Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR)
COPPeR, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, is a nonprofit organization governed by a diverse board of community leaders from the arts, nonprofit, public, and business sectors. COPPeR takes a strategic view of the Pikes Peak region to ensure that cultural services reach all people and that the arts are used to positively address issues of economic development, education, tourism, regional branding, and civic life. It provides an umbrella service that encompasses areas such as marketing and communication, broad-based data gathering and strategic programming, and advocacy for the arts industry in its entirety. COPPeR’s vision embraces the value of arts of, by, and for the people. Art of the people refers to how art and culture express who we are collectively – a vibrant neighborhood, a city’s unique identity, ethnic and cultural expressions, national pride, our history and heritage, and how we choose to pass on our traditions and values to our children. The concept of art by the people embraces the creative capacity within each human being. This concept recognizes that a community thrives when all people have the ability to express their individual creativity, and values the paramount of quality arts education in public schools. The notion of art for the people speaks to the idea that everyone deserves to experience the very best of the professional arts – art at its highest level of excellence. COPPeR recognizes that the arts are an ecosystem, and that it takes a tremendous variety of creative individuals, organizations, and businesses to make for a well-rounded and thriving community.