The Dairy Arts Center anchors Boulder, Colorado’s creative community as its largest multidisciplinary arts hub and a central driver of the region’s cultural economy.

Founded in 1992, the Dairy Arts Center began with a simple, community-driven goal: to create a shared space where artists could work, perform, and learn from one another. Local leaders transformed the former Watts-Hardy Dairy—a milk-processing facility—into a 42,000-square-foot arts center designed to provide cooperative workspaces and venues for live performance.

From the outset, the Dairy set out to unite artists across disciplines in a shared creative environment. That vision now defines daily life within its walls. The Dairy houses professional theaters, contemporary art galleries, rehearsal and dance studios, teaching spaces, offices, and a 69-seat art-house cinema. It supports work in theater, film, dance, music, and visual art, presenting hundreds of live events each year and screening more than 700 films annually. Both its programming and audiences reflect Boulder’s spectrum of ages, backgrounds, cultures, and abilities.

Today, the Dairy anchors Boulder’s arts ecosystem. More than 100 nonprofit arts organizations depend on it as a primary venue, creative home, and source of professional infrastructure. By keeping access affordable and centering paid opportunities for artists, the Dairy doesn’t just host work—it fuels livelihoods, sparks collaboration, and creates space for artistic risk and growth. Its impact extends far beyond the stage and gallery. Each year, more than 200,000 patrons flow through the Dairy, energizing downtown businesses, driving cultural tourism, and amplifying Boulder’s reputation as a creative destination.

Mission: The Dairy Arts Center provides diverse opportunities to create, learn, and engage in high quality performing, cinematic, and visual arts experiences.

Vision: To develop a national reputation in the arts that reflects Boulder’s evolving artistic and entrepreneurial spirit.

Values: As a nonprofit multidisciplinary arts venue, the Dairy Arts Center values community, curation, cultivation, and courage. These shared beliefs guide our day to day operations, programming selections (our own and those of our presenting organizations), and our interactions with Dairy Arts Center staff and board, patrons, donors, partners, residents, volunteers, artists and all stakeholders. The Dairy Arts Center welcomes everyone, including people of any race, ethnicity, nationality, gender identity or presentation, sexual orientation, ability, religion, and citizen status. 

• Community: The Dairy was founded on the idea of community, and we extend that connection to all who engage with us. We envision a community built on active engagement and an appreciation of all disciplines of art and the spectrum of the human experience. We seek to hold our community up on the pillars of kindness, equity, justice, and trust.
• Curation: The curation of Dairy Programming is always made with the intention to be challenging, thought-provoking, engaging, and diverse.We are mindful of craftsmanship and professionalism, but also strive to remove us from the role of gatekeepers through rentals, partnerships, educational programs, and more, as we seek an inclusive model that suits the needs of our community.
• Cultivation: Our industry is constantly growing and evolving. We strive to honor those pushing the narrative forward, and foster an environment where everyone feels comfortable in their personal and professional growth. We hope that every bit of programming the Dairy either hosts or produces can provide a learning opportunity for every patron and artist. We also extend this belief to our staff and encourage new learners to evolve within the industry.
• Courage: We view courage as a necessity to honor our values system and hold ourselves accountable. Courage allows us to confront harmful situations, make bold programming decisions, and engage meaningfully with opportunities for growth, equity, and change.