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Colorado · Public charity

Creative West

CREATIVE WEST is a nonprofit arts service organization dedicated to the creative advancement and preservation of the arts. Based in denver, colorado, CREATIVE WEST fulfills its mission to strengthen the financial organizational and policy infrastructure of the arts by providing innovative and services to artist and arts organizations in…

$1.4M
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
44
Itemized grants FY2025
73
Organizations funded FY2024
38%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Itemized, FY2025
$952k
The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2025
$17,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$219,956
Organizations funded a year
5 to 86
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
16
Total assets, FY2025
$24M

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 38% of the organizations Creative West funded were first-time grantees, receiving 27% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $266k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementHousing & ShelterOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving43$913k86%
FY202473$969k38%
FY202386$985k71%
FY202261$1.8M69%
FY202159$2.0M88%
FY202055$1.0M93%
FY201913$154k77%
FY20185$130k60%
100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$6.4MEducation$228kYouth Development$175kEnvironment$118kHousing & Shelter$116kCommunity Improvement$90kRecreation & Sports$69kReligion$64kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
WA
ID
MT
IL
NY
OR
NV
WY
IN
OH
CA
UT
CO
AZ
NM
HI

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Western Alliance of Arts Administrators Foundation$1,272,870928%
Arts Northwest$219,535833%
Rising Youth Theatre$122,839229%
Museo de Las Americas$117,83925%
Langston$117,83928%
Indigenousways Incorporated$95,339516%
Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project$93,839210%
Pinedale Fine Arts Council Inc$79,250417%
Little Big Horn College$74,0001n/a
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center$74,00012%
Show all 288 grantees
All grantees of Creative West by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Western Alliance of Arts Administrators Foundation$1,272,870928%
Arts Northwest$219,535833%
Rising Youth Theatre$122,839229%
Museo de Las Americas$117,83925%
Langston$117,83928%
Indigenousways Incorporated$95,339516%
Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project$93,839210%
Pinedale Fine Arts Council Inc$79,250417%
Little Big Horn College$74,0001n/a
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center$74,00012%
Stewart Indian School Cultural & Museum$74,0001n/a
Plaza de la Raza Inc$74,00018%
Rocky Mountain Arts Association$73,83926%
California Indian Museum & Cultural Center$73,83922%
Su Teatro Inc$72,58934%
Mountain Time Arts$69,93936%
Crows Shadow Institute Inc$63,83929%
Black Theatre Troupe Inc$63,83924%
Galluparts Inc$63,839227%
Guam Humanities Council$55,00033%
Alaska Native Heritage Center Inc$50,00011%
Apano Communities United Fund$50,00011%
The Museum of Indigenous People$50,00029%
Sun Valley Center for the Arts Inc$50,00012%
Moab Valley Multicultural Center$50,000111%
Asia Pacific Cultural Center$50,00012%
Xico Inc$50,00016%
Pacific Islanders in Communications$50,00014%
Youth on Record$50,00012%
EastSide Arts Alliance$50,00013%
Ark Regional Services Inc$48,83920%
Art Museum of Eastern Idaho$48,83929%
Wyoming Game & Fish Department$48,0103n/a
Southwest Association for Indian Arts$45,0001n/a
Terrain Programs$45,00014%
My Voice Music Inc$45,00015%
Art Access$45,00017%
The Fort Lewis College Foundation$45,00011%
Northern Colorado Intertribal Pow-Wow Association$43,940215%
Pear$43,84021%
Teatro Vision$43,83918%
Platteforum$43,83915%
San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company$43,83916%
Unified Outreach$43,8391n/a
Playhouse Arts$43,83917%
Kids in the Spotlight Inc$43,83912%
QCC The Center for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Art & Culture$43,83912%
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Inc$43,83915%
Moanalua Gardens Foundation Inc$43,83917%
artEquity Community$43,83917%
Velocity Dance Center$43,83917%
Fresh Meat Productions$43,83913%
Artown$41,87532%
Free2luv Inc$41,639219%
Kumu Kahua Theatre Inc$38,83919%
Equinox Theatre Company Dba Verge Theater$38,839123%
Young of Heart Workshop$38,83916%
