Civil Rights
  • FOIA
  • No Fear Act
  • Inspector General
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimers
  • Open Government
  • USA.gov
  • Section 508 Accessibility
  • Scam Regarding NEA Grants
400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20506
202.682.5400
Follow us on X Follow us on facebook Follow us on LinkedIn Apple store Follow us on instagram Follow us on youtube