Denver Office of Cultural Affairs announces 2010 Denver Urban Arts Fund grant recipients

The Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2010 Denver Urban Arts Fund (UAF) grants. This year, the Denver Urban Arts Fund Committee received 19 grant applications and 12 were selected to receive small grants ($500-$7,500). The grants support programs that help reclaim a graffiti hot spot and create a positive community space and/or help create and increase youth access and exposure to positive and monitored alternatives and support systems, including positive arts opportunities.

Applicants selected by the Urban Arts Fund Committee for funding in 2010 were:

* Barth Quenzer and Jeremy Ulibarri for an after-school mural club at Brown Elementary and Creative Learning Academy
* Josiah Lee Lopez for a mural project in the Westwood neighborhood
* YouthBiz and 2Kool for the creation of a year-long traveling “Create Change” mural project
* Your Name In Graffiti for a graffiti art education program at St. Charles Recreation Center
* VSA Arts of Colorado/Access Gallery for the "Street2Studio” fellowship program in the Art District on Santa Fe
* GrowHaus for the “GetFRESH” mural program in the Elyria/Swansea neighborhoods
* Cleo Parker Robinson Dance for the Green Technology Summer Institute of Service program in the Northeast Park Hill neighborhood
* Gang Rescue and Support Project (G.R.A.S.P.) for a mural in the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood
* Denver Public Library for the ”Summer Reading of Graffiti Art” project at the Valdez-Perry Branch Library
* Center for Transitional Landscapes for the “Curating Vacancy” project utilizing 10 vacant lots owned by the City
* Prodigal Son Initiative for the Holly Peace Mural Project in Northeast Park Hill
* The bARTer Collective for a mobile “Stencil Exchange Project”

The Denver Urban Arts Fund grant program began in 2009 and was a direct outgrowth of the Graffiti Task Force recommendations. These recommendations support the role of prevention as an important component—along with abatement and enforcement—of reducing graffiti vandalism in Denver. The grants awarded through the program will focus on measurable outcomes related to the prevention of graffiti vandalism and will become an ongoing project to involve artists in building strong communities.

There are no additional grant funds available for the 2010 calendar year, but to find out more about the Denver UAF policies and application procedures, click here or call 720-865-4302.