Using the arts as a bridge, we connect youth and artists with resources to reach their full potential.
PlatteForum is a 501 (c)3 non- profit organization located in Denver, Colorado, U.S., founded in 2002. PlatteForum is an award-winning and innovative arts, youth-development, and artist-in-residence program that partners youth (K-12) from historically marginalized communities with professional artists in intensive, structured, and long-term creative learning environments. Youth work side by side w
ith professional artists to collaboratively plan, produce, and exhibit a body of work in an environment in which artistic excellence is highly valued. Youth in PlatteForum’s programs dive into a variety of art forms, confronting challenges and obstacles and making life-changing discoveries about who they are, what they are capable of achieving, and where they belong in the world. Since 2009, 99.97% of ArtLab interns have graduated from high school (about half were the first in their family to do so), and 75% attended college after graduation. As an artist community, PlatteForum supports the creation and presentation of new art and ideas by contemporary artists. By supporting working artists, we are generating dialogue in the larger community about the role of the artist in society. Located in a rich urban context, our dynamic, artist-centered residences are built upon the notion of engaging the broader community in the creation of new work, where artists, youth, and the public collaborate. Each resident artist becomes a catalyst for innovative and expanded thinking about what art is and can be. Learn more and get involved by visiting our website and subscribing to our newsletter.
