Artist Daryl Thetford’s commemorative poster for the 2017 Cherry Creek Arts Festival. The poster, which sells for $30 at the festival, is a composite composition of hundreds of cropped images.
Only a few months out from its 30th anniversary, CherryArts is canceling the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, slated for July 3-5 in Denver’s upscale Cherry Creek neighborhood.
The massive art fair, market and juried competition typically draws more than 330,000 people from Colorado and out of state, organizers said in a press statement announcing the cancellation.
“It is with great sadness that we share the difficult decision made by the CherryArts board of directors to cancel the 2020 Cherry Creek Arts Festival,” said CherryArts CEO Tara Brickell. “This decision was made after weeks of careful deliberation about the challenging and evolving impacts of COVID-19 and was informed by City of Denver and State of Colorado public health officials.”
While the festival has already blocked off July 2-4, 2021, for its return, it is offering full refunds for booth fees and the option of having juried artists who were approved for 2020 return the next year. Those who choose not to return in 2021 can reapply for that event at a later date if circumstances change.
In the interim, the nonprofit CherryArts is hosting its Art Shop, a virtual platform where purchases directly support CherryArts’ artists and a free virtual online learning page for families. It’s also partnering with Food For Thought, an organization delivering thousands of meals to Denver Public School students and their families, to distribute art kits to families in need throughout Denver, officials said.
“The community needs the support of organizations like ours now more than ever,” Brickell said. “We look forward to using our year-round platform to bring art to everyone.”
Visit cherryarts.org for information about community initiatives and programs, or to donate to support artists and ongoing arts education programming.
