One of Luke Harper Prince’s first jobs was playing an elf on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad’s Polar Express.
“My jolly spirit really wanted to be involved in that,” says Prince, who took the volunteer job while studying for a marketing degree at Fort Lewis College. “I like to make fun a priority in everything that I do.”
Now Prince is bringing joy to the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region. As program manager for the cultural economy, he is digging deep to define and understand the creative economy and to develop programming across the creative industries, focusing on artists as economic drivers. Now in its 20th year, COPPR works to boost the creative sector and help creative workers to thrive.
Artists in the sectors that make up the creative economy are the core and source of different types of value, Prince says. He’ll be hitting the road to visit artists and creatives in their environments to determine how they add value and what they need in terms of support.
“I like to be out in the community,” he says. “It really enlivens the senses to show up and talk with somebody face to face and feel the nature of what they’re building. The same can be said for convening and bringing these creatives together so they can show up for each other. There’s value in coming together; they have an exponential impact on the greater economy when they’re working together.”
Born and raised in Manitou Springs among artists and creators, “I found that having weird friends and neighbors is just part of who I am,” Prince says. “I fit in with them, and they are my best friends.”
After college, Prince traded his elf outfit for more conventional garb. In seven years with the Durango & Silverton, he worked his way up to event manager and, in 2019, the railroad recognized him as Manager of the Year, with the Durango Chamber of Commerce naming him Young Professional of the Year.
He returned to his hometown when the Broadmoor & Manitou Springs Cog Railway reached out in June 2021 to help manage its reopening after a $100 million overhaul. He also took on group bookings for the Broadmoor Seven Falls. Later, he joined the Mining Exchange Hotel’s marketing staff. But he continued seeking a job that aligned with his love of the arts and creativity and his sense of fun. That path led him to COPPR and the opportunity to focus on the economic impact of artists and creators. He joined the organization in February.
One important aspect of Prince’s research is understanding how artists and creatives contribute to placemaking.
“A lot of what we’re doing here is the intentionality of making a place memorable, making it special, how we view cultural tourism,” he says.
COPPR’s new snapshot study of the impact of local arts tourism, released May 14, provides some direction as Prince develops new programming. That study proves what tourism experts have been saying for years: that arts and cultural attractions play a significant role in driving tourism and economic activity, both locally and nationally.
- 48% of visitors to the Pikes Peak region engage in local arts and culture.
- 75% of those cultural tourists came specifically for an arts performance, event, exhibit or venue.
- 38% of attendees at 11 top cultural attractions, ranging from the Cottonwood Center for the Arts to Ford Amphitheater, were tourists.
The study concludes that cultural tourists stay longer and spend more than other tourists, affording a great opportunity to promote the Pikes Peak region as an arts and cultural destination. (View the study at culturaloffice.org.)
Prince will be using these insights as he partners with artists, creatives and community organizations to strengthen the creative economy.
“Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region has always been and will always be a hub for the arts. I’d like to position creatives as builders and contributors.”
Luke Harper Prince, Program Manager, Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region