At the heart of every thriving community, you’ll find a vibrant performing arts scene. The arts are uniquely vital to a community’s health and wellbeing—beneifts that are too often overlooked and undervalued. While the Pikes Peak region offers a remarkable blend of arts and culture, our performing arts scene needs to be expanding as our population expands—and there’s no doubt in our minds that our community deserves and is ready for more! ChoralSong takes this challenge seriously and is poised to bring a distinctive sound and level of choral artistry to Colorado Springs. Our intent is to make significant contributions of lasting cultural value to our area that foster rich growth in our community life. With your support, you can help us help you.
Unrecognized Value of Performing Arts
Many people remain unaware of the profound value performing arts bring to Colorado Springs and other communities. The arts provide an essential bonding agent and bring people together by stimulating dialogue, encouraging empathy, and sparking innovation. This type of growth in our communty’s life requires a variety of people bringing their performing skills—and their appreciation of those skills—to the table.
What causes this lack of awareness? This knowledge gap? Is it miseducation? Is it a lack of social and situational awareness? The answers are most likely much simpler. We live in a society that often prioritizes tangible goods over intangible benefits. There are many voices calling for us to value new businesses and technologies, but few voices calling for us to value the cultural enrichment brought by the arts and events like ChoralSong concerts. And yet participating in and becoming part of community events such as these allows us as indiviudals to be seen, included, and valued in our community, and these are some highly important factors that contribute to a fulfilling life in society!
Enriching Communities Through Art
The performing arts wield the power to unify a wide variety of neighborhoods, build bridges between diverse groups, and inspire pride in one’s local community. An important 2018 ArtsFund study found that arts enhance community cohesion, stimulate cultural awareness, and promote a sense of belonging and ownership(1). However, doing this requires both performers AND an audience. Your support essentially carries and makes this entire process possible!
The Colorado Springs performing arts scene needs all its performing groups, including ChoralSong, to bring together multiple generations and foster a sense of unity between them. We design events that allow residents to experience shared cultural moments, and by doing so, nurture our community’s spirit. So we invite you to invite people you know to attend Performing Arts events, and don’t worry about getting all dressed up! Our communities need things that unify us in our diversity. As our population continues growing, a strong arts scene will help bind it together.
The Physical and Mental Healing Power of the Arts
Beyond community development, performing arts events throughout the Pikes Peak region also offer tangible health and wellness benefits. The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (RSA) notes in a 2018 blog post how art impacts wellness. Participating in or attending performance arts activities can alleviate anxiety, combat loneliness, and promote happiness (2). Smiles are contagious!
In essence, ChoralSong concerts do more than provide a rich and varied artistic experience. They help shape our reality by offering a healthful, therapeutic experience, and foster a true sense of well-being for musicians, patrons, donors, and music lovers alike. So it comes down to this: we can all receive a natural boost to our serotonin levels by joining our choir or just attending our upcoming concerts with other like-minded listeners!
Impact on Local Neighborhoods
The performing Arts re-energize neighborhoods. Their events pull in tourists, enliven local businesses, and freshen the appeal of neighborhood aesthetics. ChoralSong concerts, held in local venues throughout Colorado Springs, are designed to contribute to and enhance the vibrancy of each cultural epicenter. By performing in and around our local communities, we make important contributions to multiple facets of community life.
For example, ChoralSong events are designed to strengthen the sense of community felt by attendees. As performers and listeners participate in and experience music together, we are united in this emotional and artistic experience and are stronger for it.
Furthermore, research published by Macon Value Georgia shows that arts and culture events, like those hosted by ChoralSong, increase residents’ connection to their neighborhoods. This connection leads to increased community involvement and local pride. Like the Salvation Army says, “Sharing is caring!”
So, while the echoes of our music might fade at the end of the night, the positive vibrations will persist. Their resonant effect will continue to enhance neighborhood cohesion, bolster local businesses, and cultivate a lively, dynamic local scene — a testament to the transformative power of the performing arts in Colorado Springs (3).
Economic Upswing through Art
Economically, performance arts can be a potent catalyst for community growth. They stimulate job creation, attract tourism, and spur local spending. According to the Americans for the Arts study, every dollar spent by a nonprofit arts organization can generate up to $7 in local economic activity. In this way, ChoralSong plays a significant role in the economic upswing of the Pikes Peak region. Each concert not only provides a platform for local talent but also fuels the local economy. So by supporting ChoralSong you contirbute to the health of the world around you.
So, if you’d like to be part of the ChoralSong community and its mission to enrich the Colorado Springs scene, reach out to us. Let’s work together to lift our community up, stimulate economic growth, and enhance the cultural landscape together. Colorado Springs deserves it!
Altogether, the impact of the arts runs far deeper than cultural entertainment alone. The arts shape our community, boost our personal and communal well being, and contribute to the local economy. Groups like ChoralSong represent the harmony of art and community, but we definitely do NOT do it alone. So we encourage you to think carefully and seriously about the part you play in this collaboration! You play a pivotal role in helping Colorado Springs thrive.
- Arts Fund: Changing lives. Changing Communities.
- The Royal Society for Encouragement of Arts: How can the Arts impact wellbeing in our communities?
- Bold Business Insights: Art and Its Impact on Society: Art Districts Revitalizing Communities (1)
