Westminster plans expanded Arts Week with live murals, concerts and accessibility focus

Organizers and board members at the Westminster Inclusivity Board meeting on Feb. 12 outlined this year’s Arts Week, a partnership-driven, largely indoor festival featuring live mural painting, student exhibits, performances and a proposed Westminster Music Extravaganza to raise funds for arts education and accessibility.

The program matters because Arts Week is intended to widen participation in local arts, provide paid or supported opportunities for artists and generate scholarship funds for arts enrichment and a proposed theater intensive at Westminster High School.

At the meeting, Kate (Staff member) said Arts Week will prioritize indoor venues because of a small budget and the need to avoid weather-related cancellations. “This year is really coming together as a partnership,” she said, describing a full seven-day schedule with multiple sites across the city. Kate said five muralists will paint live across five businesses, with a total of 12 hours of live painting spread across three dates.

The weekend centerpiece will be multi-site activities in historic Westminster, including an artisan market, performances, an open mic at Creative Corner coffee shop and live mini-murals. Kate said Saturday’s schedule will run 11 a.m. into the afternoon and include ticketed tours (free but ticketed to manage capacity) of Colorado Sound Studios and volunteer-run “make-and-go” activities. “We’ll have different businesses doing make-and-go engagements and ticketed tours of Colorado Sound,” she said.

Kate also described a draft fundraising event, the Westminster Music Extravaganza and Arts Education Fundraiser, which would combine studio demonstrations, a fundraising concert at the high school and proceeds directed to arts enrichment and accessibility scholarships. She named several performers and anchors on the proposed lineup, including Josh Blackburn and Wendy Wu, and said organizers hope to include local acts and student performers before headline acts such as Hazel Miller and Coco Brown. “All proceeds will go to arts enrichment and accessibility through scholarships for enrichment programs,” Kate said.

Kevin (City archivist) will lead a “make-and-go” art-history activity and Colorado Sound Studios is scheduling free tours and studio demonstrations as part of the outreach. Organizers told the board they plan to recruit volunteers from the Inclusivity Board, North Metro Arts Alliance, Palateers Art Club and honor societies at local schools to serve as site volunteers who introduce artists and help visitors.

Board members discussed accessibility and outreach plans for residents without internet access. Kate said last year organizers used posters and flyers distributed at recreation centers and libraries, and she said staff can assist residents who register by phone. The event’s ticketing will use a city volunteer-management platform that organizers said avoids third-party ticket fees.

Organizers said some ticketing and volunteer functions will reserve seats or offers on a sliding-scale or scholarship basis so residents unable to pay can still attend fundraising shows.

Board member Rich (Richard) described the open-mic format as “a real grassroots kind of event” at the Creative Corner coffee shop and encouraged board members to attend and promote the event. Several board members emphasized in-meeting volunteer recruitment and suggested the board provide presence, materials and outreach at key engagements.

Organizers noted potential venue contingencies — outdoor elements would move indoors if weather is unsafe — and invited board members to tour the high school theater, which organizers described as a professional-grade facility with seating capacity of roughly 700 and professional sound and lighting for larger shows.

The board asked for program materials and a schedule to be attached to meeting minutes so members who were not at the meeting could review full details. Kate said she will circulate location lists, artist names and volunteer sign-up information ahead of the events.

If adopted as planned, the combination of Arts Week programming and the tentative Westminster Music Extravaganza would contribute both public arts visibility and a local fundraising mechanism for scholarships and expanded arts education offerings.