February is Black History Month, and Colorado offers numerous opportunities to commemorate the culture of Black Americans throughout the year, ranging from film screenings to art festivals to unique exhibits.
Boulder
The Museum of Boulder hosts Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History, which explores the African-American experience in Colorado. This project includes a multimedia exhibit, educational components, murals, oral histories, and other programs.
Photo Courtesy of Museum of Boulder
Colorado Springs
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College will feature an exhibition of more than 30 works by Clarence Shivers from February 2th – July 6th. Shivers was a Tuskegee Airman, and one of his most famous works is a statue at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs dedicated to pilots. He worked across different media, and his portraits featured civil rights leaders, musicians, and friends.
Crested Butte
The Melanin Mountain Film Festival is featuring weekly films during the month of February. The Majestic Theatre will host a screening of The Holly on February 29th, with the story of a former gang leader, Terrance Roberts, who returns to his Denver community as an activist.
Denver
The Arts of Africa gallery at the Denver Art Museum encompasses 2,300 square feet on the fourth floor of the Hamilton Building, with a focus on the themes of the self, power and transformation, and manifestation. Sculptures, paintings, jewelry, textiles, and print-making works are included.
The Firehouse Theater Company presents The Nacirema Society, a tale of debutantes being presented in Montgomery, Alabama in 1964, with a tense racial climate as Martin Luther King, Jr prepared for a voter registration drive.
The McNichols Civic Center building will display Masks of Africa: Classic and Contemporary, with 30 masks from various indigenous groups of Africa. This exhibit from February 8. -April 28 will highlight the differing styles which are specific to groups of indigenous peoples.
The Colorado Black Arts Festival returns for its 38th annual celebration of African-American art and culture in Denver’s City Park West neighborhood. The festival takes place July 12-14.
Photo Courtesy of Town of Vail Art in Public Places
Vail
The Colorado Snowsports Museum features NBS Style Through the Decades, which was created in partnership with artist Lamont Joseph White. This collaboration updated the 100 Years of Ski Fashion exhibit through the lens of the National Brotherhood of Skiers, an organization that has promoted snow sports to the Black community and empowered them to enjoy winter sports throughout the country.
The museum is open daily from 10am – 6pm and admission is complementary.