tonight on Colorado stories from studio 12 after bone cancer threatened to take away the sport he loves.

One young hockey player found a new way to get back on the ice.

We're introducing you to Hunter Murphy and the game that gave him hope.

Then on the family Beat, we're talking less screen time and more green time.

Why?

Doctors say going outside.

Maybe one of the healthiest things that parents can do for their kids brains.

Plus, we are heading to the Colorado Creative Industries Summit in Trinidad to explore how artists are building jobs and helping shape the future of the state.

It all starts right now on Colorado.

Stories from studio 12.

From the Five Points Media Center in the heart of Denver, Colorado.

This is studio 12.

Hi, I'm Bazzi Canady, and I'm Ryan here.

Thanks for joining us for Colorado Stories from studio 12.

For a lot of kids hockey is more than just a sport.

It's where they find confidence, resilience and friendships.

Tonight on viewfinder, PBS Twelve's Rico Romero introduces us to a kid who proves just that.

Hunter Murphy first stepped onto the ice when he was only three years old, inspired by his mom's love of the game.

Then a bone cancer diagnosis in 2024 changed everything, and he thought that his hockey days were over.

But one family's determination and a different way to play the game helped Hunter get back on the ice and rediscover the sport he loves.

3690961 Sam Girard.

And he signed it on the bottom right there.

Yeah, I remember getting my old, old skates on and just having my dad hold me.

And I had a mini red stick that I would shoot.

Hi, I'm Heather Torbett, and I am Hunter Murphy's mom.

This one is Zach for easy.

He didn't sign this one.

Sammy just kind of gave me this one because he was trying out his curve.

When the Avs came, I. My dad took me to a game and it was violent and fast and super competitive.

And I was like, this is the greatest thing ever.

This is actually like, I think this one's my favorite.

This is Matt Davis.

I completely fell in love with the game and, all the things about hockey.

And then when we won the championship the first year that they were here, it just I was, I was done.

That was.

That was going to be my thing.

So it just it's my whole soul.

I love hockey, so I have like all these old player Wayne Gretzky.

This is one of my favorite ones.

I thought I knew hockey and then here comes Hunter who knows far more than I ever could.

I'm Hunter Murphy.

I'm in seventh grade.

My mom, she was, huge fan when she was growing up.

And I think I kind of, like, got into that when I was, like, three years old.

And then I started skating around that time, and I just really liked it.

Then I played it several of three.

He's he's a hockey geek for sure.

To his core, he loves everything.

The game, the stats, the players.

And I've skated and I think shooting and I love it all and it's just really fun to play it.

While I was in Leadville.

My dad was teaching me.

He started skating with his dad, and when I saw how easily he took to skating, I was like, oh my gosh, we should do a learn to play.

And I'll just get on the pond, like after school.

And it would be late when I saw how much he loved the first one.

We got him into the second and third, and we were living up in Leadville at the time, but we were driving to Du and driving to monument and we just he loved it so much and he took to it and he genuinely wanted to get better every single time.

So his drive, he's just very driven and very smart and pay close attention to things.

I was also going to try to get into a sled today.

But so it all started from a wagon.

2020 4th May I got diagnosed with osteosarcoma.

That was a tumor growing on my tibia.

So I found a wagon.

We were up at my mom's mom's place in South Dakota, and I found a wagon.

And I thought this would be cool to go down it.

So I get my youngest brother and we hit a rock, and then we go like I fall.

The wagon falls on us and I fall onto a rock.

My leg hits a rock.

And so I'm like, it hurts so bad I did not.

It wasn't.

I didn't even hit that hard.

It hurt so bad.

I was just sitting on the couch, laying down like I had Advil.

When I was looking at it, it all of a sudden was swollen.

But the problem was, is it was swollen in a really weird place.

It was not the knee joint, it was just below it.

So I got in touch with, you know, people I knew from Sky Ridge at the, orthopedics place and got them in on Tuesday morning when we got back and Zack, the PA pulled me out of the room and he was like, I need you to look at this.

And I'm like, oh, that can't be good.

I have a biopsy on Thursday morning, and then the next day on method, we found out that at osteosarcoma and it was an aggressive tumor.

And then I started chemo the week after that.

My name is Daniel Lerman.

I'm an orthopedic oncologist at Health one Presbyterian Saint Luke's.

I see sarcoma is a cancerous process that starts in the bones.

We most commonly see it in the adolescent population after people have had their growth spurts.

We also see it in young adults.

And then another peak incidence occurs as we age.

It was actively eating away at the bone when I had the tumor.

Osteosarcoma is a typically an aggressive cancer that requires really aggressive treatment to manage it and eradicate it.

It's usually a combination of chemotherapy and surgery to remove the primary tumor.

What's going through your head during all of this?

I don't want to die.

I think that was a bigger one.

And I think it was a lot of confusion.

And it all happened, like, really fast.

I had never taken an MRI before.

Hunter went through kind of a wave of emotions at first.

He was like, I don't want to die, mom.

Then I'm like, that's not an option.

We're going to figure this out and trying to be strong for him.

And he was laying on the couch watching TV, and he paused the TV and he grabbed my hand and he was like, mom, what if I die?

And I'm like, like, I have no idea how to answer that question, but I just I looked at him and I was like, well, you have to promise to be my guardian angel for the rest of my life then.

And he looked at me and he goes, okay.

And then I would get a metal in my leg, have a rotation policy where they cut this off, have your foot and put it on your knee.

