October is Arts Month in Colorado Springs. For the past 11 years, Arts Month has encouraged us to broaden our horizons by experiencing and celebrating local arts. The annual initiative is the largest collective celebration of the arts in Colorado Springs and other cities across the U.S. And while the Springs’ arts scene is always vibrant, the October calendar overflows with creative entertainment.
Arts Month is always about discovering something new. The goal is to have at least one new cultural experience with family or friends. But this year, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region sees an even deeper need — and possibility. The team is encouraging the community to Unite Your World with the Arts and to experience the arts as a connective experience.
“We knew this October landed right before a very divisive national election,” says Dylan Craddock, program manager at the Cultural Office. “Instead of ignoring what’s going on, we wanted to lean in and demonstrate the arts are a community health and social cohesion tool we can use to combat the crisis of division in our country at a local scale. We are not asking anyone to abandon their personal beliefs, but instead to try out an arts experience this October and see what they learn from it.”
Craddock points to research from Americans for the Arts that shows a correlation between arts engagement and civic engagement. The arts are a driver in community participation, social trust, higher livability scores, increased volunteerism and tolerance, which all lead to greater involvement with local issues that promote community health, according to Americans for the Arts. So when you engage with arts and culture, Craddock says, you are contributing to safer, more connected communities.
So how can people unite through the arts?
“Uniting is simpler than we think,” Craddock says. “You can do this by trying out a new arts activity, visiting a museum or gallery, seeing a live show, trying a new cuisine, or wandering around our local creative districts. All of these are community-based experiences that will teach you about your town in new and exciting ways.”
It also may lead to learning something new about yourself and your neighbors.
The Four Weeks of Arts Month
By coordinating the focus on the arts all month long, Arts Month makes it easy to find and engage with a cultural experience across all sorts of interests. But each week has a theme. Events and performances aren’t restricted to weekly timeframes, but the themes help many organizations to plan and coordinate. And they help audiences to plan and participate.
The weekly themes are as follows, and the links will take you to event calendars for each week. You can also find opportunities to enjoy cultural events in our 5 Best Things to Do This Weekend articles, as well as our Featured Events page, powered by the Cultural Office’s Peak Radar.
Week 1: Visual & Culinary Arts
Week 2: Theater & Film
Week 3: Poetry, Prose & Comedy
Week 4: Music & Dance
Tap Into Your Own Creativity
Not all cultural experiences mean sitting in the audience. Arts October can be a perfect time to try out a new way to make something. That might mean a cooking class at the French Kitchen. Or joining an art class at the Fine Arts Center’s Bemis School of Art or Cottonwood Center for the Arts. Or making crafts at Color Me Mine or Painting With a Twist. Those types of classes and no-pressure DIY workshops are great for date night, family fun or girls night out.
Arts Month Is Only the Beginning
Arts Month is a great opportunity to discover something new, but it’s meant to be an introduction. “I hope that people discover just how many experiences you can have across the arts community not only during October, but all year round,” Craddock says. “Arts Month is when we proudly and loudly shout about our creative community, but that work goes on all year round to connect people to meaningful experiences. The Pikes Peak region is full of creative endeavors, you just have to go out there and find them.”
When you do, one easy way to continue your cultural engagement is to buy season tickets or a membership to a local arts organization. Most groups, such as the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Theatreworks, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College and the Millibo Art Theatre, offer a variety of ticket packages and memberships to meet every budget. And your support keeps the arts — and Colorado Springs — strong and thriving.
