Just Wanna Have Funds: Did the Colorado Arts Relief Grant Support the Organizations it Intended?

Over 63 days, Colorado Creative Industries (CCI), created a set of criteria, launched an application, administered the selection process and allocated just under $6 million to organizations and businesses state-wide including music venues.

“We were given the charge to distribute the funding as quickly as possible,” a CCI spokesperson told BandWagon.

This hasty allocation of public funds was met with cynical speculation from independent venue owners who were not awarded money. 

Until now, the controversy over the grant has remained purely speculative. No one has pointed to specific evidence of nepotism or neglect on CCI’s part. But, thanks to the Colorado Open Records Act, BandWagon was able to obtain a copy of the scoring rubric used to evaluate grant applicants.

Arts Funding Rubric

Click HERE to read the original Bill 20B-001 And Click HERE for a complete list of which entities received funding and how much each venue

Stayin’ Alive: Unconventional Venues Save The Scene

When Ben Mozer was 14, he took a trip to Spain with his family. Across from their hotel, a theater was playing the newly released hit Pulp Fiction, which he and his brother had been unable to see in the U.S. due to its R rating. But what stuck with him after the movie was over wasn’t Samuel L. Jackson’s iconic monologue. What stuck with him was the theater. 

Earlier this winter, Mozer’s Fort Collins movie theater the Lyric was one of the only venues in Northern Colorado that was still producing live music.

And Mozer isn’t the only one finding a creative way to amplify local sounds. This winter, Dan Mladenik has tapped local talent for the Mishawaka-produced Live on the Lanes series at Chipper’s Lanes, converting a bowling alley into a cosmic live music experience.

Walking The Walk: New Greeley Murals Celebrate and Beautify the way Downtown

For her new mural on the Maddie Apartments in Downtown Greeley, Betony Coons found herself challenged with how to include Union Colony’s most famous principle: temperance. Not only is “the active moderation of libation intake” hard to paint, but ironically, one of the reasons downtown Greeley continues to thrive is the world class breweries and distilleries it inspired.

Greeley Celebrates Dia de Los Muertos

To honor the memory of their deceased loved ones, the peoples of ancient mesoamérica (e.g., the Azteca, Tolteca, and Olmeca) held elaborate festivals and processions with music, dance, food, and flowers. Today, the tradition—known as Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)—is continued by Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and the U.S. mainstream society as well. Celebrations take place on November 1st and 2nd.

Multicultural Festival Shines Light on Greeley’s Diversity

As the time goes by, the fabric of Greeley is changing. With over 65 languages spoken in Weld County’s school district alone, it is clear that our beautiful city is growing, being woven into a colorful, unique tapestry. Realizing this, community members decided it was time to celebrate this diversity on a local level and partnered with the Downtown Development Authority to create the 2017 Greeley Multicultural Festival.  

Fort Collins Is a Thriving Music Hub

Fort Collins, Colorado is a collaborative, non-competitive, startup music city without a big ego. This is a city built for musicians by musicians. For over ten years, musicians laid the groundwork for the next golden era of “musicprenuers“ by constructing an ecosystem built on encouragement, support, and empowerment. This shifts the paradigm and disrupts the music industry systems of the past.

It Takes Courage: Greeley’s Mural Scene Goes to New Heights

“Wes has been exploring courage for some time now,” Silva explained, “as far as his work goes, and it just so happens that I’ve been exploring the symbol of the heart. How it’s a thing we all have, to have life, it’s something we have reference to. We dug deeper into these two things, and we find that they actually have a common root. So we decided to go from there and grow from that.”

Aaron David Best

Over the last few years, a culture of muralists and visual artists have emerged in Northern Colorado. These artists, embraced by the local community and business owners, brought vibrancy to many of the empty walls the residents have known for so long.

New Partnership Brings New Energy Into Fort Collins Venue

Hodi’s Half Note has been a long time staple of the Northern Colorado music scene. Once known as The Starlight, it has changed hands several times over the years but it has always served as one of the best places to catch local and national music in Ft. Collins.

Book Review: Life vs. Death Revised: My Life Story, By Beef Sloan

Long Time Greeley Resident Beef Sloan is the taxi-man you call when you need to ride anywhere in town, unless you call Stacey and Sassy. A few years ago, however, we at BandWagon were introduced to him when his self-published autobiography Life vs. Death came out. Yes, you can get it on Amazon and Goodreads, but there are print copies out there, which we got our hands on. The new revision of Sloan’s book, that is.

ZZ Top - Thunder Mountain Amphitheater - Loveland

BandWagon Thoughts: A Breakdown on Booking Your Band

So you’ve written a handful of songs and your post reggae swing fusion band is ready for the next level, how do you proceed? As a witness to the lower levels of band development I have compiled a basic list of steps to get that post reggae swing fusion sound into the ears of possibly dozens of potential fans.

Lifting the World to the Highest Vibration: Mike Love At ARISE Music Festival

Hailing from the island of Oahu, Hawaii Mike Love was a powerful force at the ARISE music festival this weekend. The islander preformed top tracks from his two albums and a few from his upcoming release entitled Love Will Find A Way. This 35-year-old family man is well grounded in his life and career sharing the stage with artist such as Nahko and Medicine For the People, Jack Johnson and the John Butler Trio. His music settles between the genres of conscious roots rock reggae and his presence at Arise was befitting for a festival in which the motto was “More than a festival, it’s a movement.”

Propia Tejano música de Greeley: Poquito maz

Ganadores de la Batalla de las Bandas de Colorado del Norte y Los Campeonatos de la Feria Estatal de Colorado, Poquito Maz comparte su emocionante música tejana con sus fans y comunidad. Además de ser completamente originarios de Greeley, desde su establecimiento en 1989, han encabezado en la escena de música tejana aquí como banda tejana más larga permanecida en nuestro sector. En una entrevista con los miembros declararon que tienen grabados dos CDs de su música vieja y tres “un-released” álbumes con su sonido más reciente.

The All-American Musical That Honors Our All-America City

“Clearly there’s something happening here that is worthwhile, so let’s talk about why we like Greeley,” says Mothershed and thus emerged a production about just that–Greeley.

Repeated in a quote, this sounds unintentionally cheesy and was far from the original vision for the show Oh Greeley! An All American Musical. It seeded from an eye opening visit to Greeley’s historical museum and playful musical banter about Prohibition. Under the company and troupe of Cheaply Intellectual Theater, Mothershed, Eric Long and Shane White compiled their historical interests and gave birth to a hilariously entertaining and witty production about the town.

BandWagon Choice Awards at The Moxi Theater

This weekend marked the first annual Bandwagon People’s Choice Awards hosted at the Moxi Theater. Modeled after, you guessed it, the People’s Choice Awards, Greeley’s own music and culture magazine founded the event in order to recognize your favorite bands and the people who are transforming the Northern Colorado music scene.

© BandWagon Magazine 2024