Hunter and I had a long talk and I said, you know, with the rotation plasti, he was more confident that Hunter could play hockey again with the titanium rod.

He's like, more than likely you'll never play again.

He's like, mom, I just really want to keep my leg.

And we kind of talked about the likelihood of him ever getting into the NHL anyway, and but the likelihood of him becoming a coach or becoming a broadcaster or journalist, even and athletic training or something like that had a higher likelihood and he could still be part of the game of hockey.

I chose for the metal because I think I wanted to keep my leg and they said, I can play hockey.

So let me.

Sparing surgery is removing the cancerous process while keeping the limb intact and trying to optimize the function.

Hunter has a tremendous spirit and Hunter was totally committed to returning to the ice.

Just trust yourself and pull your tummy.

One of the most challenging conferences I had with Hunter and his parents is when I told him the playing contact hockey was probably not realistic long term for a hunter in the future.

Losing hockey like I'm like, we could fight cancer.

There are remedies to this that's curable.

Losing hockey is really when I get choked up because it's so much a part of his soul and so much a part of who he is, and he's so intelligent about it.

And that's not just the NHL or stats or anything like that.

Like he really loves the game.

So for Hunter specifically, we put an implant that allows for growing to occur.

I think that seeing his limb salvage doctor, really changed our perspective, both of us.

And then I had my surgery, July 30th and I ring the bell December 29th, 2024.

It was shortly thereafter that I actually got a text from, J.P.

Huber, who I went to high school with, hadn't really talked to him.

We were, you know, the quintessential Facebook friends and knew each other in high school.

And he was like, hey, I saw your story about Hunter, and I just want you to know that I'm the VP of Colorado Youth Sled Hockey.

We'd love to have him try it out and see if he likes it, and see if he wants to be on the team.

Yeah, back in sled hockey is the parent version of ice hockey.

And instead of skating, you are sitting in a sled and propelling yourself with two different sticks on a set of skates.

Yeah, we're gonna kind of tag.

We're gonna go, yeah, it's a variant of ice hockey.

It's actually the same game, typically for players with disabilities.

I was told I couldn't play, and now I found sled hockey.

And I've been told I can play go.

Okay.

Yeah, but they sit in a bucket that's close to the ice.

Yeah.

Holding my hand.

Oh.

It's sad when.

And we got him in a sled and within five minutes it was like he had been doing it for years and he just loved it.

Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh.

So we have kids who can't skate normally or shoot like with a stick.

Normally.

Hunter has been a great addition to Colorado sled hockey.

He's been a great addition to the club.

As far as he's brought a whole bunch of hockey knowledge, it was.

I mean, I definitely teared up and it was heartwarming because you can just see that competitiveness come right back to him.

So kind of going right.

Oh, oh.

And he was like, I'm going to figure this out.

And he was like paying attention to the other kids and like just taking notes, mentally watching how they did, coming for you knew he was just like, this is this is my thing.

I went into the locker room right after the the game and he goes, mom, this is my thing.

And, side over last year at the dog Bowl and decided, hey, this is my future and hockey is I can go play sled hockey instead.

And join full time this season.

I got to get it up to make sure that we've gotten Hunter back on the ice.

The sled hockey, which may not be exactly his passion initially, but I think he's really become a part of him.

And as his doc, it really protects the limb.

On happiness.

It's hard to shoot, though.

You don't have a curve at all.

I think it's just I'm relieved.

I think a little bit.

I'm definitely happy and excited for the fall season.

He's just a charming, good kid and he's just got a good heart.

Yeah.

When I have dinner at your house sometime soon.

He's just a very sweet, determined kid.

I think a great support system is a big part of the healing process.

Hunter.

Yeah.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

You're doing great out here.

Thank you.

It's really fun watching this.

Thank you.

For every patient.

There's a tremendous community behind them and around them that empowers them to be as good as they can be after their cancer journey.

I think when the whole hockey community can come together and do something like Dog Nation does, I think it's just it's a really fun thing to see and help out in, and it's a great community to be in.

He's skating at Old Foothills.

The owner there really took the hunter.

He holds, you know, times that he doesn't have anybody else on the ice for Hunter so that he can get out there and just build that strength back.

When people are diagnosed with cancer, it's a total whirlwind.

And, you know, one, the future that you think you have.

So our goal in health care is to try to help the patient get to be the person who they envision themselves being in the future, to get them back to who they want to be, who they identify with.

He is just my my twin in every way.

And I mean, we were close before and definitely bonded over hockey before, but I mean, when you're spending days and sometimes weeks in the hospital together, like I've, I've grown to love him for more reasons.

And him just being my kid, he doesn't mess up the ice.

I'm really appreciating every moment that I get with him, even when he's being a teenager and I, can't stand him.

It's very brief because I'm just I don't I don't know what I would do without him around.

Hunter continues to recover from treatment while competing in sled hockey, and he hopes that one day he'll also return to playing standup hockey.

Need an excuse to kick the kids off their screens?

Well, science has one for you.

Researchers say spending time outside can help kids focus better, reduce stress, remember more, and build healthier brains, all while doing what they love most.

Playing on tonight's edition of The Family Beat.

PBS Twelve's Erica McLarty sat down with the head of psychiatry at Children's Hospital Colorado on the Anschutz Medical Campus to find out why being outside has such a powerful impact on our kids brains.

Then Erica grabbed her own kids and teamed up with Generation Wild on their campaign to get your brain out for some practical ways you can enjoy the outdoors with your family.

