As a university student in Mexico, Ana Valles studied international affairs and knew she wanted to follow a career path which would allow her to promote and celebrate the varied and rich cultures of the world. When she moved to Denver as a young adult, she began searching for an opportunity to fulfill this dream and found Denver’s Mexican Cultural Center where she started as a volunteer in 2014 and gradually worked her way up to her current role as Executive Director for the organization.
Founded in 1992, the Mexican Cultural Center is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with cultural, educational and other institutions to promote and maintain the richness of Mexican culture in the State of Colorado. The Mexican Cultural Center’s mission is to increase awareness of Mexico’s unique arts, customs, traditions in Colorado by building bridges between members of the community, artists, and cultural organizations. The Mexican Cultural Center provides free programs for Coloradans which are both multicultural and inclusive for all backgrounds and income levels.
“Collaboration is very important to our organization,” Ana states. “One of our main goals as an organization is to provide opportunity to experience arts and culture to all audiences, to open doors to those who may not have experienced a museum or concert before. We wouldn’t be able to achieve these free and low cost cultural events without the help of our community partners and for that we, as an organization, are very grateful.”
Ana grew up in a small town in Mexico where art museums, concerts, and cultural events were limited. As an immigrant, and single mother, she prides herself in her work at the Mexican Cultural Center to help people with similar backgrounds to her own, feel comfortable accessing cultural events and places in Denver.
“The free and low cost events that we put on for the community such as Dia del Niño, or a concert celebrating Latin American music with the Colorado Symphony, or our Dia de los Muertos events, help show members of our community that arts and cultural events are for them,” Ana stated. “We strive to create fun, inclusive experiences and places for families like mine. Not only does it help show these families that Denver’s cultural resources are available to them as members of the community, it helps children see that they could play in the orchestra, or be an artist, or a scientist. Accessibility to cultural resources can inspire so many in the next generation.” For more information and to support the Mexican Cultural Center, visit www.mccdenver.org. For more information on Cerveceria Colorado’s Cervezas for Causes events and to request to be a beneficiary, visit www.cerveceriacolorado.com.