Bunnell Street Arts Center$38,75025%
500 Sails$37,0002n/a
Board of Regents Nevada System of Higher Education$36,5002n/a
Cultural Coalition Inc$35,239110%
The Dr Shirley Linzy Young Artists Orchestra of Las Vegas$30,939113%
School of Arts and Culture at Mhp$30,00011%
Hana Arts Inc$30,00019%
Keshet Dance Company$30,00012%
Red Eagle Soaring$30,00018%
Downtown Aurora Visual Arts$30,00014%
New Americans Museum Inc$30,00019%
National Pacific American Leadership Institute$30,0001n/a
East-West Players Inc$30,00010%
Northwest African American Museum$30,00011%
Arts for All Inc$30,00013%
Perseverance Theatre Incorporated$28,83912%
Rock on Wheels$28,83917%
Juneau Arts & Humanities Council$28,83912%
Methow Arts Alliance$27,5001n/a
University of Hawaii System$27,5002n/a
Dancers Workshop$26,87530%
Brown Soul Productions$25,8391n/a
American Samoa Council on Arts Culture & Humanities$25,0001n/a
The Mundi Project$25,00026%
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands$25,0001n/a
New Mexico Arts Foundation$24,3481n/a
San Francisco International Arts Festival Inc$24,12533%
Cook Inlet Housing Authority$23,2391n/a
City of Mesa$22,7501n/a
City of Las Vegas$22,0002n/a
Breaking Wave Theatre Company$22,0001n/a
Blue Sage Center for the Arts$21,10534%
Maui Arts & Cultural Center$20,12530%
Community Partners$20,00010%
Durango Arts Center Inc$20,00015%
Regents of the University of Idaho$20,0002n/a
Dstl Arts$20,000114%
Clever Octopus Inc$20,00017%
Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana de San Jose Incorporated$20,00012%
Southwest Folklife Alliance Inc$20,00012%
Maps Media Institute Inc$20,00014%
Profile Theatre Project$20,00013%
Alutiiq Heritage Foundation$20,00012%
The Islamic Society of Greater Portland$20,0001n/a
Nevada Department of Health and Human Services$20,0001n/a
Oakland Theater Project$20,00018%
Four Rivers Cultural Center and Museum$20,00013%
Center for Documentary Expression and Art$20,000114%
Isla Montessori School Inc$20,0002n/a
Spectrum Dance Theater$20,00011%
Working Classroom Inc$20,000110%
Horse Warriors$20,000113%
Billings Symphony Society$20,00011%
Global Lounge Incorporated$20,0001n/a
Hawaiian Mission Children's Society$20,00012%
Marianas Bible Fellowship Center Inc$20,0002n/a
San Jose Taiko Group Inc$20,00012%
David's Harp Foundation$20,00014%
Epicenter$20,00019%
Centro Cultural Mexicano Corp$20,00017%
A Source of Joy Theatricals Inc$20,000116%
Salty Cricket Composers Collective$19,8391n/a
Anchorage Concert Association Inc$19,65020%
University of Utah$19,5002n/a
Ogden Friends of Acoustic Music-OFOAM$19,50024%
Centrum Foundation$19,47520%
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts$18,70031%
Jazz in Arizona Inc$18,50021%
Gold Canyon Arts Council$18,37526%
Nina Kemppel$18,0001n/a
Sunday Afternoon Live$17,8003n/a
Lensic Performing Arts Center$17,75020%
The Washington Center for the Performing Arts$17,75020%
City of Kent$17,5002n/a
MaryDanceStudio$17,327162%
Churchill Arts Council$17,12522%
Sankofa Cultural Foundation of Alaska$17,1201n/a
Artes de Mexico En Utah$17,1201n/a
Portland Indigenous Marketplace$17,1201n/a
Alma$17,1201n/a
New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology$17,0002n/a
Los Descendientes del Presidio de T$17,0001n/a
Sarada Kala Nilayam LLC$17,0001n/a
Latino Arte and Culture$17,0001n/a
Oaxaca En Utah$17,0001n/a
Sounding Joy Music Therapy Inc$17,0001n/a
California Presenters$17,000111%
Lights Camera Discover$17,00014%
Taiko Arts Center$17,0001n/a
Black Girl Brown Girl Collective Inc$17,000126%
The Lab Learning and Action Buffet$17,000115%
Intersection for the Arts$17,00010%
Agency for Better Living Endeavors Inc$17,0001n/a
El Dorado Institute Inc$17,0001n/a
Left of Center Art Gallery$17,0001n/a
Center Pole$17,0001n/a
Margarita Dacel Dba World Theater Productions$17,0001n/a
Louise Cutler Studio$17,0001n/a
Watsonville Film Festival$17,00015%
Latina Dance Project Inc$17,0001n/a
Tasveer$17,0001n/a
Rejoice Diaspora Dance Theater$17,000113%
Iaf Inc$17,00018%
Utah Black Artists Collective$17,0001n/a
Mission Valley Live$16,9762n/a
City of Fort Collins$16,7502n/a
Gila Valley Arts Council$16,750214%
San Francisco Jazz Organization$16,25010%
Fairbanks Concert Association$16,25021%
Relative Theatrics$16,039110%
Jessyca Vianey Valdez Perez$16,0002n/a
Nuwu Art LLC$16,0002n/a
Pu'Uhonua Society$16,0002n/a
Festival Dance and Performing Arts Assn University of Idaho$16,00024%
Boom Arts Inc$15,87525%