Here's a look.

Tray touching.

Here is what people read, and we're always looking for ways to help our kids thrive better focus, better mental health.

But what if one of the most powerful tools isn't something you can buy?

It's something you simply step into.

Can I touch the tablet?

Yeah, yeah.

Today we're getting our brains out.

Why shouldn't kids be in nature?

We are involved in nature.

It's part of us.

We're part of it.

There's no separation.

It's only been very recent in human history.

Have we been predominantly indoors throughout our day?

So we are geared to be outside.

Our brains didn't develop staring at screens.

They developed climbing trees, exploring creeks and solving problems in the natural world.

The outdoors for kids is a great place for young people to start learning resilience, to make decisions on their own.

And that can be a really scary thing for parents.

But the outdoors really affords this opportunity to for kids to explore, to test some boundaries.

But parents can keep them still in a safe environment by going to, say, a public park.

Kids can push boundaries, but that helps them become independent thinkers and make choices on their own of what they may deem is safe or not.

Those little moments.

Should I climb one more branch?

Can I balance on this log?

Can I cross this creek?

They're doing much more than playing.

They're wiring a brain.

Healthy risk.

Taking in the outdoors can come in a lot of different forms, depending on the outdoor activities that you're doing.

You know, when we think about, you know, simple outdoor play, it could be something as simple as climbing a tree and how high up you go is going to be that risk taking.

But it could also be, you know, going skiing or even playing a sport.

You know, how risky are we going to be when we do those things?

You know, I'm not going to go off of that jump with my bike and test out my skills a little bit.

So today we're going to explore the creek, here at the Cherry Creek Ecological Park.

We're going to check the creek for macro invertebrates, which are bugs that we can see with our eyes, but they aren't always really easy to see.

So when we get down there, at first, we're going to look at the water.

We might not see anything, but we're going to do some closer investigations to see, what we're able to find.

I know we'll also be doing a nature craft where you can collect things from nature and create a scene, no matter what the season is, and you'll be able to update it throughout the year.

Depending on the things that you find.

We'll also spend some time meditating outdoors, which is really healthy for us to take those moments, to really slow down and relax and take those deep breaths, which really has that, those great benefits.

Researchers call it healthy risk kids.

Well, they just call it fun.

This is what I am talking about the magic of childhood.

And these cost a couple of bucks and we're out here for a couple of hours minimum.

So I only have one question, though.

Would you rather be on a screen or doing this?

Yeah, I'm doing this okay.

Yes, definitely doing this.

So I'm going to give this one the thumbs up.

We literally see stress hormones reduce.

Oftentimes we're living in these artificial environments where our natural cues of time change are wow off the natural rhythm.

And we find a lot of sleep disturbances and youth.

And there are a lot of other factors, like when school begins and screen time, but it's certainly plays a factor.

So sun exposure or vitamin D and sleep.

There's one like real example that we deal with all the time in clinic.

Even vitamin D levels can improve with regular sunlight.

Even small amounts is beneficial.

We absolutely know that.

It's like as little as like 5 or 10 minutes.

Because we're so attuned to signals from the outdoors.

Outdoors helps improve memory and learning because there is not a lot of structure there.

So there's a lot of opportunity for exploration and trial and error.

You might be surprised if it gets a little wonky that we have a piece in our brain that's fully dedicated to just even as you're walking around in space, like getting a mental map of the area.

And so you get to practice that when you're in these open environments, like you don't quite get what same kinds of opportunities.

And indoors, we'll also work on our memory by going on a short hike.

But before we go, we'll look at ten items and we'll ask the kids to remember those items.

There was a bottle cap, there was a lock, and the key a pinecone and string.

Like a yarn string.

There's a battery.

And I don't know if there's anything else I can't remember.

Oh, good.

Really?

What was there?

What was there?

There was also a pencil.

Oh, yeah.

Screw it.

Helps us use our brains in a different way that we may not get in a classroom where some of the best benefits of outdoor time come are those unstructured play time.

And when we talk about unstructured play, that really is just letting kids do what they're going to do.

They can use their imagination.

They can work together with their friends.

And that can be as simple as go to a local park, mom, dad, caregiver, sit back, read a book and say, go play.

Go figure something out.

No schedule, no instructions, just imagination.

And sometimes doing nothing creates everything.

So we're trying to dismantle active ingredients.

Exercise is really important in some individuals, not only just improving conditioning but improves cerebral blood flow by quite a bit.

Community and activity, which is so critical.

So we don't I don't like to talk that about the outdoors without that kind of support.

Having that kind of activity, scheduling at any level is, is key to individuals with depression.

They may be more willing to go out on an hour hike if a friend is able to come along.

So just like making outdoor time, family time has those kids get older, it might become more friend time.

In addition to that family time, I often start with helping people find a community that supports and values, activities and being outdoors.

An amazing thing about being in Colorado is that we have so many opportunities and so many organizations that will help individuals get outdoors, because getting outside doesn't mean you have to go climb a 14 year.

It might just mean meeting your friend at the park, walking your dog, or simply relaxing in the sun.

So we always encourage kids and parents to get out there, get dirty, get messy, and have fun outside.

Kids don't need another app or another screen or another perfectly scheduled activity.

Sometimes they just need dirt under their shoes, sun on their faces, and room to explore.

Because when we get our bodies outside, our brains come alive.

For PBS 12 on the family B I'm Erica McLarty.

