More Than Art: Why the Arts are Essential to a Thriving Community
by Dagny McKinley
This article originally appeared in theWinter 2025-26 issue of Art with Altitude.
A Legacy That Runs Deep
Steamboat Springs has always been a place where the arts and adventure walk side by side. In 1913, Marjorie Perry invited Carl Howelsen to town, and from his passion for ski jumping came Winter Carnival, the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club and the recreational skiing culture that still defines us. Just two years later, Charlotte Perry and Portia Mansfield founded Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp—the longest continually running performing arts camp in the nation.
From that spirit of daring and imagination grew a tapestry of institutions—Steamboat Creates, Steamboat Dance Theater, the Steamboat Symphony Orchestra, Opera Steamboat and many more. For over a century, each generation has layered new voices, new ideas and new stories onto the canvas of this community.
Today, that spirit still shines. Steamboat was recently named the second most artistically vibrant small community in the nation by SMU’s Arts Vibrancy Index. From youth storytelling to social prescribing that connects healthcare with the arts, our cultural organizations are not just preserving tradition—they’re reinventing it for modern times.
The Push and Pull of Now
It would be easy to stop here, to rest in the glow of what’s been built. But anyone who’s worked behind the scenes knows the truth: abundance doesn’t come without strain.
Producing a single symphony concert can cost upwards of $80,000. Opera? The same. Running a multi-use venue like Wildhorse Cinema & Arts takes over $1 million each year. Add to that rising costs for labor, utilities and insurance, and the math quickly gets complicated.
Meanwhile, a small group of dedicated donors is asked again and again to fill the gaps, even as the number of organizations—and their community roles—expands. And while Steamboat has world-class creativity, what we lack is a purpose-built performing arts center and a unified fund that could stabilize operations and seed innovation across the valley.
Why It Matters
So why do we keep pushing, keep creating, keep dreaming? Because the arts are not extras—they are essential.
They are the heartbeat that synchronizes when we listen to live music together. They are the splash of color that makes a forgotten alley feel safe and welcoming. They are the after-school theater program that keeps a child engaged and the dance class that gives an aging adult balance, strength and joy. They are the festivals that fill our hotels in the shoulder season and the exhibitions that bring visitors back again and again.
The arts are how we make meaning. They’re how we connect across differences. And in Steamboat, they’re how we build resilience in a town that depends as much on creativity as on snow.
The question isn’t whether the arts matter here—it’s whether we’ll be bold enough to sustain them for the next hundred years. Just as Perry, Mansfield and Howelsen planted seeds that blossomed into movements, so too can we.
And here’s the truth: when you support the arts, your impact stretches far beyond a single performance or a single lifetime. You are investing in an ecosystem that strengthens our economy, our health and our sense of belonging. You are leaving a legacy that future generations will inherit, build upon and carry forward.
Because in the end, art is more than entertainment. It’s the story of who we are, the promise of who we can be and the thread that ties Steamboat Springs together—past, present, and future.
Elevate the Arts: Contact dagny@ArtwithAltitude.com to find out how you can help. DM
