Jennifer Macias’ Colorado Favorites: Reflecting on some of Colorado Humanities’ programs and projects
Feb. 6, 2025
Note: Direct quotes were edited for typos, to observe AP style guidelines and to fit the listicle structure.
Colorado Humanities’ Black History Live Tour will only take place through March 1, but Jennifer Macias has shared some ways Coloradans can engage with the nonprofit year-round.
Macias, the history coordinator for Colorado Humanities, spoke about several of the organization’s programs and projects. While some programs or event series are nearing the end of their run, Coloradans still have upcoming opportunities to attend all of them.
1. Museum on Main Street Tour
Macias said Colorado Humanities worked with The Smithsonian to bring an exhibition to small towns across the state.
“It's been an 18-month tour co-sponsored with The Smithsonian called Museum on Main Street; it's at the last place right now, which is in Gunnison, and that tour has also been just record-breaking. We did 10 different cities. Normally, we only do six, but we partner with rural towns that have less than 10,000 people to bring The Smithsonian exhibit that travels.”
The exhibition, called “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” was designed for small-town organizations. The tour’s webpage describes it as a look at rural cities in the United States and how their features and residents have evolved, and it focuses on Colorado’s rural areas.
Macias said she appreciates that this tour allows people to view one of the Smithsonian’s exhibits outside of Washington D.C.
“It gives people an opportunity to go to The Smithsonian without having to leave Colorado, which is very cool because I know I actually just barely went to The Smithsonian, and I'm in my late 30s. I had never been to Washington D.C., and it was cool to be able to see it there. It was really impressive how the smaller exhibit is exactly like what you would see there, which is very cool.”
According to Colorado Humanities’ website, the exhibition will be at the Gunnison Art Center through Feb. 18.
2. Chautauqua programs and performances
Several Colorado Humanities programs and events feature Chautauqua storytelling; Macias said this form of storytelling has scholars thoroughly research a historical figure, put together a monologue that tells their life story and perform it as that person.
“We have different Chautauqua festivals that we help sponsor across the state. So, our big ones are in Greeley, Grand Junction and Durango.”
Macias mentioned High Plains Chautauqua, a week-long themed festival full of free performances and events for all age groups. She noted that it takes place in Greeley every August.
“It happens every year in Greeley, in August of each year, and it's a whole week of Chautauqua presentations. So, we usually bring in eight different speakers to do eight different historical characters, or sometimes, some of the speakers do multiple characters, but usually it's eight characters. Two characters present every evening, and then it’s the same. So, people get the opportunity to watch the presentation but then also ask questions.”
Colorado Humanities also offers the Young Chautauqua Program for K-12 students. Macias said that this program allows students to experience a condensed version of the process Chautauqua scholars go through.
Students involved in this program work with professionals to build their monologues before performing them at community events.
“The classrooms work with a coach to actually show the students how to research and write a very small monologue, and then, they perform that for their families. Then, they also have a presentation that they do for the community.”
According to the program’s webpage, the students also participate in Q&A sessions, where their audiences will ask them questions in and out of character.
Macias said that interested schools can contact Colorado Humanities if they want to host a Young Chautauqua program.
"So, individual schools essentially reach out to us if they're interested in hosting. The program is free across, you know… the curriculum is free, I should say. And then, we try to actively work with getting funding from the different communities if it's available. So, if Colorado Springs had an arts endowment, for example, that we might be able to apply for as a nonprofit, we would apply to try to get money for it, or we, in this case, we actually have set aside funding from our [National Endowment for the Humanities] funding so that we can support a coach in Colorado Springs.”
Colorado Humanities also has a History Speakers Bureau, a group of Chautauqua scholars that local nonprofits and community organizations can book for events.
“We also have a History Speakers Bureau, which has featured speakers that live here in Colorado, and so I will work with libraries, or museums or historical groups that would like to have somebody also come do those first-person narratives. So, that's a fun program that lets us work with, again, across the state libraries and museums.”
Those interested in booking a speaker can contact Macias using the information on the History Speakers Bureau webpage.
3. Colorado Book Awards
Macias said the Colorado Book Awards honor authors across genres who write for all age groups.
This year’s awards will recognize Coloradan-authored books published in 2024 or in November and December of 2023. According to Macias, authors from all over the state submitted more than 200 books for consideration this year.
The awards ceremony to celebrate the finalists and winners will take place on July 26 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House Studio Loft, and tickets for the event will be available to buy this spring on the event’s webpage.
Macias described the event as a “small-scale banquet” that recognizes “so much great talent in Colorado.”
More information on what makes a book eligible for review, the award categories and how to submit books for next year’s awards can be found on the event page.
4. “The Five States of Colorado”
According to Colorado Humanities’ website and Macias, “The Five States of Colorado” is a 90-minute documentary that Havey Pro Cinema released in 2023.
“The one very cool thing that we've done recently that we're still kind of touring is a movie called “The Five States of Colorado,” and it's this beautiful kind of documentary-style movie. I want to say it's around 90 minutes long, and it's soon to be, I believe, available in our libraries and stuff across the state.”
The film separates Colorado into five regions, and each one has a distinct culture, history and set of needs. Macias said the film is meant to show that Coloradans live in the same state, but they don’t all have the same cultural experiences.
“Right now, we've just been doing, again, showings with museums and libraries. And the film essentially divides the state up into five different sections and talks about how everybody is a Coloradan, but we're also all very different; so, somebody who grew up in Fort Collins is going to have a very different experience than somebody who grew up in Pueblo, or kind of thinking about the different cultures that have existed across Colorado and its diversity in different areas. So, that film is just beautifully done, and we're actively getting it out into the community."
Descriptions of the five regions, future screening dates and more information about the documentary can be found on the film’s website or Colorado Humanities’ website.