To learn more about programs that help Colorado families connect with nature and discover outdoor activities near you.

You can go to Generation wild.com.

And for more family focused stories from across Colorado with Erica, make sure to check out The Family Beat on our YouTube channel.

Artificial intelligence has quickly gone from something we're curious about to something that's part of our everyday lives.

But as businesses rush to adopt AI, one question rises to the top.

How do you embrace this powerful technology without losing the human side of your organization?

In tonight's Business of Colorado segment.

Frannie Matthews sits down with Cynthia Colburn, founder of Gray Horse Group.

After nearly two decades in the tech industry and years helping organizations navigate major technology shifts, Cynthia is now focused on helping businesses thoughtfully integrate AI into the way they work.

Their conversation explores leadership, innovation, and why the future of AI may depend more on people than on technology.

Hi I'm said they're Kilburn and I started Gray horse group for the purpose of helping organizations.

Go from an idea to, what I call an I converged organization.

Really adopting AI to help them, see values stay sustainable.

Tell me how your background in technology for so long has helped you make this pivot in the AI world, and working with small businesses?

So I've actually been working with machine learning and advanced algorithms and mathematics, and then with Watson, through my career and especially in demand forecasting.

So, and in my job with, at the global, you know, IBM offering team, I was involved with all emerging, technology.

The other side of my career was spent in how did organizations adopt that technology for value?

And so I saw the good, the bad and the ugly.

In regards to efforts to get an organization to really get value and harvest value from these emerging technologies.

Spent a career doing that with large organizations.

Next, step was working with a very large startup, that iPod again.

You know, looking at how they were going to adopt AI into the digital customer experience.

Got involved with the OpenAI scientific team because we were pulling it into an innovation lab.

And, and so working with their scientists on how to improve and enhance their GPT model to bring to market.

From there, I took a little sabbatical, and then I was like, what do I want to do next with my life, my next stage and phase of life?

And I decided that I was the biggest transformation moment in human society, and I wanted to continue to be a part of that.

I wanted to be an advocate for the human side of what I was seeing is a huge technological, evolution that we were making as we move closer and closer to AGI.

You know, if you're, starting to advise somebody in a small organization, what are some of the first tenets that you talk about?

So the first tenet I talk about is really deciding what is the role of the human.

We are getting very close to, to AGI and the general intelligence, meaning that the machine has the brain of all the smartest people in the world wrapped into one.

They can do any task with those smartest brains.

So we're getting very close.

And so the first thing I talk to companies about is what is the role of the human?

What do you want to protect?

What is what is the humanistic part of this that you want to protect?

And you write it down and you share it with your team.

From there.

Then I would say.

Then I say, okay, how are you experimenting and playing with AI?

You as an individual?

As a leader.

You know, how are you using it?

And then how is your team using it?

And if you think your team's not using it.

This is what we call now, shadow AI.

Meaning they're actually using it.

They're just not telling you.

Yeah.

And so, so that's the next thing really is to, is to get and figure out how to get the organization excited about the possibility of AI.

This is our next human renaissance period.

It gives us the opportunity to be the most powerful and creative individuals we can be.

So how are you inspiring your organization to go play and try it?

And that's then.

And there's a lot of, you know, people trying to put metrics around that.

But I think the the really the big thing now is and what I'm seeing leaders are starting to do is to take then after their individual experimentation is now to bring them together as a team.

And then how does that change the way you work and the areas that you want to protect?

As far as how much is going to be AI versus how much is going to be human led is based on the soul of your organization and the soul is really meted out in three, three elements.

One is originality, two is empathy, and the third is accountability.

When a task or an activity touches one of those three, you want to make sure that AI is the assistant and the human is the author.

And so these are just some of the guiding principles to get started.

But what I've seen in what I call there's a few examples.

And I'm talking like less than a handful of what I call AI converged.

Organizations where they have actually kept this role of the human and the integrity of what the human brings brought the best of what AI does, and they have completely merged those into new processes and even looked at changing their business model.

Now, when you see that, what have you seen it do to the culture?

It's interesting because one of the areas that AI is impacted very quickly, we've seen it in education, we've seen it in the creative industry.

We're seeing it in software engineering, you know, roles, you know, really those are the first ones that have gotten really heavily impacted.

It's expanding from there.

But what I've seen in regards to the culture is that those organizations that have this kind of entrepreneurial, innovative, you know, creative, let's go play.

We don't have to get the right, you know, exactly right the first time, but we're just going to iterate and play and try it and reflect and make adjustments.

Those organizations that have that culture or fostering that culture, they're the ones that are thriving.

They've got more business than they know what to do with.

That's very interesting.

The other thing that I would say is that I like the idea of sharing and, you know, as a team what you're doing, because quite frankly, it's really easy to get into a rut on how you use AI.

Have you found that?

Absolutely.

And, and so one of the things you know personally that I do is I always, I always say, okay, how do I want to interact with this intelligent partner?

What role do I want to play?

So we talked about, you know, okay, here's where I've decided I'm going to lead.

How do I want it to interact?

What role do I want it to have.

And I start that conversation every time.

And as I go through it and then get the outputs and then I reflect and pause before I do anything with the outputs and say, did this give me?

And this is the interaction, the human interaction that I desire.

Does this represent my brand or have I deviated and need to go back to the drawing board?

And you know, I think that's a personal but this is so individual to your point is how do you stay fresh.

And one of the things that you know to stay fresh.

So again new ways of using AI right.

As first question everybody's like how do you use AI.

