U.S. Bank and Wildfire Tees were among the winners named today at the fifth annual Business & Arts Lunch. The lunch, co-presented by the Colorado Springs Regional Business Alliance and COPPeR, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, honors businesses and business leaders that support the arts and integrate arts and creativity into their companies.U.S. Bank was presented the Philanthropy Award for the bank’s longtime support of the Art on the Streets program, which, since its inception in 1999, has brought more than 160 works of public art downtown. Art on the Streets generates new excitement for public art, provides a wide platform for artist exposure and enhances the physical and visual downtown environment.

Christian Keesee, chairman of Kirkpatrick Bank, was named Business Leader in the Arts. Keesee is founder of the Green Box Arts Festival, which each summer provides artists and visitors to Green Mountain Falls the opportunity to explore and nurture the creative process. Keesee also serves as president of the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, which supports organizations such as the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, the Fine Arts Center, and Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, as well as COPPeR’s Peak Arts Fund.

Honored in the category of Creative Workspace/Workforce was Epicentral Coworking. Founded last year by Lisa Tessarowicz and Hannah Parsons, Epicentral provides coworking space downtown for people who are independent creative’s and entrepreneurs to office, meet clients, and bring innovative ideas to the Pikes Peak Region. The idea is simple — independent professionals and those with workplace flexibility work better together than they do alone. Epicentral took the Coworking concept to a whole new level by creating a vibrant and eclectic working environment for their members by giving careful attention to the aesthetic qualities of the office, from lighting and music, to hanging artwork by local artists on the walls.

A special award this year for Creative Initiative was presented to Wild Fire Tees. Formed in the hours after the Waldo Canyon Fire devastated the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, Wild Fire Tees merged the art of high-quality design with social media skills to produce and sell more than $300,00 in T-shirts, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting wildfire relief nonprofits. Founding partners in Wildfire Tees were CoPilot Creative, Fixer Creative, Design Rangers, Magneti Marketing, Ruckus Apparel and LastLeaf Printing.More than 300 people attended the fifth annual lunch, which featured performances on four stages by acts such as opera singer Judeth Shay Burns, Crystal & the Curious, Celtic Dancers, Velvet Hills Chorus, World Class Clown Jim Jackson and Colorado Poet Laureate Dave Mason. COPPeR connects residents and visitors with arts and culture to enrich the Pikes Peak region. The Colorado Springs Regional Business Alliance (formerly the Chamber/EDC) is the leading advocate for business and industry in the Pikes Peak region.

Christian Keesee, chairman of Kirkpatrick Bank, was named Business Leader in the Arts Wednesday. Photo by