Yet another arts awards show kicked off today at the Antlers. The Business and Arts Awards.

I was confused, and I admit that happens a lot because sometimes I’m just not too swift. But I RSVP’d for this thinking I was going to the Arts/Business/Education Consortium Awards. I’d feel really dumb, except several other attendees I talked to made the same assumption.

These awards were sponsored by the Chamber and COPPeR, and it was really a wonderful luncheon (except for the lunch — guys don’t do entree salads that well.) The idea of the awards was to really give a shout-out to the businesses in town that are supporting the arts — certainly a worthy idea.

The performances were great, especially the always-funny Birgitta DePree of the Manitou Art Theater, who did a bit of her French woman with the attitude, Babette, and the always amazing opera singer Judith Shay Burns, who gave us a sneak preview of the upcoming Opera Theater of the Rockies production “Street Scene.”

I’ve been talking to Eve Tilley (by the letters and blog posts, you’d think that would be a stretch but it’s not — she forgives easily) about how the Pikes Peak Arts Council Awards could improve.

These new Business and Arts Awards provided an example of something Eve had mentioned. She’s thinking about moving the awards from a big evening thing to a daytime luncheon thing, so people don’t expect it to be this big SHOW.

These awards made that case fairly well.

But one of the advantages these awards had is that they only went through three categories. So, even with a bunch of performances, things moved pretty quickly and we got out by 1 p.m.

Here’s a list of the winners:

The Creative Workspace or Workforce Award recognizes either the physical environment of a business or its use of the arts and creativity with its employees. This award can recognize the architecture, interior design, space planning, exceptional design or private art collections that create an engaging business environment. This award also can recognize companies that provide opportunities for their employees to unleash their creative potential through community projects, volunteer service to arts organizations, creativity training for employees within the organization, company talent shows or other creative outlets that improve the performance and quality of experience for employees.

This year’s award goes to The Promenade Shops at Briargate. This open-air lifestyle shopping center on the city’s north side features five large-scale pieces of public art purchased through Colorado-based Fryberger Art Consulting. This year, The Promenade Shops added two butterflies as part of the Colorado Springs Rotary Club project to benefit arts education. The Promenade Shops also has hosted art festivals, and for the past two years it has hosted a pre-show of artworks for Memories in the Making, benefitting art therapy programs, research and support for the Alzheimer’s Association Colorado Chapter.

Corporate support is critical to sustain arts and culture, the cornerstone of community vitality. Commitment to the arts supports a wide variety of community priorities including quality of life, education, and economic development. The Philanthropy Award recognizes exemplary business citizenship and generosity to arts and culture through financial contributions and/or significant in-kind support.

This year’s award goes to GE Johnson Construction Company. With four decades of serving the people of Colorado, GE Johnson has worked for the betterment of the region’s cultural centers, health care facilities and environmental and historical sites. In recent years, GE Johnson has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and has been a Diamond Level sponsor for the past decade. GE Johnson also contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars in in-kind support for the 48,000-square-foot remodel and expansion of the Fine Arts Center, which reopened last year. The company’s philanthropic support of the Fine Arts Center also earned it the statewide 2008 Colorado Business Committee for the Arts Award. Both Gil Johnson and Jim Johnson have served on the Fine Arts Center board. GE Johnson also led the $5 million recent renovation of the Pikes Peak Center and contributed $100,000 to that project; GE Johnson also was the original builder of the center in the early 1980s. Furthering its commitment to downtown, GE Johnson also contributed $15,000 to the 2008 Art on the Streets program, which brings world-class sculptures to city streets and public spaces to enliven the urban experience.

The Business and Arts Partnership Award honors a business that partners with an art organization or project in ways that go beyond financial giving to result in strong mutual benefit for both partners. While philanthropic support may be encompassed in the partnership, such partnerships also involve deep commitment on the part of both partners for a shared success that benefits the partners and the community.

This year, there are two winners for the award. The first award goes to The Citadel mall, which for 18 years has partnered with the Imagination Celebration on a variety of projects. For years, The Citadel has provided space for youth art exhibitions, rehearsal space, concerts and multicultural performances. The Citadel serves as the kick-off site for the annual It Takes Five program, providing discounted rush tickets for teens to a variety of local performances. For more than a decade, The Citadel also has been a major underwriter of Imagination Celebration, providing a minimum of $10,000 annually. Perhaps the most innovative component of this partnership is Celebration Place, a 3,740-square-foot creativity center provided free of charge in the mall and valued at more than $100,000 annually in rent, utilities and maintenance. Since opening in 2003, Celebration Place has served over 40,000 people and helped more than 90 organizations reach out to the diverse populations that surround the mall. Coming soon to the mall is an after-school mural project created by local artist Douglas Rouse and area high school students. The 80-foot mural will depict marine life off the coast of Antarctica.

The other winner of the Business and Arts Partnership Award is Bristol Brewing Company. Since 1994, Bristol has brewed one-of-a-kind ales using only natural ingredients. And beer and art certainly go together. Bristol supports scores of nonprofit organizations – many of them arts organizations – through donations of cash and beer. Bristol partners with the Smokebrush Foundation and Gallery, providing beer for all their openings and events. Through the special limited release of the Smokebrush Porter, nearly $13,000 was raised this year to support the Friends of the Fountain Fund, which helps maintain the Uncle Wilber Fountain in Acacia Park. Similar support was provided from the Pumpkin Ale that benefitted Venetucci Farm. Bristol support of this year’s KRCC Blues Under the Bridge concerts also was valued at more than $10,000. This year Bristol also partnered with La Foret to present the first Bluegrass Under the Pines concert. But that’s just the beginning. Through cash underwriting, beer donations or silent-auction donations and other in-kind opportunities, Bristol has supported Colorado Culture Cast, the Red Note Jazz Festival, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, the UCCS Gallery of Contemporary Art, UCCS Theatreworks, the Indie Sprit Film Festival, Colorado Springs Dance Theatre, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Clayfest, the Pikes Peak Lavender Film Festival, the Colorado Springs Chorale, and the Pikes Peak Blues Community. Owner Mike Bristol and Events and Promotions Manager Laura Long also go above and beyond, providing volunteer staff for events to ensure that things run smoothly and everyone has a good time.