What do you apply it to.

And I call you know, this is being in community.

So and one of the communities that I found and we're fortunate here in Colorado to have Rocky Mountain AI interest group, what we lovingly call our mag, because it's such a mouthful.

And I found that community and I was like, oh my gosh, I found my peeps.

And, and so we talk AI and we go through all aspects of AI.

And I got so involved with so many of the subgroups, which are 10 to 12, that I became a co-founder of women in AI, which is so exciting.

It's such a passion and I feel like a legacy, to give back, and make sure that we are bringing women from all different backgrounds, all different career stages to feel comfortable and get comfortable and address their issues and their fears and all the self-talk in regards to how do I want to interact with this new technology and how do I and I want to know enough so I can either work with my kids and guide my kids, you know, because they've got polarized ideas about it.

To how do I, you know, go find a job because now this is, you know, becoming a requirement and it puts me above those that cannot talk and work with AI.

And I think AI is going to make us more human.

We're going to value the human interaction, the human connection, the and that's why I said the originality.

Right?

We're going to crave human originality.

We are going to crave human empathy.

We are going to crave accountability because you can't point to the machine and say it was the machine's fault.

Nobody's going to believe that because humans created the machine.

So.

So I actually think it's going to make us a lot more human.

And I think that there's all this talk about and you hear about the agents talking to the agents and then going off and creating, you know, other agents that do their work.

Right.

And we're going to continue to see that.

And I think, you know, one of the questions that comes up a lot for individuals and organizations means is do I author or do I automate.

And and where do I draw the line.

And so I use those three areas as is part of it.

And I have three tasks.

So what is an authenticity test.

So if you're a customer knew or found out that a human wasn't involved, would they feel diminished or less valued?

If the answer is yes.

Obviously you don't do the automation.

You have it do become an assistant, but you got to have the human.

That's the face forward or involved.

The other is in regards to accuracy, so is the 5% loss and accuracy greater than having it two times faster?

So again, if the customer or yourself is not willing to risk that 5% of accuracy for doing it two times faster, you're going to want to put a human in the loop or have the human drive it.

And then the final one is, you know, really about your signature value and brand.

You know, if it is, you know, a key process of interaction, you know, with your customers or what customers pay you to provide value, then you want to offer that.

You may have it as an assistant to help you go do all the research.

Right.

Speed up that process.

But you want to evaluate, validate that research, validate and really think through.

And I would suggest even make the recommendations.

Now you can have AI edit, you know, go and say hey, did I miss anything in my recommendations based on, you know, it's a quality check, but it's still human driven.

Thank you for the work that you're doing, and I look forward to seeing the wonderful things that come out of it.

Thank you for any.

Appreciate it.

Funding for the business of Colorado is provided in part by Collegiate Peaks Bank, Colorado Business Roundtable, and Ibotta, and from the generous support of viewers like you.

Thank you.

To learn more, visit PBS 12.org.

interesting and hopeful perspective there that I could actually shine a brighter light on the strengths that make us uniquely human.

If you'd like to learn more about the Rocky Mountain AI interest group that Cynthia mentioned, you'll find their website there on your screen.

You can also watch this conversation again any time at PBS 12.org.

believe it or not, political ads are already flooding the airwaves ahead of November's election, and Colorado's eighth congressional district is one of the most competitive races in the country.

If the Democratic challenger wins, it would add another new face to what's already been a period of significant turnover in Colorado's political leadership.

At the state Capitol, all 65 House seats and 21 Senate seats are also on the ballot.

The insiders of Colorado inside Out have plenty to say about the changes Colorado voters could make.

Let's check in now with Kyle Dyer.

Hi, Bosie and Ryan, you know, the primary election weeks ago, but the impact of those results is still unfolding, and they point to significant change ahead for Colorado when the winners from the November from November are sworn in.

We talked about that a lot on the most recent series.

So here's a listen.

While the election headlines often focus on who won, who lost, there is another story unfolding in Colorado politics a major transition in leadership.

When the General Assembly convenes in January, Colorado will have a new governor, a new attorney general, a new secretary of state, a new state treasurer, and potentially dozens of new legislators for businesses and local governments and nonprofits and anyone else that works with the state.

That means rebuilding relationships and then adjusting to all sorts of new priorities.

So is this major transition and leadership an opportunity for Colorado, or will it be a challenge, as all the new state leaders, kind of try to figure out how to work together?

You're at the Gold Dome.

You know what relationship, how relationships matter.

What do you think?

It's always an opportunity.

Okay.

Having new people come in, we.

And this is a major election.

We have all 65 state House seats on the ballot.

We have 21 of 35 Senate seats, partially because of vacancies, which we we won't get into the vacancy process.

But, I think there's no mistake that Democrats will continue to hold large majorities in both chambers.

The larger question is, who are those Democrats?

Are they this more progressive faction who gains more influence and drives some of those policies that over the last couple of years, whether it's labor, peace Act or some of the other housing efforts that have been held off, and now we're able to push through.

And I think what's most critical from my perspective is we had very thin margins last year in some of these committees, House finance, for example, where you had a couple kind of moderate Dems who were your buffer.

If you're a business and you're looking at some of this anti-business legislation and we lost, frankly, a couple of those seats.

And so the margins have gotten thinner.

And what that means is it's a whole new board next year when we come in, a lot of the same players in the lobby, a lot of the same issues, but different decision makers, there's a lot of opportunity that I see.

In particular, just a couple of observations.

