Fine Arts Center

The Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Production of WHERE WE BELONG
2023-04-15 14:00 - 15:30 (America/Denver) | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
In 2015, a Mohegan theatre-maker moves to England to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare, grappling with the question of what it means to remain or leave, as the Brexit vote threatens to further disengage the UK from the wider world. Moving between nations that have failed to reckon with their ongoing roles in colonialism, Achokayis finds comfort in the journeys of their Native ancestors who had to cross the ocean in the 1700s to help their people. In this intimate and exhilarating solo piece directed by Mei Ann Teo, Sayet asks us what it means to belong in an increasingly globalized world.

Talkback: Where We Belong
2023-04-23 15:30 - 16:30 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us for a FREE talkback with following the final Sunday performance of Where We Belong.

Youth Open Mic
2023-04-25 17:30 - 19:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join Inside Out Youth Services (IOYS) in partnership with the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center at Colorado College for a youth open mic. In honor of The Collective installation featuring local youth artists in The Gift at the FAC, IOYS will be host a youth open mic April 25 at 5:30 for middle, high school, and college youth up to 24 years old. We will have a sign-up list for anyone that wants to sing, dance, read a poem, rap, or just to tell us about your day. The event will be hosted by IOYS youth with support from staff, Poetry Heals, Hear Here Poetry, and Poetry 719. This event will be held in the Music Room of the FAC. There are elevators for accessibility to the Music Room.
This event is FREE and open to the public.

Family Adventure Day
2023-04-29 10:00 - 13:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
11 a.m.–1 p.m. Free and open to the public (10–11 a.m. FAC members only)
Not a member? Join today for as little at $5 a month!
Spend the day being inspired by exploring all the exciting areas of the Fine Arts Center! Bemis School of Art instructors will lead creative, hands-on activities using a variety of art materials in the art studios, while the theater will have dance class, and theater games. Enjoy access to the current museum exhibitions. Our new partner, the Pikes Peak Children’s Museum will be joining us with their Mobile Museum which is a child lead interactive exhibit where kids can learn and build.
All ages and skill levels are welcome!
Schedule of events
Museum exhibitions
Eiko Otake: I Invited Myself, vol. II
The Gift
Lost then Found: Stories of the “Tilley Crucifix”
Contested Terrains

Bemis School of Art come and go hands-on activities
Upstairs studios

Drawing Studio – Found Poetry with Linda Sagastume
Painting Studio – Drawing Light & Shadow with Jantzen Peake
Printmaking Studio – Tempera paints and wax paper on watercolor paper with Zandra Zieman-Foster

Pikes Peak Children’s Museum hands-on activity
Smith Family Gallery

Tin Foil Art

Theatre activities
Music Room

10–10:30 a.m. Learn choreography from Elf the Musical
10:30–11 a.m. Theatre Games/ Dance Party
11–11:30 Learn choreography from Elf the Musical
11:30 a.m.–12 p.m. Theatre Games/ Dance Party
12–12:30 p.m. Learn choreography from Elf the Musical
12:30–1 p.m. Theatre Games/ Dance Party

Let us know you are coming!

First Friday Art Party
2023-05-05 17:00 - 20:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us for our First Friday celebration from 5–8 p.m. Enjoy the stunning ambiance offered by this chic, historic venue.

FREE museum admission
Art in Deco Lounge by Mateo Ramirez
Words on Clay art on display in the Bemis student gallery by Veterans who participated in April workshop
Art Exhibition Opening & Reception: Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind student artwork on view in the museum gallery. Welcoming remarks at 5:15 p.m.
Music: Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind Sophomore Mikayla Hernandez will be playing and singing a variety of classical and pop hits in Taste from 5–6 p.m.
Performance: Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind students will perform in the theatre 6–7 p.m.
Drinks and snacks available
FREE downtown shuttle, THE ZEB, running along Tejon Street to downtown art galleries

The partnership between the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind and the Fine Arts Center is supported by a grant from the Margarete Balke Fund of Pikes Peak Community Foundation.

FAC Member Tour: The Gift
2023-05-06 12:00 - 13:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Please join Michael Christiano, Director of Visual Arts and Museum, to experience The Gift, an immersive installation that animates contemporary astrophysics research to open up metaphorical space for grief, care, and renewal. Michael will give a brief introduction of the exhibit, and then visitors will be invited to take turns on self-guided interactions with the exhibit. Following, Michael will discuss related works by The Collective, high school students and educators from D11 who were in residence at the FAC to create works of art inspired by The Gift.
Please RSVP, space is limited due to the interactive nature of the exhibit.
RSVP for the tour
Not a member? Sign up now for as little as $5 a month!

Artist Talk: Nina Leo and Moez Surani
2023-05-06 13:00 - 14:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Please join us at noon in the Fine Arts Center’s music room for a talk with Contested Terrains artists Nina Leo and Moez Surani, who are premiering their work Lullabies for a Waning Empire. Moderated by FAC Curator of Contemporary Art, Katja Rivera
Free and open to the public.

