History
PlatteForum was founded in 2002, by professional artist Judy Anderson and Mark Smith of East West Partners. They envisioned a world in which PlatteForum could offer creative learning and engagement opportunities for our community’s most vulnerable youth. Their vision extended to the community too; PlatteForum offers free public programs that offer a high degree of artistic excellence. Anderson and Smith’s shared vision and efforts fostered the growth of this organization, one of the first nonprofits in the Denver metro area to offer arts education programming for youth from historically marginalized communities and an urban artistic residency program in one place.
Artist credit: PROTOTYPE PEACE, Mackenzie Browning and PlatteForum’s ArtLab Interns, 2018
Image by Wes Magyar
Awards and Recognition
“Best Arts Group Supporting Youth”
2020 — Westword
“Judy Anderson Award - a community-driven fund created to honor the work of our co-founder, Judy Anderson.”
2020 — Autumn T. Thomas
2019 — Scott Kinnamon
2018 — Michael Henry
2017 — Andrea Moore
“National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award - President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities”
2020 — National Assembly of State Arts Agencies