Again, about even the election itself.

A late June election is a problem for a variety of reasons.

I've talked about this for many years.

I think considering moving that timeline up to be the last Tuesday in May, or the first or the first Tuesday in May, or the last Tuesday in April.

You know, college kids get out, move off campus.

So there's a whole bunch of now inactive voters that just moved out of their college residential addresses because they left school at mid-May.

We sent ballots out around that same time period.

So this kind of late June, especially how late it was this year, in the same week as July 4th is, is a tough time to have an election.

And I hope policymakers dive in and maybe look at that structure.

You know, are we really are we running the election, especially in the primary process that we should be running to respond to what voters are telling us?

I think those are all questions that will be important for this new wave of leadership to consider as well.

Okay, Patty, what do you think it's going to be?

Not just an opportunity, but a real challenge when you think about how much knowledge is leaving, how much institutional knowledge is leaving.

And that leaves the lobbyists and the people who are at the Gold Dome like you, but not they're not like you because they're not necessarily honorable and smart about what they're doing.

They will know more than a lot of the people coming in, and we're going to miss a lot of leadership.

And one of the ideas I had for Bill wiser is lieutenant governor would be Jillian McCluskey.

So a Western Slope speaker of the House.

So she's been there for a while.

She has to leave.

She's term limited.

She'd be a great lieutenant governor candidate because we need to have the rural Colorado represented.

Yeah, yeah, that's a good idea.

You've been there.

What do you think is going to happen?

You know, I, I just had to mention something that I've mentioned before.

If if you're concerned about the turmoil, the upheaval and the change, remember we did this to ourselves in 1992.

We passed yet, term limits and it generated this entire cycle we're dealing with now.

We've survived it because eight years ago, the same statewide offices are being elected.

Now we're all vacant eight years ago, and we have the new group.

The issue is to Patty and Adams point, both is the institutional knowledge and experience is no longer vested in the elected or serving members of the two bodies.

It's in the lobby and it's with the legislative staff, which has much more influence over the process than you might imagine, because they know what the history is.

And so, you know, we'll survive this.

We'll get through it.

It's the dynamics different.

I remember when the religious right was in a sentence back in the 90s and 2000.

Now you've got two different dynamics, both the MAGA contingent and the Republican Party and this DSA or what may be a DSA contingent in the Democratic Party.

They're going to have to figure out how to govern, because sitting around the chamber hollering at each other isn't what people are going to accept.

No you won't.

Patty brought up a really interesting idea of who could be the lieutenant governors.

You say Tina Peters and Julie McCarthy, Tina Peters.

I mean, what could be better?

I want to ask each of you, hypothetically, who do you think could possibly be lieutenant governor?

You said so.

I'm going to start with you, Penn.

I could see James Coleman as a candidate.

I don't know what Victor Marks will do.

I have to be honest, I can't tell.

So.

And I could see wiser selecting maybe someone from a county commission or city council.

And I like Patty's idea of someone rural.

Awesome.

Okay.

What do you think?

It's interesting.

I think, Sandra Coleman is an interesting name.

The question is, is he is that transition he would like to make at at this point?

I think speaker McCluskey would be an excellent choice.

I think a county commissioner, whether that's from Adams or a more rural county, to kind of bring in, a little bit more of a coalition on a Republican side.

I think it it's a crapshoot.

It just depends.

Right.

I don't know if Victor Marcus is your your main candidate.

Who do you have that wants to join the ticket?

Who's going to be the person who tries to bring in a bigger tent of folks?

Okay.

What do you think, Amber?

Well, I think on the on the Dems on for wiser.

I, I think he'll pick probably Jenny.

Who was the former mayor of Fort Collins.

I think he'll go outside of Denver.

I think it'd be amazing for one of these governor candidates to choose someone who's unaffiliated, given that, again, half of the state, more than half of the state is now there.

I think for Victor Marks, given where the priorities are, you know, maybe it's someone from the law enforcement community, maybe, you know, I just don't know where all of all of his priorities lie.

But I could see him pulling, you know, someone based on what his priorities might be.

And we have to remember, Barbara.

Barb, Kirk Meyer did say she would not support his candidacy if he won.

And an interesting thing to Ambers point that part of the reason we have so many unaffiliated voters now is over the past 8 to 10 years, voters from both major political parties got disillusioned and became unaffiliated.

So there is a large talent pool in the unaffiliated ranks.

The other thing I wonder, and I'd like to see more at the national level, is whether either Phil Wiser or Marx would pick a lieutenant governor from the other party.

But I think Wiser and Marcus may want to have a short list of Republicans and Democrats, respectively.

They'd consider running with them.

Okay, we would be talking about that on this table for sure.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

So with everybody else.

Yeah, that was just one of the four topics we discussed on the most recent CIO.

So if you want to watch the whole show, check out our YouTube channel, the PBS passport app, or PBS Twelve's website.

And if you're into podcasts, you can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.

Now we're already working on this Friday show, so definitely check us out starting Friday night at 8:00 right here on PBS 12.

When we think about Colorado's economy, industries like tourism and technology often come to mind.

But there's another powerful economic driver that's helping communities thrive across our state the arts.

At this year's Colorado Creative Industries Summit in Trinidad.

PBS Twelve's Bobby Springer sat down with James Allen Holmes, president and CEO of the Bond Staton Foundation, to talk about why investing in the arts is an investment in Colorado's future, and how creativity can help bridge divides and inspire the next generation.

Here's that conversation.

