Kaiser Permanente wins national award for supporting the arts

DENVER — Americans for the Arts recently announced Kaiser Permanente Colorado as one of this year’s BCA 10: Best Businesses Partnering with the Arts in America honorees. Presented every year by Americans for the Arts’ Business Committee for the Arts, 10 companies nationwide are honored for their exceptional commitment to the arts. The awards will be presented at a black-tie gala at the Central Park Boathouse in New York City on October 11.

“We’re honored to have been nominated by the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts to receive this national recognition from Americans for the Arts,” said Jandel Allen-Davis, MD, vice president of Government, External Relations and Research for Kaiser Permanente Colorado. “We're proud to support the creative and cultural arts communities in this state which are pivotal to health and healing."

Every year, Americans for the Arts, through its Business Committee for the Arts program, recognizes businesses of all sizes for their exceptional involvement with the arts, which enriches the workplace, education and the community. These companies set the standard for excellence and serve as role models for others.

Kaiser Permanente Colorado’s work to improve the health of its communities through the arts comes in many forms:

• Provided the Denver Art Museum (in 2015) a one-year $150,000 grant to provide free general admission to all youth, 18 and under, for the next year. This support helped prompt a 15 percent spike in youth admission with more than 28,000 visits that year.
• Was a founding funder of the Denver Botanic Garden’s "Community Supported Agriculture" — a program that provides fresh local produce to Colorado families — made possible through a three-year, $500,000 grant.
• Started the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Arts Program, which features more than 700 Colorado artists and 900 unique pieces throughout the 31 Kaiser Permanente medical offices in Colorado. The program was carefully curated, down to color scheme and placement of each piece.
• Participates in the Colorado Business Committee for the Art’s “On My Own Time” Art Show — a two-decade long program that’s featured more than 1,000 Kaiser Permanente employees’ artwork. Several of these pieces are part of the permanent art collection displayed in the organization’s medical and administrative office buildings.
• Kaiser Permanente Colorado’s Arts Integrated Resources department works with schools, employers and others to leverage the arts as a vehicle to improve health and well-being. For 32 years, AIR has provided award-winning theatrical productions, experiential learning workshops and youth engagement initiatives for young people and adults in schools and community groups across the state at an annual investment of $1.8 million. This work reached more than 183,000 Coloradans in 2014.

In addition to the work being done in Colorado to support the arts, Kaiser Permanente nationally partners with organizations and communities across the country to improve access to the arts for our estimated 10.8 million members and the more than 60 million residents of the communities in which they live.