Lyrical Gifts: A Community Workshop
2023-05-11 18:00 - 19:30 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Built around a beautiful exercise created by the poet Ross Gay, this workshop brings people into meaningful conversation with each other through a series of “lyrical questions,” open-ended questions about our own lives. The session will conclude with an improvised gift exchange. Lyrical Gifts is offered in partnership between the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and Creativity & Innovation at Colorado College as a complement to the exhibition The Gift.
Free and open to the public; preregistration required.
Register for Lyrical Gifts workshop

Museum Free Day
2023-05-13 10:00 - 17:00, 2023-05-19 10:00 - 20:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Museum Free Days are offered the second Saturday and third Friday of each month. See what’s on view in the museum

Wine and Watercolor
2023-05-13 17:30 - 20:30 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Celebrate creativity at the FAC’s Bemis School of Art! Bring someone special or come alone and make new friends. You don’t have to bring any supplies, just come prepared for artistic festivities guided by Bemis instructors and your love of fun. You’ll have the opportunity to experience more than one painting activity. One free drink ticket is included with admission, plus light snacks. Additional wine, beer and soft drinks will be available for purchase. Happy Half Hour begins at 5:30 p.m.
$40 ($35 FAC members)
Space is limited. Advanced registration required.

Family Friendly Friday
2023-05-19 17:00 - 20:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us at the FAC’s Bemis School of Art for a tissue paper flower activity for all ages led by instructor Ronee Smith 5–8 p.m.
Plus, the bar in Deco Lounge will be open.
Free and open to the public.

AfroColombian Percussion workshop & Tropical dance party with Eddie "Quilo" Valencia
2023-05-19 18:00 - 20:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Workshop 6–7 p.m., dance party 7–8 p.m.
Come join us May 19 for an Afro-Columbian Percussion workshop and Tropical dance party with Eddie “Quilo” Valencia at the Sculpture Garden of the Fine Arts Center. It will be an evening of contagious rhythms, while sharing the radical roots of cumbia, it’s borderless spirit, and how Afro-Indigenous resilience not only survived, but has evolved and thrived throughout Latin America. A tropical party celebrating Afro-Latin rhythms and community to follow.
Sponsored by CC Mobile Arts with Riley Scholar Oscar Ulloa of Spanish + Portuguese

FAC Happy Hour at Bell Brothers Brewing
2023-05-25 17:00 - 18:30 | Bell Brothers Brewing, 114 N Tejon St Suite 100, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us for our first FAC Happy Hour event of the year and celebrate the “liquid arts” with us anytime from 5–6:30 p.m. No formal programming involved, just a casual gathering of FAC supporters getting out to socialize in new and different venues across our beautiful city. We hope to see you at Bell Brothers Brewing downtown at 114 N Tejon St Suite 100.
Stop by the FAC table and enter to win two tickets to your choice performance in our 2023–2024 theatre season. We’ll also be handing out museum admission passes.
No RSVP needed.
FAC members and theatre subscribers will receive $2 off their first drink. Join today!
May 25th is also National Wine Day! In addition to beer, Bell Brothers features a suite of Colorado made wines from whites to reds to spritzers.

Friday Night Art Trivia
2023-05-26 17:30 - 19:30 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us for a trivia night led by Bob Morsch 5:30–7:30 p.m. May’s theme is the arts — which might include tv, movies, pop art, theater, fine art, etc. Be prepared for a multitude of surprises around the theme of art. The ticket price includes dinner: Cubano or vegetarian sandwiches, chips and dip and a veggie tray.
$21 (FAC members $19)
Register for Friday Night Trivia

Libation Lecture: Life as "Star Detective"
2023-05-31 17:30 - 18:30 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Life as “Star Detective”
Coinciding with The Gift, an exhibition currently on view at the FAC, join us for our first Libation Lecture of 2023. The night sky is full of stories – stories of change, of life and death, and of possibility – carried out over millions or billions of years. How can we possibly understand these stories when our lives are but a fleeting blip in comparison?We will look at how stellar astrophysicists act as detectives, using the light from stars as clues to uncover the stories of the universe, and what is possible when we expand our ways of telling these stories through art-science collaborations.
Themed drink: Starry Night
Lecturer: Dr. Natalie Gosnell, Assistant Professor of Physics at Colorado College

Bar opens at 5p.m. $10 for FAC members, $15 for non members, includes your first drink
Buy tickets

First Friday Art Party
2023-06-02 17:00 - 20:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us for First Friday celebration from 5–8 p.m. Enjoy the stunning ambiance offered by this chic, historic venue.

FREE museum admission — see what’s on view
Live music by J. Chang-Tablada 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Wildlife art by Alan Baccarella
Drinks and snacks available for purchase
FREE downtown shuttle, THE ZEB, running along Tejon Street to downtown art galleries

Join J. for his distinctive take on the American Musical Theatre songbook. With his velvety vocals, and virtuosic piano stylings, J. will sing and play many Broadway hits, INCLUDING tunes from the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company’s upcoming 2023–2024 Season.
J. Chang-Tablada is a Korean-Filipino-Irish-American musician, storyteller, and photographer. One of Colorado Springs’ most beloved and prolific Music Directors, J. Chang-Tablada is known for his work with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, Theatreworks, and Millibo Art Theatre. An accomplished entertainer in his own right, J. frequently takes the stage singing and sharing stories from the piano, with recent performances at 54 Below in New York City, at the Green Box Arts Festival with his “Sing-a-long with Jerry McCauley and Friends” concerts last summer, and with his debut holiday album “Naughty & Nice” concerts last December.

