March 3, 2021

DENVER – The Newman Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) at the University of Denver received a $25,000 grant from the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation for its Community Connections Project.  This initiative aims to engage new audiences through community partnerships and strategic programming. 

Although NCPA’s core mission has remained the same, the emphasis on key programs like the Community Connections Project now heavily shape the organization’s operations. NCPA has continued to follow the direction of University of Denver’s (DU) IMPACT 2025, as well as a parallel directive in the Denver Arts & Venues Imagine 2020 plan to ‘make art unavoidable’. NCPA is focused on closing the gap between campus and community by presenting diverse performances that attract new audience members and providing community engagement programs specifically designed to reach marginalized and underserved groups.

One of the Newman Center’s central missions is to provide education and community engagement programs to learners of all ages. This includes providing hands-on programming for Denver Public Schools (DPS). This will take place through specific programming like Student Matinee performances, community workshops, post-show talkbacks, and panel discussions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the grant will also aid the implementation and expansion of virtual programming that was adopted during 2020. 

This past year, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, we provided a Musical Explorers curriculum to all Denver Public Schools (DPS) elementary schools for use in at-home remote learning. In the absence of our culminating concert, we will host a virtual engagement with a “virtual choir” style video project. We are also planning to add extra culminating concerts next year as well as expanding livestream capability of the concert to all DPS elementary students.  

“In aliance with one of Bonfils-Stanton Foundation’s overarching goals, to enrich Denver’s cultural life and landscape, NCPA will continue to serve as a community convener for cultural and social dialog addressed through artistic expression. It is critical to remain committed to elevating the arts and making it accessible to everyone in the Denver community, especially in such a challenging season,” Aisha Ahmad-Post Executive Director of the Newman Center.

About the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation

The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation strategically provides grants and fellowships to enrich Denver’s cultural landscape, and cultivate exceptional leaders. Each year the Foundation awards more than $3 million to arts organizations and nonprofit leaders who are critical to building and sustaining a vibrant community.

The Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts University of Denver
2344 East Iliff Avenue
Denver, CO 80210 

Opened in 2002, the Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Denver is a multi-disciplinary arts venue that provides innovative, diverse, and thought-provoking performance and education opportunities, enabling the Denver and Colorado community to be engaged, inspired, and connected through the performing arts. The Newman Center is home to the Lamont School of Music, DU Theatre Department, the Newman Center Presents series, over 150 hosted events, and approximately 500 performances each year. More information can be found online and on Facebook.