The Man in the Arena

The Query family—Dave, Dana, Matt, and Sonya—has long been a cornerstone of Boulder and the City Club communities. So, when Dave told me, “You should meet John Cullen,” I listened.

Many individuals worked hard to bring the Sundance Film Festival to Boulder, but I consider John Cullen and Governor Jared Polis the primary catalysts behind Boulder’s successful bid.

John Cullen has been the owner and CEO of Grand Heritage Holdings since 1989. This global hotel and resort company has operated 51 properties across 17 countries, including the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

John is a force of nature: brilliant and bold, impulsive and unpredictable—equal parts Oscar Wilde and Tim Cook. He’s a bit hard to follow, not because of his British accent, but because his thoughts race faster than his words. A dealaholic by nature, John is either buying or selling, so unless you have a deal in mind, he doesn’t have time to deal with you!

With the Governor’s support, Colorado approved $475M of tax-free bonds earlier this year to purchase, renovate, and dramatically expand the Stanley Hotel as a permanent home for the Sundance Institute. On April 1st, Sundance announced that starting in 2027, Boulder will become the home of the Sundance Film Festival.

Sundance’s ten-year agreement is contingent on Boulder’s ability to build the necessary infrastructure to host an expanded, world-class festival. To meet that goal, Boulder must complete the interior finishes of the four underground art cinemas at 1048 Pearl Street and develop two additional theaters in the Civic Area.

This grand vision builds on decades of groundwork. In 2009, a group of philanthropic Boulder citizens, led by retired City Attorney Joseph Napoleon de Raismes III, founded the Boulder Center for the Performing Arts (BCPA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization. Last month, John Cullen made a transformative $14 million gift to BCPA to help build the infrastructure to transform downtown Boulder into a global stage.

John Cullen is, in every sense, the Man in the Arena that Theodore Roosevelt wrote about—a visionary and a risk-taker. I consider John and his partner, Dr. Paul Halverson, the driving force behind shifting the center of America’s cultural soft power from the West Coast to the Rocky Mountains.

City Club is proud to welcome John and Paul as Honorary Members.

— Sina.