All right.

I'm with, James Ellen Holmes from, Bonfire Stand Foundation.

So you are a big sponsor of this CCI convention?

Tell me why.

We really believe in community.

And I think that, as a state agency, CCI has done a tremendous job of supporting arts and arts organizations.

And I believe in the power of convening.

And so to be able to bring together a large group of people that have common interest and shared interests, is the best way to solve problems and to look for new opportunities and to get to capture the energy that's existing right now in our creative community.

So for us to be able to come in and sponsor the event to help make it possible, I think is, a great way to align with our mission.

Now, the Foundation has a long history of supporting the creative community.

Why is that so important?

Like what?

Why is that part of the DNA of the organization?

It really goes back to our founders.

Ed Stanton in 1962 started Bunkie Stanton Foundation as a way of honoring his recently deceased wife, Mae Montes, who was a big, patron, supporter, believer in the arts.

And, Ed wanted to create, an opportunity for a foundation to be put in place to eventually begin giving grants to support arts and culture in Colorado.

In a way of honoring her wife.

His wife.

I'm sorry.

And that was that was how we began.

That's that's actually a beautiful tribute when you think about it.

I imagine that would be very touching to this day to see how it's grown.

It's really cool.

Yeah.

So why are the arts so important to making Colorado a better place to live?

It's a quality of life issue, I think.

You know, there's a lot of research has been done in recent years about the value of the arts.

Mental health, even physical health and healing the arts, can play a very important role in that.

And looking at determinants of health.

Art is a critical, an accessible tool that all of us have, just simply to make our lives better.

It's also a great, channel for communication.

You know, let's just even say in a current environment, which is kind of hot conversations around politics as an example or religion or any, any topic that can become controversial.

If you sit down with a person with opposing views and you're speaking one on one, sometimes it doesn't take long for that conversation to trigger into things to become very personal, or you're kind of debating back and forth and even challenging your friendship and sometimes your family members around different beliefs.

But if you speak to those exact same issues and can be equally divided through, say, a painting on a topic, it's no longer about you versus them, your idea versus their idea.

You have to prove you're right and that that I'm right and you're wrong.

It's like a great filter and I've seen this play out so many times, and I've, even in my own personal experience, have had this where art can become a mediator.

Artists throughout history have been the ones, even in, the earliest days that told our stories.

Go back to illustrations on cave walls.

Absolutely right.

It was people using their creativity to document their lives.

And artists have shown up in those most critical moments and throughout history to be the storytellers.

And oftentimes to write that great song that inspires a nation.

There's countless examples of that as well.

So art is vitally important.

And as a creative being, which I think we all are, art is in the essence of all of us.

You know, kids, kids are artists, and they know that until we talk them out of it, you know, so it's it's it's it's in us.

We had it we had a creator earlier today that we were speaking with and they described, all kinds of art.

He said he saw like art in people who do like electrician work, or he saw art in people who, you know, the, the culinary arts.

But there was like, you know, you really saw art and everything around him.

And I really actually appreciated that sentiment because it's true.

I mean, if you really look at somebody who's, you know, it's a reflection of problems solving and passion and it really shows up.

I also like what you said about like the moment we're in, I want to expand on that a little bit, too, because I do feel like we, you know, we recent divisiveness.

So there's a opportunities to find all the reasons why, not all reasons why not to connect.

And I think about other moments in history and you had mentioned it earlier, I hope that, you know, and I imagine you do too, that when we look back in 50 years that we will remember is some of the pieces of art that come out of this.

As you know, I think that's one of those things.

And I think, you you talked about why CCI was important about about sort of creating these sort of collaborative moments in these in these spaces.

Now you got a long history, not necessarily just with the arts alone, but in these in these educational, cultural spaces.

Correct.

And have you seen this play out before?

I have yeah.

It's, you know, I think back to when I became a young adult and started, recognizing that individuals can make a difference to impact society.

Art was something I was naturally drawn to because it was a preoccupation of mine as a kid.

And, recognizing that, someone just as a young volunteer could walk into the front door of, of our institution and begin volunteering time and actually making a impact.

And then, you know, as your career evolves and you're in a position to maybe begin supporting things, you know, small to begin with, and maybe for some people, you know, large contributions that really helped make these things possible.

I just over my lifetime, was fortunate to be shown and mentored towards ideas and how to use my love of the arts to benefit a greater good and when something's happening in the community, you think about an art center being constructed or a art festival being put on, being able to actually play a role in contributing to the success of that, maybe through time, maybe through a financial donation, or just maybe just the attendance to be there, to be part of the energy of the event.

And so I've gone through my entire life in trying to find ways to make an impact in the art community.

Sometimes that's shown up.

Yeah.

I shared with you before, that I've been a trustee of the Denver Art Museum for a very long time.

You know, and I'm fortunate, I think, in terms of, being in a career where I get to have that engagement with artists and being able to support the arts through the work we do at on Stanton Foundation.

But I think it's something that, you know, a room full of people, like, we have a convening like this, you recognize just the countless ways people find opportunities to support artists and individuals.

And it's really powerful.

It really is has this power bringing us together.

No, I, I, I think you're right on.

And I love the way you put that.

And I love the word community.

And I probably steal that from you.

I'll give you credit.

But I want to steal from.

One of the things I was going to I would be very interested to hear from you is like, the foundations are tough space because you everybody comes to you and you got to make tough decisions all day long.

But you actually probably get a lot of insights into what this community needs.

