A rehearsal of Roshni's production of

"Yatra: A Journey to Truth, Light and Life"

When Deepali Lindblom immigrated to the United States in 2015, she was struck by how lost she felt. Deepali was born and raised in India, where she was trained in street theater.

“In India, art isn’t just entertainment, it’s more. It’s a way of life, and it’s a way to communicate,” she shared.

When she and her husband moved to Canada, she continued to find ways to express her cultural heritage as a dancer. She arrived in the United States just as the tumultuous 2016 election season began, and she struggled to find stories like hers, let alone a place to express those stories openly. After her sister visited her from India, she felt inspired to create a platform for people like her from different cultures to come together and share their stories through art. Roshni, a storytelling maker space, was founded in 2016.

The organization started by providing performing arts programming to refugee youth in Aurora, but Lindblom realized that to make a bigger impact, she had to also engage parents. So, she started the I ARISE (I am Resilient. Informed. Steadfast. Empathetic) program to engage mothers of students in youth programs. The women in I ARISE started by sharing lullabies, which eventually led to conversations about their respective lives. Eventually, I ARISE evolved to become a space for diverse women to come together and share their stories over 20 weeks in order to create a short play about their experiences.

Thanks to the voters and residents of the seven-county metro area, SCFD has come a long way in its more than 30 years of existence. SCFD is the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, a tax collected and distributed to around 300 cultural organizations in our seven-county Denver metro region including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties. Just one penny on every $10 spent in the district creates vibrancy for us individually and collectively.

SCFD is for everyone

Each year, arts, culture and scientific organizations can apply to be eligible to receive SCFD funding. This funding provides general operating support, so organizations can use it where they need it the most to fulfill their mission. Eligibility applications for organizations new to SCFD are now open. If you are part of an organization that might be a good fit you can learn more about SCFD eligibility. Applications close September 13, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. and eligibility is determined by the end of the year.  

Free Days/Events

Organizations from across the metro area provide hundreds of free days and free programs each year made possible, in part, by funding from SCFD. Some organizations are free every day such as Broomfield Veterans Museum, Foothills Art Center, Colorado Music Hall of Fame, The Aurora History Museum and the Louisville History Museum. Here’s a small sample of what’s on tap for August.

• Denver Museum of Nature & Science – September 6
• Denver Art Museum – September 9 (Annual Friendship Powwow) and September 12
• Littleton Symphony Orchestra's Music in Motion concert – September 16
• Friends of Dinosaur Ridge – September 17
• Four Mile Historic Park – September 22

Get to know our County Cultural Councils!

SCFD’s County Cultural Councils make funding recommendations for annual SCFD funds in each of the district’s partner counties. All members are local volunteers appointed by the county’s commissioners or city councils. Learn more here.

SCFD Board of Directors news

The SCFD is governed by a board of directors with representation from district member counties Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The board oversees district funding and ensures the district is running the way voters intended. The board meets eight times a year and all meetings are open to the public.

• The next meeting of the SCFD Board of Directors will be held at 1. p.m. on September 28. Get information for joining meetings and see the full calendar of 2023 board meetings.