Northglenn Arts

Northglenn, Colorado
Heather Geyer, ICMA-CM, City Manager
 

The city of Northglenn developed the “Northglenn Arts” program to provide high-quality, accessible, and diverse cultural arts programming through collaborations with arts entities, businesses, service groups, schools, and artists. The program incorporates several action items under the “Diverse Community” goal in the Northglenn strategic plan.

The vision for Northglenn Arts is to provide all members of the community access to the performing and visual arts and sciences, to promote an awareness of the arts and sciences, and to enhance the community image through the development of a cultural climate. The city offers a robust, diverse arts program through a well-developed partnership with the Northglenn Arts and Humanities Foundation (NAHF) and funding from the city.

Northglenn Arts provides residents with an opportunity to participate in cultural arts activities as performers, artists, audience members, volunteers, committee members, students, or teachers. Individuals can celebrate their own culture and learn about others in an open-minded, inviting, and experiential setting. Northglenn Arts events are consistently well-attended and generate revenue to help offset program costs.

Northglenn Arts partners with entities that are dedicated to the celebration of cultures that reflect the community’s demographic makeup. Examples include:

• Cleo Parker Robinson Dance (CPRD), which leverages the universal language of dance to honor African American heritage and explore the human condition.
• “The History of African American Music,” a presentation in partnership with the Source Theatre Company and the Colorado Black Arts Festival in celebration of Black History Month.
• Cine en el Parque (Movies in the Park), started by the founder a bi-weekly Spanish-language newspaper. The event featured a movie with Spanish subtitles, music, food vendors, and entertainers.
• Travel Films, one of the city’s longest-standing offerings, which highlights cultures around the world.
• A presentation of “Interview with a Mexican” in partnership with Su Teatro Cultural & Performing Arts Center. The show pushes boundaries in a way that results in a tremendous amount of insight and informative perspective.
• ImaginASL Performing Arts, which strives to entertain, educate, and unite the deaf and hearing worlds with theatrical experiences that integrate American Sign Language and workshops to teach both deaf and hearing actors how to work together.
• Public art installations throughout the community that represent Northglenn’s diversity; from “Bison,” a recycled steel piece that was dedicated with a sacred prayer by a local Lakota spiritual leader, to the Tunnel Mural, a 311-foot-long painted tunnel created by a young, up-and-coming street artist.
• The Healing Hoop Pow Wow, an event showcasing Native American dancers and traditional arts, crafts, and food from the Lakota Way, Shoshone, and Arapaho Nations.
• Partnerships between Northglenn Arts and Northglenn High School celebrating students’ diversity and unique talents—e.g., a “Poetry Slam” and a student photography display in city hall.

From drum circles and African drum making to Flamenco and traditional Eastern Indian dance, Northglenn Arts prides itself on providing relevant, authentic programming that speaks to and celebrates cultural differences in a way that brings people together.