Progress continues on the Colorado College and Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center alliance as the three subcommittees — Museum, Bemis School of Art, and Performing Arts — shared draft program plans at two community presentations in early February.
Over the past seven months, each subcommittee held community listening sessions and small-group sessions to seek input from constituents. In all, the three subcommittees, as well as the board oversight and strategic planning committee, held 40 meetings, nearly 1,700 people participated in the planning process, and more than 800 comments were gathered from the listening sessions, comment cards, and online forms. The three subcommittees’ final plans have been unanimously approved by the Strategic Planning Committee and are available for viewing online.
The goal for the museum is to embody the rich history, current vitality, and exciting future of the community; to harness the power of the arts to bring people together; to be a center for teaching and learning; and to become
a place of inclusion, exchange, collaboration, and inspiration for people across the community and the region. The themes and recommendations that emerged include:
- Honoring and expanding the Fine Arts Center’s historic vision for innovative, culturally diverse, and interdisciplinary arts programs, and becoming a national model of excellence for a museum that serves community and campus, in the region and beyond.
- Serving the campus and regional communities by becoming a cultural hub for a wide variety of audiences from the college, the city, and the region.
The Bemis School of Art seeks to offer exemplary arts learning in an innovative flexible space that allows for the incubation of ideas, where the creative process is celebrated as a shared human experience. The themes and recommendations that emerged include:
- Supporting visionary arts learning.
- Fostering experiential interactions among various entities of the FAC, CC, and the community.
- Increasing visibility and attendance of diverse participants, prioritizing inclusivity as a vital element of the creative process.
The performing arts subcommittee envisions three separate performing arts programs becoming more than the sum of their parts. These programs include the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company and its Youth Repertory Program, productions by the performing arts departments at CC (Music, Theatre and Dance, Film and Media), and a coordinated presenting series that will take place in all venues of the alliance. The themes and recommendations that emerged are:
- Creating a holistic vision for the performing arts.
- Broadening and deepening audience engagement.
- Promoting learning in and through the arts.
Up next for the CC-FAC alliance:
In late April: The Strategic Planning Committee will share the draft comprehensive plan with
the broader community for comments and feedback.
In May: The final comprehensive plan will be given to the Board Oversight Committee.
On or before June 30: The Board Oversight Committee approves the plan.
On July 1: CC assumes operational control of the FAC and the name of the institution changes to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.
Detailed information about each subcommittee’s draft plans and the progress of the alliance is available
at www.coloradocollege.edu/csfac
