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Arts Complex Creates 2026

Arts Complex Creates aims to expand and diversify the cultural offerings and attract broader audiences at the Denver Performing Arts Complex through partnerships and collaborations with Denver’s creative community, as well as local, regional and national artists and arts organizations.

The goals of this program are to expand cultural offerings for audiences in the Rocky Mountain region, represent and engage diverse communities, fill a programmatic gap at the Arts Complex, implement an application process that is rooted in equity and access and align with DENVER CREATES, Denver’s renewed cultural plan.

Denver Arts & Venues is excited to announce the inaugural cohort of grantees selected for the 2026 Arts Complex Creates Program!

2026 Producing Partners:

49th Denver Film Festival

Denver Film

This project supports two public screenings at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House during the 49th Denver Film Festival. These screenings bring filmmakers, on-screen talent and audiences together, featuring a red-carpet arrival, a public screening open to audiences across Denver and supplemental programs like onstage conversations and receptions, as available, that contextualize the films for audiences. With support from the Producing Partners program, DF will expand sliding-scale “Pay What You Can” admission, increase accessibility services and deepen community outreach to ensure that these high-profile events remain open and equitable.

Across Black Worlds: Movements of the African Diaspora

Biennial of the Americas

Across Black Worlds: Movements of the African Diaspora is a movement-centered performance and dialogue exploring the global influence of Black movement traditions across the Americas. The evening includes a performance by a Colorado-based Black dance collective, an internationally recognized choreographer, Justine A. Chambers, and a moderated talkback with the artists and Denver cultural leaders. Presented by the Biennial of the Americas at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the program examines what it means to move through a Black body and how embodied stories carry memory, migration, resistance and joy, inviting audiences into exchange.

GIRA GIRA: A Cyberpunk Opera Odyssey

Akaiya Productions

GIRA GIRA is a cyberpunk opera odyssey that transforms the Ellie Caulkins Opera House into a living, immersive world. Guests are invited as exclusive participants to preview a bold new reimagining of the Japanese Shinto myth of Amaterasu, brought to life by pop idol HOSHI. As the myth unfolds, the boundaries of space and time begin to dissolve—blurring the line between Amaterasu’s divine struggle and HOSHI’s descent into her own darkness. When shadows threaten to eclipse the light, the audience must step forward together to guide HOSHI toward illumination—and, perhaps, to restore balance before our world slips into perpetual night.

FDR's Very Happy Hour

Regan Linton & Dominick Balletta in collaboration with High Hard Heat

FDR'S VERY HAPPY HOUR is an interactive, happy hour experience created by Denver's Regan Linton, along with M. Graham Smith, that brings Franklin Delano Roosevelt back from the "great beyond" for a new generation. Mixing cocktails/mocktails, game-show trivia, personal reflections on polio, “cozy” activities for guests, a local “changemaker” nightly and expansive accessibility (English, American Sign Language, ASL interpretation, captioning, audio description, open seating options for mobility/sensory needs), FDR's Very Happy Hour highlights the successes and missteps of a world leader who lived with disability, and invites audiences to engage and reflect on the challenges and possibilities of their own lives.

2026 New Works Incubator:

KINFOLKTALES: The Untold Stories of Black Denver

Zoid Art Haus

KINFOLKTALES is a new theatrical project written and directed by the artist Zoid Hæm. Inspired by Black American folktales and Denver’s living history, the show gathers stories from neighborhoods like Five Points, Montbello and Aurora through community story circles, workshops and open rehearsals. Those stories are transformed into a vibrant stage production where theatre, dance, visual art and myth blend to create KINFOLKTALES. The production celebrates the humor, struggle and imagination of Black Denver and builds an evolving archive of contemporary community folktales.

Colorado Folklore Dance Festival

ArtistiCO Inc.

The Colorado Folklore Dance Festival is a vibrant, multi-day celebration of Mexican folklórico and live music that centers community, cultural preservation and innovation. Produced by ArtistiCO Inc., the festival brings together professional dancers, youth performers, musicians and guest artists from across the region to present new and reimagined works rooted in tradition. Designed to engage diverse and historically underrepresented audiences, the festival features performances, educational workshops and community activations within the Denver Performing Arts Complex, transforming the space into an inclusive cultural gathering place that honors heritage while fostering artistic exchange.

Valarie: A Puppet Show by Cinco

Blue Silk Productions

When a miniature dachshund named Valarie vanishes into the vast forests and foothills of the Rocky Mountains, her disappearance marks the beginning of an extraordinary tale. For 529 days, Valarie doesn't merely survive; she transforms. Through innovative puppetry, ethereal stagecraft, dreamlike visual effects and immersive technological integration, we experience her transformation from lost pet to fantastical survivor. What begins as a simple story of survival evolves into a powerful meditation on finding community in strange lands, building connections across differences and the universal search for shelter, sustenance and acceptance. Valarie's journey reminds us that sometimes, the smallest travelers have the most profound stories to tell.