RedLine is a proud partner and administrator of the Arts in Society grant. Funded through a cohort of Colorado foundations and government agencies, this collaborative program provides grants to both individuals and organizations that use art as a vehicle to promote social justice and community welfare.
We love highlighting our Arts in Society (AiS) grant recipients and all the unique and impactful projects made possible by their grant.
We’re excited continue this series by highlighting 2026 Arts in Society project: Fiesta Fest with Flatland Makers Guild!
Tell us about your organization
Flatland Makers Guild is a rural arts nonprofit based in eastern Colorado. We started with a pretty simple belief: where you live shouldn’t determine whether you have access to meaningful arts experiences.
In rural communities like ours, there are incredibly creative people, but access can be a challenge. Professional artists, museums, classes, and arts organizations may be hours away.
Our goal is to bring those opportunities closer to home by connecting artists with kids, families, and communities throughout the region.
Our programming has included traveling youth art workshops across multiple school districts, stained glass workshops, Create & Catch Up days, and Flatland Makers Day, an annual event that brings students together for a full day of hands-on art experiences taught by working artists. Over the last year, 155 students participated in our youth programming.
As we’ve grown, we’ve started thinking more broadly about the role art can play in a rural community.
Art gives people a way to preserve stories, celebrate culture, connect with their neighbors, and see their own experiences reflected in the place they live. Those ideas played a big role in the creation of Fiesta Fest.
Tell us about your first project that will utilize your Arts in Society Colorado Arts Grant
Our first major project supported by the Arts in Society grant was Fiesta Fest, held on May 16, 2026, in downtown Burlington, Colorado.
The idea started with conversations about whose stories were being celebrated publicly in our community. Burlington and the surrounding area have a significant Hispanic and Latino population, and we wanted to create more opportunities for local culture, history, experiences, and contributions to be represented through the arts.
From the beginning, we wanted community members to help shape the event. We connected with local Latina leaders, artists, students, families, and community partners and asked for their ideas and involvement.
Those conversations helped Fiesta Fest grow into an afternoon filled with visual art, film, music, food, performances, children’s activities, a community market, and storytelling.
One of the largest pieces of the project was a documentary created by Anais Castillo and Daniel Melia with mentorship from filmmaker Alan Dominguez. The film centered local voices and stories and was screened at Burlington’s historic Midway Theater during the festival.
Giving people an opportunity to document and share their own experiences was an important part of the project from the beginning.
Visual art was another major component. Artist Aileen Duarte led a live mural project with mentorship from Audrey Sayles. Festival visitors were able to watch the mural take shape throughout the event, making the creative process part of the day itself.
HALO students helped with children’s activities throughout the afternoon, and the festival also included performances, music, vendors, and food. It was exciting to see so many people contribute in different ways and then watch all of those pieces come together in downtown Burlington.
What we remember most about Fiesta Fest is seeing people recognize their families, experiences, and culture in an event happening in their own community. There was a sense of pride and ownership that came from having so many local people involved in creating the day.
The Arts in Society grant gave us the resources to make an ambitious idea possible. We were able to compensate artists for their work, support mentorship, purchase materials, collaborate with community partners, and give people the time and resources they needed to contribute in meaningful ways.
“What we remember most about Fiesta Fest is seeing people recognize their families, experiences, and culture in an event happening in their own community. There was a sense of pride and ownership that came from having so many local people involved in creating the day.”
What's next in the pipeline for your organization? What other projects are you dreaming up for next year, and how will your AiS grant help to support these efforts?
One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned through Flatland Makers Guild is that there is a huge appetite for arts programming in rural communities. The barriers are often practical ones like distance, funding, transportation, and limited arts infrastructure.
We want to continue bringing programming directly into rural communities. We are developing regional workshops that allow artists to teach in several eastern Colorado towns, giving people more opportunities to participate close to home. We also want to continue investing in local artists and creating opportunities for them to share their skills with their own communities.
We are especially excited about developing projects that connect art with storytelling, culture, and place. Fiesta Fest reminded us how much there is to learn when we create opportunities for people to share their own experiences. We want future projects to grow from the communities themselves, celebrating the people, stories, and traditions that make each place unique.
The Arts in Society grant gives us room to experiment with what arts access can look like in rural Colorado. It allows us to pay artists, support emerging creative leaders, purchase materials, develop partnerships, and build projects around the specific communities we serve. We want our programming to feel like it belongs here because it was created here.
What was your experience like when applying for an Arts in Society grant? What tips would you share with artists looking to apply?
The Arts in Society application process encouraged us to think carefully about why our work matters and who we hoped would be impacted by it. That process helped us clarify the purpose behind Fiesta Fest and think more intentionally about the people who needed to be involved.
Our biggest advice for artists and organizations applying would be to start with your community. Pay attention to the conversations already happening around you. Think about the stories people want to tell, the experiences people want to share, and the connections that might be strengthened through art. A strong project can grow from listening closely to the people who will ultimately be part of it.
We would also encourage rural applicants to trust what they know about their own communities. You understand the people, geography, resources, challenges, and opportunities of the place where you live. Your project does not need to resemble something happening in a large city or established arts center to be valuable. Some of the most meaningful ideas are deeply specific to a particular place.
It also helps to involve people early. Fiesta Fest became stronger through conversations with artists, community members, students, cultural leaders, businesses, and partner organizations. Those relationships shaped the project and helped us see possibilities we would not have discovered on our own.
Funding like the Arts in Society Colorado arts grant can have an enormous ripple effect in a rural community. Paying an artist for their expertise can lead to a young person working alongside a professional artist for the first time. Supporting a filmmaker can preserve stories that might otherwise go undocumented. Funding a community event can bring people together who may not often share the same space.
That is what we hope to continue doing through Flatland Makers Guild. We want to create opportunities for people to make things, share stories, learn from artists, connect with one another, and see creativity thriving in the communities they already call home.
Arts in Society Grantee Highlight: The GES Collective Community Power Project
Learn about 2026 Arts in Society Grantee, Su Teatro.
Administered by RedLine and funded through a cohort of Colorado foundations and government agencies, Arts in Society is a grant program supporting cross-sector work through the arts across Colorado.