FAC Member Tour: Collections
2023-06-03 12:00 - 13:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Please join Christian Valvano, Assistant Registrar and Brittany Hall, Assistant Collections Manager to discover our museum’s hidden treasures on a tour of our museum’s basement collection storage. Explore our collection spaces including our newly organized pottery room, see the portrait of Elsie Palmer before it goes on loan, and immerse yourself in the spirituality of New Mexican santos. You’ll also see our latest acquisitions and learn about our ongoing rehousing and reorganizing projects. Join us for an unforgettable journey of art, history, and cultural significance.
Space is limited, RSVP required
SOLD OUT! THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED. TO BE ADDED TO THE WAITING LIST, PLEASE CALL (719) 634-5583 OR EMAIL FAC@COLORADOCOLLEGE.EDU

Fundamentals of Figure Drawing
2023-06-05 14:00 - 16:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Figure drawing is one of the basic skills all artists should have. I have developed a formula to teach drawing the human body that ensures most people are successful after just a few lessons. The first step is the stickman, then we look at the fundamental areas of bulk in the body, and finally, there is “bubble boy”. Once you have mastered “bubble boy,” we will continue to smooth out the form.
Level A – All levels welcome.

Ages 16-Adult

Let the Clay Speak
2023-06-06 10:00 - 13:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Do you want to learn how to work better with clay and develop more advanced techniques? Then, this is the class for you! This course is open to intermediate and advanced level students. You will learn new techniques to create more advanced forms. You will also have the chance to pursue handbuilding, sculptural work, and/or a combination of these methods.
Level II – This class is for those who have taken at least one class in the medium. Students should be comfortable with the basics of how to use and manipulate the medium.

Ages 16-Adult

Line Work and Glowing Watercolor
2023-06-06 10:00 - 14:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
In this class, we will bring the line work of drawing and the luminosity of watercolor together in this addictive technique. We will practice layering sections of color to represent shapes or draw first and drop in paint. Or try the experimental approach by throwing paint randomly and allowing it to speak to you. Matched or mismatched, the results will add interest and movement to your painting. Finish by adding details like layering more paint or more drawing. The choice is yours!
Level II – This class is for those who have taken at least one class in the medium. Students should be comfortable with the basics of how to use and manipulate the medium.

Ages 16–Adult

Making Art from Nature
2023-06-08 13:00 - 15:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Let’s make art from nature! We will learn to use materials found in our surrounding mountains. Anything from flowers, mud, grass, twigs, honeycombs, and so much more! You will make three projects over three different sessions: nature explosions, assemblage, and printmaking. We will use our hands and get messy as we find inspiration in the beauty around us. Supplies will be provided.

Ages 9–12

Let’s Throw
2023-06-09 10:00 - 13:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Are you ready to get answers to your burning questions and add new hacks to your throwing process? Discover how to throw a plate from a slab, pull a handle from a mug, or split your rims and alter your forms. Add details by stamping and carving your pots or add a foot ring or an elevated foot to a bowl. Pull up and lay down a bowl to defy gravity. Throw a bottle. Throw off the hump. The options are endless. At the end of the class, let’s analyze your forms. Get lots of growth!
Level II – This class is for those who have taken at least one class in the medium. Students should be comfortable with the basics of how to use and manipulate the medium.

Ages 16-Adult

Gelli Plate Printing: Youth
2023-06-09 16:00 - 18:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Are you ready to meet your new best friend Gelli plate? The Gelli plate is an incredibly playful and intuitive tool for creating art. If you have never done any form of printmaking before or think you don’t have a creative bone in your body, then this is a fun and easy way to loosen up and to re-connect with your creative side. By the time you finish this course, you will be equipped with the skills to confidently print on your own! Supplies will be provided.

Ages 12–16

Brushes & Bubbles
2023-06-09 17:30 - 19:30 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Calling beginner watercolor artists! Do you want to dive into portraiture, but feel a little nervous? Brushes & Bubbles is for you! Sophia Hanna is a local artist with over ten years of watercolor experience, and she wants to share that with you in a relaxed environment. We know how it feels to try something new, that’s why this is a condensed evening workshop, with drinks!
Space is limited. $20 (FAC members $18)
Drinks available for purchase. Credit card only.
Register for BRUSHES & BUBBLES
Browse all summer classes and workshops at the FAC’s Bemis School of Art.

Gelli Plate Printing
2023-06-09 18:30 - 20:30 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Are you ready to meet your new best friend, the Gelli plate? The Gelli plate is an incredibly playful and intuitive tool for creating art. If you have never done any form of printmaking before or think you don’t have a creative bone in your body, then this is a fun and effortless way to loosen up and to re-connect with your creative side. By the time you finish this course, you will be equipped with the skills to confidently print on your own!
Level 0 – This class is for the true beginner with no prior experience in the medium.

Ages 16–Adult