Plan-B Theatre Company$15,83914%
Zoeglossia Inc$15,839115%
Tower Theatre Foundation Inc$15,50020%
Sangre de Cristo Arts & Conference Center Inc$15,50020%
Christine Costello$15,3631n/a
Community Concerts of Treasure Valley$15,2652n/a
Grant County Community Concert Association$15,250216%
New Dance Theatre Inc$15,00010%
Mount Carmel School$15,0001n/a
Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area$15,00011%
Art State Arizona$15,00011%
Art Explorers Inc$15,00015%
National Institute of Flamenco$14,37521%
Mineral County Performing Arts Council$14,3502n/a
Performances to Grow On$14,25026%
Boulder Arts Council$14,0502n/a
AMP Concerts$14,00020%
Willcox Theater and Arts Inc$13,92521%
Strings Music Festival$13,87520%
Idaho Public Television$13,8701n/a
Scottsdale Arts$13,75020%
College of Southern Idaho$13,2752n/a
Edmonds Center for the Arts$13,15021%
Santa Fe Pro Musica Inc$12,87521%
State of Arizona$12,7782n/a
Story Crossroads$12,7501n/a
Orem Public Library$12,6502n/a
Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation$12,50020%
Young Musicians Inc$12,450215%
Belt Theater Company$12,25028%
Arts for All Nevada$12,03914%
Rasika Society for Arts of India$12,00024%
Arts Education Connection San Diego$11,90012%
Juneau Jazz & Classics$11,75022%
Alpine Artisans Inc$11,50025%
Kisha Vaughan Dba Dope Girl Movement$11,2501n/a
Media-Rites$10,839129%
US Japan Cultural Trade Network Inc$10,0001n/a
Marsh Valley School District 21$10,0001n/a
Mountain Home Arts Council Inc$10,000112%
Central School Project Inc$10,000112%
Avokado Artists Inc$9,50017%
Indigenous Performance Productions$9,5001n/a
Lancaster Performing Arts Center Foundation$9,50019%
Park County Art Council$9,000115%
Del Norte Association for Cultural Awareness$9,00015%
Orcas Center$8,96511%
Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation$8,91012%
Stanford Jazz Workshop$8,90010%
California Center for the Arts Escondido Foundation$8,50010%
Indian Fine Arts Academy of San Diego$8,50013%
Whitefish Theatre Company$8,50012%
Carnation Farms$8,1601n/a
Gordon Sasaki$8,0001n/a
Friends of Chamber Music$7,75012%
Onstage Ogden$7,75011%
Alaska Junior Theater Inc$7,75011%
Power House Theatre Walla Walla$7,75011%
Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado$7,75013%
American Samoa Community College$7,7161n/a
The Paradise Center$7,65013%
Music Associates of Aspen Inc$7,50010%
Kauai Concert Association$7,500110%
Homer Council on the Arts$7,50013%
Craterian Performances Company$7,50010%
San Francisco Performances Inc$7,50010%
Arizona Early Music Society Inc$7,50015%
T2 Dance Company$7,40017%
Irvine Barclay Theatre Operating Co$7,37510%
Tonto Community Concert Association$7,30017%
University of Washington Foundation$7,25010%
Lander Performing Arts$7,25019%
High Desert Chamber Music Inc$7,25013%
Log Cabin Literary Center Inc$7,20010%
Pend Oreille Arts Council$7,14013%
Mount Baker Theatre$7,12510%
Cache Valley Center for the Arts$7,12510%
Western Nm University$7,1251n/a
Cal Poly Corporation$7,00010%
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art$7,00010%
City of Lone Tree$7,0001n/a
Columbia Theatre Association for the Performing Arts$7,00011%
Brigham Young University$6,9001n/a
Star Valley Arts Council$6,75016%
Red Rocks Music Festival$6,75013%
City of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs$6,6751n/a
The Phffft Company Inc$6,625110%
Cultural Advocacy Coalition of Oregon Foundation$6,5001n/a
Del E Webb Center for the Performing Arts$6,50010%
Montana Performing Arts Consortium Inc$6,500111%
City and County of Broomfield$6,5001n/a
Corrales Cultural Arts Council$6,50017%
American Folklore Society$6,50011%
Artcore Inc$6,40013%
Idaho Falls Arts Council$6,40010%
The Cutter Theatre$6,28014%
Ogden Friends of Acoustic Music$6,2501n/a
The John G Shedd Institute for the Arts$6,2501n/a
Skagway Arts Council$6,2501n/a
Outpost Productions Inc$6,1251n/a
Dance Initiative Inc$6,00015%
Grand Concerts Inc$6,00017%
City of Lakewood$5,8751n/a
San Juan Community Theatre Inc$5,75010%
Cordova Arts & Pageantsltd Aka Cordova Arts$5,700122%
Zion Canyon Arts and Humanities Council$5,5901n/a
Edmonds Center for the Arts$5,5001n/a
The Myrna Loy$5,48611%
Holly Theatre$5,0001n/a
Society for Konas Education & Art$5,00016%
Sunset Cultural Center Inc$5,00010%
Southwest Improvement Council Inc$5,00011%
Dance Resource Center of Greater LA$5,00012%
Carbondale Arts$5,00011%
White Bird$5,0001n/a
Boulder Community Media$5,0001n/a