Someone who's listening to this or watching this or seeing some of that.

What is something that you realize by reviewing and hearing from so many different people in the community?

What do they need, and how does the average person who really cares about this but doesn't really understand how maybe their lives might intersect here, how do they participate, and how do they become part of empowering a community?

I don't see part a solution because implies there's a problem.

But you know, the idea that there is like, how do they become part of growing something or making something stronger?

You know, oftentimes as a as an arts funder, the conversation starts with the desire to achieve funding.

You know, someone's coming to us looking for a grant or an award of some type in order to fund their project or their idea.

And then in conversation, oftentimes it comes to, you know, realization that, yes, the funding is needed because it's important.

And it goes back to this concept I spoke about earlier and during the luncheon, which is hard power, the financial resources.

But we also find ourselves more and more leaning into our soft power as an organization.

And then even myself, as someone that's in this role, as a professional in what I can offer the arts community, it's a soft power.

It could be simply a conversation.

Someone comes in, they have an idea.

Maybe the idea needs more, time to mature in terms of some of the things they didn't think about.

That makes them eligible for funding, whether it be from us or some other entity.

Yeah.

And so being a thought partner and being able to help them work through their idea so they may walk out the door not having their expression expectation met around the funding.

But maybe there's something even more important that they walk away with, which is now the knowledge and maybe a bit of a roadmap, at least a starting point to roadmap towards a solution.

And I think, you know, to, to bring that full circle, it seems like everybody who's in that person's orbit has that soft power, like everybody like taking the time to listen to an artist or to take a time to actually, like, look at their work.

I mean, I will tell you that we we had some true confessions today, with the people like, we met with the person who's in charge of putting this whole truth at our district together.

And I think we were all like, yeah, I've driven by Trinidad on I-25 a couple of times, but I've never, like, gone down the street before.

But it's awesome.

I haven't done it before.

And you think about like, wow.

Like, you know, it would have taken me very little effort to say like, hey, what's over there?

Yes.

And that's, that's soft power, right?

It is.

And I'll join you in that because I'm a native of Colorado, I've driven down I-25, heading towards Santa Fe many times, driven right by Trinidad.

I've been curious from time to time, but never really took the time to stop.

And it's amazing what's happening here, you know?

And this is what we do.

We come together, we discover new places, we meet new people, and you know, the world then shifts, right?

Because our knowledge is broader.

And what we can then bring to the table and future conversations is greater.

So it is additive in so many different ways.

Well, last question.

We're here today.

We got we got all this great gathering of of of interesting people today.

We, we actually the governor passed a the or shouldn't pass.

You signed into law the the new class, the new, eight core class, of business so that we got Sundance coming.

We got all these things happening, you know, in a one year.

What would you like to see happen in this arts community?

You as we reconvene?

In a year.

What does that look like to you?

What?

What kind of growth you hope to see?

You know, there is, a tangible energy that exists right now in Colorado.

And I specially feel it in the corridor between Denver, and Boulder in particular.

And I think that, the Sundance Film Festival is certainly one of the catalysts to that.

I think the A corp is an opportunity that isn't yet fully understood in terms of how, artists can really utilize it to benefit themselves.

But I do think that it's going to create a starting point to a framework towards a more formal way of looking at art practice.

So in terms of things like intellectual property protections and challenging the artists to be more thoughtful about seeing their practice as a business structure will help them, then to be able to make a living being an artist, which I think is a very important topic for all of us to explore.

So a year from now, we'll have had the, film festival and I think that the lifted that's given to the film industry will begin to really accelerate.

I really see that, I think that with some of the new facilities that have come online already, like Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, as they continue to be able to share their space with other smaller nonprofits, which is a very generous thing that they're doing.

There are funding partner of ours.

We've we've invested in them.

That's going to take on a lot of impact, I think, of all across Denver in terms of just what's happening in the visual and performing arts.

There's exciting capital projects that are on the table that are going to give us more in terms of improved facilities, and then in a couple of cases, new facilities and, I think the the new creative plan that Denver's put together for arts and culture, as that begins to be actually implemented, is going to just add to the vibrancy of our arts community.

So I think we'll come back a year from now stronger than we are today.

I think, a lot of the challenges that exist right now because of the federal funding cuts, there are, a lot of really smart people, really passionate people working on how to help organizations fill those gaps.

So if we will be a year further into, solving problems for organization, and I just think it's going to be an elevation to the vibrancy we already feel.

I'm very optimistic about the future for the arts and culture community.

Across Colorado.

And, it's going to be, I think, an exciting time this time next year.

Well said.

Let's make it happen.

We've been issuing challenges to people all day, and I think that's a challenge.

Let's make it happen.

The great stuff.

Thanks for your time.

And hey, thank you for sponsoring this event.

And thanks.

Celebrate, Bond Stand Foundation for investing in, creative parts of our lives.

I really appreciate it.

I'll take that back to our great team.

Thank you stuff.

Okay.

Appreciate you.

James Allen Homes says supporting the arts goes beyond financial investment.

He says sometimes simply showing up, engaging with artists and experiencing creativity firsthand can make a meaningful difference.

To learn more about Colorado creative industries and see all of the interviews from the event, you can visit our YouTube channel.

Thank you for spending part of your evening with us.

For more storytelling from across our state, be sure to visit PBS 12.org and subscribe to our YouTube channel for all of us here at Colorado Stories on Studio 12.

I'm Ryan here and I'm Bazzi Kanani.

See you next week.