El Pomar Foundation honors Peggy Shivers with Inaugural Excellence in Arts and Culture Trustee Award
Award Presented as part of El Pomar’s Annual Awards for Excellence
On Friday October 1, 2021 Peggy Houston Shivers was recognized by El Pomar Foundation Trustees as the recipient of the inaugural Excellence in Arts and Culture Trustee Award, which honors an individual who has demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of arts and culture in Colorado. In a ceremony with other Awards for Excellence honorees at The Broadmoor Hotel, Shivers was introduced by El Pomar Trustee Colonel Gail Colvin, US Air Force (Retired), before delivering her own remarks. As a part of the award, a $10,000 grant was given to the Shivers Fund at Pikes Peak Library District.
From a young age, Peggy Houston Shivers studied voice. She was selected by Duke Ellington to be the featured soloist in his Sacred Concert II at Grace Cathedral and was the featured artist for the Bicentennial Celebration sponsored by the United States Embassy in Spain. Peggy also worked in the public school system in the United States, helped develop a program for dyslexic children of American families living in Spain and a crisis line program for Torrejon Air Force Base. She moved with her husband to Colorado Springs in 1979.
Peggy Shivers helped create the Shivers African American Historical and Cultural Collection at the Pikes Peak Library District to address the lack of information about African American history in Colorado Springs. The Shivers Fund at Pikes Peak Library District has also been established to ensure that funds will be available to maintain the collection for years to come. The Shivers Fund sponsors a concert series which allows young artists the opportunity to perform in a professional setting, awards grants, scholarships and financial support to students and provides educational activities to encourage young people to participate in and enjoy the classical arts. A choral group, the Celebration Multicultural Ensemble, has also been organized as an extension of the Shivers Fund. In addition, she has served on many boards including NAACP, Urban League, United Way, Colorado Springs Symphony, Colorado Springs Dance Theatre, Colorado Opera Festival -- where she served as president -- and the Pikes Peak Library District Foundation.
About El Pomar Foundation’s Awards for Excellence Program
El Pomar Foundation’s Board of Trustees developed the Awards for Excellence program to honor the commitment of Spencer and Julie Penrose to excellence in the nonprofit sector. The program recognizes individuals and organizations from across Colorado who serve their communities with distinction. Honorees are selected by a committee of community leaders, council members from El Pomar’s Regional Partnerships program and El Pomar Fellowship Alumni. Since its inception in 1989, Awards for Excellence has provided more than $6.5 million in grant support to more than 500 nonprofit organizations throughout Colorado.
About El Pomar Foundation
El Pomar Foundation is one of the largest and oldest private foundations in Colorado. El Pomar contributes approximately $25 million annually through grants and Community Stewardship programs to support Colorado nonprofit organizations involved in health, human services, education, arts and humanities and civic and community initiatives. Spencer and Julie Penrose founded El Pomar in 1937 with the mission to enhance, encourage and promote the current and future well-being of the people of Colorado.
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Featured Story
Commemorating the start of Arts Month in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region, Pikes Peak Library District (PPLD) is pleased to announce the region’s first Pikes Peak Poet Laureate since 2017. Ashley Cornelius is a nationally recognized and award-winning spoken word poet in Colorado. Her poetry has been featured at TEDx Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak Community College, the Colorado Springs Women's March, Denver Public Library, Colorado Nonprofit Association, as well as on many stages. Additionally, she was the 2018 Women of the World Poetry Slam Colorado Springs representative and competed nationally. A winner of multiple poetry Slams in Colorado Springs, Cornelius was also the Colorado Springs Independent Best of Artist in 2019 and was recognized by the Colorado Springs Business Journal as a Rising Star in 2021. She is sought after across the nation for speaking engagements and workshop facilitation utilizing poetry.
“It is an honor to select Ashley Cornelius to serve as the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate,” said Dustin Booth, project chair and PPLD Manager for The Hall at PPLD (formerly known as Knights of Columbus Hall). “She will be an incredible ambassador for the arts in the Pikes Peak region and her poetry inspires those who witness her work to think deeper about the roles we all play in our community.” Cornelius was selected through a competitive Poet Laureate application and interview process. The Poet Laureate committee contributed to the selection process and included Molly Wingate, Juan J. Morales, Andy Vick, Michael Ferguson, and Susan Peiffer. Cornelius’s four-year term will begin late October. As Poet Laureate she will work closely with the Library District to build a literary arts community through poetry by developing an appreciation of written and performance poetry, as well as inspiring and celebrating poetry and poets in the Pikes Peak region with dynamic programs of engagement, advocacy, and education. “This is an incredible honor, and I am excited to serve as the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate,” said Cornelius. “My intentions are to reach as many people as we can through poetry and storytelling and to be a champion for equity, diversity, and inclusion in our local creative spaces.” PPLD will host an official inauguration ceremony appointing Cornelius as the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate at a celebration on Sat., Oct. 23 at The Hall at PPLD (formerly known as Knights of Columbus Hall), part of the Penrose Library campus in downtown Colorado Springs. The event will start at 6 p.m. and will feature presentations by a few rising stars in the Colorado Springs poetry community, pieces by previous poet laureates, and a keynote presentation by Cornelius.