Plus 3 recipients with no EIN on record ($47k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Creative West supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 7 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 200 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWestern Alliance of Arts Administrators Foundation: $1,272,870 over 9y, 28% of budgetArts Northwest: $219,535 over 8y, 33% of budgetRising Youth Theatre: $122,839 over 2y, 29% of budgetMuseo de Las Americas: $117,839 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetLangston: $117,839 over 2y, 7.8% of budgetIndigenousways Incorporated: $95,339 over 5y, 16% of budgetQueer Women of Color Media Arts Project: $93,839 over 2y, 9.9% of budgetPinedale Fine Arts Council Inc: $79,250 over 4y, 17% of budgetIndian Pueblo Cultural Center: $74,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetPlaza de la Raza Inc: $74,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetRocky Mountain Arts Association: $73,839 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetCalifornia Indian Museum & Cultural Center: $73,839 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetSu Teatro Inc: $72,589 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetMountain Time Arts: $69,939 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetCrows Shadow Institute Inc: $63,839 over 2y, 8.9% of budgetBlack Theatre Troupe Inc: $63,839 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetGalluparts Inc: $63,839 over 2y, 27% of budgetGuam Humanities Council: $55,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetAlaska Native Heritage Center Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetApano Communities United Fund: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetThe Museum of Indigenous People: $50,000 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetSun Valley Center for the Arts Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetMoab Valley Multicultural Center: $50,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetAsia Pacific Cultural Center: $50,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetXico Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetPacific Islanders in Communications: $50,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetYouth on Record: $50,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetEastSide Arts Alliance: $50,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetArk Regional Services Inc: $48,839 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetArt Museum of Eastern Idaho: $48,839 over 2y, 8.7% of budgetTerrain Programs: $45,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetMy Voice Music Inc: $45,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetArt Access: $45,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetThe Fort Lewis College Foundation: $45,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNorthern Colorado Intertribal Pow-Wow Association: $43,940 over 2y, 15% of budgetPear: $43,840 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetTeatro Vision: $43,839 over 1y, 8.2% of budgetPlatteforum: $43,839 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetSan Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company: $43,839 over 1y, 6.4% of budgetPlayhouse Arts: $43,839 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetKids in the Spotlight Inc: $43,839 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetQCC The Center for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Art & Culture: $43,839 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetLos Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Inc: $43,839 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetMoanalua Gardens Foundation Inc: $43,839 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetartEquity Community: $43,839 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetVelocity Dance Center: $43,839 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetFresh Meat Productions: $43,839 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetArtown: $41,875 over 3y, 2.1% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 200.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

New England Foundation for the Arts IncorporatedMA40.3× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: New England Foundation for the Arts Incorporated · Artsfund · James F & Marion L Miller Foundation · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · Bonfils-Stanton Foundation · National Performance Network Inc · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · Rasmuson Foundation · Redline · Charlotte y Martin Foundation-Ima · Pacificorp Foundation Aka Pacific Power Foundation Aka Rocky Mountain Power Foundati · The Shubert Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Compare Creative West with peer funders

About Creative West

How much does Creative West give?
Creative West reported 44 itemized grants totaling $951,927, out of $1,436,047 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 5 and 86 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does Creative West fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (87%), Education (3%), Youth Development (2%).
Who are Creative West's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Western Alliance of Arts Administrators Foundation ($1.3M), Arts Northwest ($220k), Rising Youth Theatre ($123k).
Does Creative West fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 38% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as Creative West?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include New England Foundation for the Arts Incorporated, Artsfund, James F & Marion L Miller Foundation.
Where is Creative West based?
Creative West is based in CO.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 294 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Creative West’s filings →

More from the funding graph