Robbie Robertson in Boulder
Storied songwriter and guitarist Robbie Robertson will open this year’s Boulder International Film Festival with an in-person appearance at the screening of “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band,” festival officials said Wednesday. Tickets for the March 6 event at the Boulder Theater, which includes a red carpet gala and after-screening Q&A with Robertson, also went on sale Wednesday for $95 via biff1.com. The March 5-8 festival’s full program will be announced on Feb. 14.
NEA’s Colorado grants: $408,000
The National Endowment for the Arts on Wednesday announced a total of $408,000 in grants to 26 Colorado arts nonprofits as part of its first round of 2020 funding. The grants represent a 38% increase in Colorado’s total NEA awards over the previous year, according to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, which distributes them statewide. Forty-two percent of the 2020 grants were awarded to arts organizations outside of metro Denver. Grantees include Breckenridge Creative Arts ($40,000), Youth on Record ($30,000) and RedLine ($20,000). Visit arts.gov for the full list.
Local app hits 4 million users
Centennial-based National CineMedia, the country’s biggest movie theater advertising network, last week said that its Noovie ARcade app has surpassed 4 million users since launching in April 2018. The augmented-reality mobile app allows users to play free video games while waiting for movies to begin at one of the roughly 21,000 screens in 1,700 theaters that National CineMedia services. The Colorado company’s gaming app is available for free in the App Store and on Google Play, or at arcade.noovie.com.
Jessi Whitten leaves Indie 102.3
Prominent Indie 102.3 FM DJ Jessi Whitten, who helped craft an identity for the indie- and alt-rock public-radio brand (formerly Open Air), is leaving her gig at Colorado Public Radio for a job as director of development and marketing at Levitt Pavillion. The latter is a nonprofit music venue in Ruby Hill Park that produces free and low-cost concerts from high-quality artists. Last year, its series attracted about 62,000 attendees, Levitt officials said. levittdenver.org
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Suzie Q. Smith joins Youth on Record
Also moving: acclaimed poet and author Suzie Q. Smith, the co-chairwoman of Denver’s Cultural Affairs Commission and a nationally known author and arts advocate, will join the music-focused Youth on Record nonprofit as executive teaching artist. Smith will lead the Denver organization’s middle school pilot program and teach at Hill Middle School while working on Youth on Record’s executive team, the organization said in a press statement last week. youthonrecord.org
