Growing up in the metro area, summers looked like afternoons spent at the library with my grandparents, swimming lessons alongside my sisters, art classes, road trips, music lessons, and adventure galore. Now as an adult, I\u2019m staring down 6 straight weeks of Love Island<\/em> episodes and a weekend or two in the mountains if I can swing it. It\u2019s decidedly harder to find that summer vibe that made the school-free months of my childhood so sparkly in retrospect. It\u2019s easier than ever to scroll on TikTok and wait for the weekend. Luckily for me, I work at SCFD \u2013 a wellspring of wonder for our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPhoto: SCFD (Scientific and Cultural Facilities District)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is SCFD, you may ask? It\u2019s the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, a seven-county tax district that supports arts, culture, and science nonprofit organizations around the region – that\u2019s Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson Counties. You may have seen our hot pink bear logo sprinkled across your favorite institutions; think organizations like the Denver Art Museum, Aurora Symphony Orchestra, Dinosaur Ridge, or Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum. This support comes from mere pennies \u2013 for every $10 spent in the region, the SCFD tax collects one penny. That\u2019s around one cent for every pricey iced coffee. In 2025, all those pennies added up to $87 million in grants! This funding supports free and discounted admission, new exhibitions, collaborative programming, and more. That\u2019s why we\u2019re launching the Summer of SCFD, to showcase the low-cost and free arts, culture, and science activities right in our backyard!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SCFD was created by our community, for our community. It was born out of an economic downturn in the late eighties, when funding for local arts and cultural organizations was slashed. Sound familiar? A dedicated group of community members and activists came together to lobby for support around a tax district that would generate consistent support for these institutions, which was passed by voters in 1988. Since then, SCFD has been reauthorized by our community three times, and our cultural sector has grown exponentially as a result. Now, SCFD supports more than 300 nonprofits in service of our vision of providing access to culture for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo: SCFD (Scientific and Cultural Facilities District)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDenver Zoo Conservation Alliance (DZCA) has been able to provide nearly 40 years of free days and expand community programming like our beloved animal ambassador program and community science projects thanks to the support of district residents. We have been proud to be an SCFD funded partner since the inception of the district in the 1980s,\u201d shared Cristal Torres DeHerrera, President and CEO of DZCA. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s something for everyone in the SCFD family of funded partners, and I mean everyone! I have been shocked by the range of organization SCFD funds. Adults can get back into childhood instruments or pick up a new one with Swallow Hill Music, the whole family can embark on an adventure in nature at Bluff Lake Nature Center, kids can learn more about the arts and culture of Latin America with Museo de las Americas, and even babies can get their first taste of culture with art crawls at the Clyfford Still Museum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSCFD\u2019s support of Museo de las Americas enables the museum to strengthen our unique programming in all seven counties, from diverse exhibitions featuring international artists to multicultural artmaking workshops like \u2018Posada Printing\u2019 and traveling exhibits for children and their families,\u201d said Claudia Moran, Executive Director of Museo de las Americas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to dip your toe in? The water is fine! Start with an SCFD Free Day. Many of our funded partners around the district offer free admission days and programs all year round. Here are a few coming up: <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find additional information about these free days and more on SCFD\u2019s website. You can even browse our funded partners by county, discipline, or date to see what\u2019s happening near you \u2013 you may be surprised!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo: SCFD (Scientific and Cultural Facilities District)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSummer is a great time of year to try new things at your local cultural organizations. The days are longer, the weather is awesome, and there\u2019s no better time to take up a new hobby, whether it\u2019s learning to play an instrument here at Swallow Hill or taking up painting or birding,\u201d shared Swallow Hill Music\u2019s Chief Executive Officer, Jessy Clark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, we hope you\u2019ll seek out wonder and awe for your weekends and weekdays alike with a Summer of SCFD! Like the district, it can be what you make it. Fill it with free days, concerts, classes, cool air and art, or whatever fits your fancy. And keep your eye out for that pink bear in your area, we would love to see you! <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Emma MantoothGrowing up in the metro area, summers looked like afternoons spent at the library with my grandparents, swimming lessons alongside my sisters, art classes, road trips, music lessons, and adventure galore. Now as an adult, I\u2019m staring down 6 straight weeks of Love Island episodes and a weekend or two in the mountains […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8939,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1410],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spnosored-patrocinado"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/enteratelatino.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/P1000408.jpg?resize=760%2C570&ssl=1\")
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