"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." - Maya Angelou.
Youth VOICES:
"I signed up for this to paint the scenery, but now I'm acting and speaking on a stage. These guys have become my family. Last year, I stood up in front of a class of thirty people and then just started crying because I was so afraid. And now I'm in front of…we had 150 chairs and they're all full…and I'm not crying." - Josie Altmaier, Participant
"I didn't know some of these people before the show, but now I think I can say for all of us that we're a big family, and I'm definitely going to miss coming here every day after school. And I didn't know what to expect coming into this. I was kinda scared because I didn't know how we were going to make a play from nothing. We started with nothing. And now it became something beautiful. I think it really changed me as a person." - Lindsay Anderson, Participant
"Working with VOICES has resulted in some of the most dynamic, engaging, and enriching experiences for my students. They consistently collaborate with me to design and implement teaching artist residencies that are authentic, high quality, and well-tailored to my students’ needs and interests. I am so appreciative of their attention, professionalism, sensitivity, and humble service. I have come to rely on them to help me deliver next-level education! " Mary Hernandez, Teaching Partner
VOICES of Latin America:
"Así Bailamos (This is How We Dance) is about what makes us identify as a Latin community; the warmth, the party, the Spanish, and the experiences we live throughout our lives as migrants, dreamers and workers. The love for art and for our people and the desire to raise our voices to leave a message in the community and shout "This is how we dance! This is how we move with life! " has brought us together to create this piece. A piece full of stories so different and so similar at the same time. I'm sure everyone will come out wanting to scream, hug and enjoy life, our life." - Gabriela Alvarez Espinoza, Así Bailamos Director
"Women and children who can no longer speak their native language to communicate with the "others" and who are adapting each day to a new way of being, dressing, moving and being seen. There is a gap that exists between the world inside and outside their worlds. This gap disappears when they use new forms of expression and communication through the arts and poetry; Painting, drawing, pasting or creating a haiku with words that had been hidden or forgotten. This year they made a journal, a visual journal. Each of them was provided with what they needed, to express what color of the rainbow they are today, to copy verses that reflected their feelings, to capture their perceptions --- a journal which would be tool to understand themselves." - Angelica Breña, Teaching Artist
IMAGES BELOW OF THE 2023 PERFORMANCE OF NUESTRAS VOICES, "NOCHE MÍSTICA"
Women's VOICES:
"Complete freedom. Creating whatever we want to create." - Iliana Rentería, Participant
"The support has been uncanny for exploring our voices." - Alya Howe, Participant
"I feel so grateful for the experience of having a safe space to create. " - Cassidy Willey, Participant
Watch the 2022 Women's VOICES Theater Project, "Wetlands"
Queer VOICES:
"You opened up my heart to a new world and a new experience and I treasure you for all that you do!" -Anonymous Participant
"You're amazing! I think the community was craving something like this and is so supportive. Grateful to be a part of it!" -Anonymous Participant
"Just THANK YOU for giving us a stage and your permission to be messy and playful and intense." -Anonymous Participant
WATCH THE 2022 QUEER VOICES THEATER PROJECT, "GREEN BIRDS ON ORANGE TREES"
Sage VOICES
"Throughout the whole night, I was shocked at the honesty of the stories. Many times, I felt as though I was having an intimate conversation with a grandparent as I asked them about their past. It was real.” - Gus Richardson, Audience Member at the Sage VOICES Theater Project
" Exceptional intergenerational storytelling in a unique, creative production. Participants, young & old were sincere, playful, insightful and inspiring. VOICES brought a new powerful dimension to 'memories"
We amplify voices in our community through the arts by providing a stage, a page, a canvas, a microphone for people to express who they are.
"I, who had been silent for over 50 years, began to see how important voice is."
15 years ago, our Founder and Board President, Barbara Reese, was introduced to poetry and it changed her life. She set out to create an organization that would allow others in our community to explore their voices through not just poetry, but also dance, theatre, music, painting, drawing.... all of the arts.
VOICES was born in 2016. The power of the arts and the human voice continues to fuel the work of our team.
Today, our programs amplify Youth Voices, Women's Voices, Queer Voices, Sage Voices, and Voices of Latin America through various writing, theater, dance, music, and visual art projects. We partner with schools, teaching artists, and other community organizations. By collaborating with diverse people and ideas, participants develop an understanding of self and other, making choices that connect us rather than divide us. Participants are empowered to live their authentic lives, feeling seen, feeling heard.
Organization name
VOICES
2016
Tax id (EIN)
81-3931536
Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Organization Size
Medium Organization
Address
520 S. Third St. #22BGarfield County, CO, US
Pitkin County, CO, US
Eagle County, CO, US