EPIC Arts Program at RedLine

EPIC Arts provides the opportunity for Denver students to explore social issues through contemporary art.

What is EPIC Arts?

EPIC Arts has existed successfully throughout the Denver Historic Neighborhood of Five Points for over a decade and will continue to grow with the communities we engage.

After two years of a global pandemic and district mandated school closings, we revamped our programs and offerings to schools and communities to better suit where our participants are going and what their needs are today.

We’re making progress within EPIC by integrating aspects of social emotional learning and mental health and wellness into its foundations.

By collaborating with mental health professionals, RedLine Resident Artists, and Denver community artists and teachers, we create responsive programming that directly targets needs within varying student populations.

EPIC Arts serves multiple K-12 schools in the DPS and APS school districts and has extended to serve local community centers that serve LGBTQ+ youth.

We’re currently collaborating with Boston K-12, Denver Green School, and Rainbow Alley’s LGBTQ teen drop in center. We’ll be inviting new applicants for school and community sites in the fall of 2023.

Goals of the EPIC Arts Program

1. To use social justice focused art as a tool for expression and wellness while planting seeds to engage participants in personal growth and social advocacy. 

2. EPIC strives to support local schools and community organizations by sharing the healing and stress relief properties of using art as a creative outlet, a mode of communication/activism and outlet for self care.

3. To support participants in teaching experiential, concept-driven art making.

We believe that tending to students' mental health through art and SEL is an act of social justice and can act as a catalyst in securing a strong sense of self in identity and community.

The revised program looks to inspire youth to self advocate, to discover their backgrounds, to explore their place in their communities, to connect with their peers and to practice social emotional concepts within their art practice.

We strive to use art and mental health as a holistic experience in self discovery and advocacy. Our mental wellness and art facilitators work closely with classroom teachers and community center directors to learn about their students behaviors and interests to create targeted interventions and curriculum.

Past EPIC Arts Exhibitions

2022 Annual Youth Art Exhibition

May 21-June 2, 2022

This exhibition was a culmination of art from youth who participated in RedLine’s Youth Art Mentoring and EPIC Arts Education programs.

Students reflected on topics pertaining to social justice and advocacy, shedding light on issues they deemed important. There were a diverse mediums that inspired viewers to learn more about these issues and think critically about their experiences from a different perspective.

Youth were encouraged to be agents of change in their communities.

2021 Annual Youth Art Exhibition: EMPOWERMENT

May 29th - June 27th, 2021

2021’s exhibition was a culmination of in-person and virtual work from students at Arts Street, The Academy of Urban Learning, Bruce Randolph, Joliet Learning Center, Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, McMeen Elementary School, and Mrachek.

EPIC Arts Spring 2020 Exhibition & Virtual Showcase

Spring 2020

Coronavirus may have shut down our way of life, but it has not shut down our voices.

EPIC Arts Spring 2020 Exhibition comes to you in a time of global panic.

Most things are uncertain, but the work of these courageous students is a testament to the future.

Featuring work by the students of The Academy of Urban Learning, Bruce Randolph, Joliet Learning Center, Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy, Lowry Elementary School, and McMeen Elementary School.

Apply to Be an EPIC Artist

Apply to be an EPIC Teacher

Support for the EPIC Arts program is provided by The Denver Foundation, Linda D. Campbell Fund, and RCG Fund.