Thirty-one nonprofit arts organizations in the Pikes Peak region were made almost $120,000 wealthier last year thanks to the Bee Vradenburg Foundation.

The longtime foundation, named after Colorado Springs arts advocate Bee Vradenburg, also helped grantees access almost $800,000 in additional support through its partnerships with statewide funders who want to make an impact on the arts and invest in the community.

“We center the equity and inclusion of arts for the Pikes Peak region,” said Claire Swinford, the foundation’s executive director. “Bee Vradenburg would have said the arts are the soul of a thriving community. What are the arts doing that makes the Pikes Peak region a better place? Our conversations are centered around how people access the arts. How do we see the arts showing up in public places that make people rethink what’s possible? Arts do this and more.”

Concrete Couch, Pikes Peak Pride, Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Poetry Heals, Colorado Springs Conservatory, Springs Ensemble Theatre, Colorado Springs Chinese Cultural Institute, Rocky Mountain Highway and the Indian Community of Colorado Springs were among the nonprofits that received $500 to $15,000 grants from the foundation.

“We continue to advocate not because of a particular ideological bent,” Swinford said, “but because it is crucial to arts sustainability and in terms of community impact. We have to have an art scene that works for everybody.”

After moving to Colorado Springs with her husband after WWII, Vradenburg, a passionate music lover who had attended Oberlin College, “volunteered so hard” for the Colorado Springs Symphony (the predecessor to the Colorado Springs Philharmonic), Swinford says, that they hired her as their first full-time, compensated general manager.

Not only was she one of the first women in the country to manage an orchestra, but she also became the driving force behind the capital campaign to build the Pikes Peak Center, among other acts of arts advocacy.

“She raised $12-$14 million for a concert hall worthy of the symphony,” Swinford said. “They were performing in the Palmer High School auditorium. She looked at the thriving of the arts as a key factor in the success of a community. Great arts are everywhere and you have to be part of it.”

After Vradenburg died in 2000, her son and grandchildren decided to forgo their inheritance after learning about all the good she’d done for the arts community. Instead, they funneled the $4.5 million into a foundation to continue Vradenburg’s arts advocacy.

About three dozen nonprofits apply for the rigorous grants every year, including new organizations that apply for funds for the first time, such as Brink Literacy Project, which received a $2,500 grant last year.

The project develops storytelling-focused programs to empower low-literacy, low-income and marginalized populations, including prison populations, and provides nationally and internationally known writers and illustrators as mentors, including bestselling author Margaret Atwood.

“We’ve been tracking if first-time organizations succeed,” Swinford said. “We want to be the training wheels for them. Do we see a bunch of new arts nonprofits popping up every year? Not necessarily. It’s tough to start a non-profit. And when you’re talking about the arts in El Paso County, you’re talking about one of the toughest trails in the area to climb.”