Fine Arts Center

Intro to Natural Dyes
2024-01-27 10:00 - 16:30 (America/Denver) | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us for this class using natural dyes where you will get an introduction to the fundamentals of using natural plants and natural plant extracts to color fabric. We will explore how different types of fabrics are mordanted and how different weaves take the dye, and you will walk away with the beginnings of a color sample binder. We will take a 30-minute break during the day for lunch so be sure to pack yourself a sack lunch. There is a material fee of $65 due to the instructor on the first day of class.
Level A – All levels welcome.
Ages 16–Adult

Pottery with Personality
2024-01-22 09:00 - 11:30 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join this class to create whimsical, functional, and decorative items that will bring joy to your home or garden. We will learn and improvise on basic handbuilding skills to create shapes, eyes, and other expressive features to bring personality to our mugs, bowls, garden sculptures, and more. In this class, you will explore various glazing techniques and finishes to make your creations come alive.
Level A – All levels welcome.
Ages 16–Adult

Introduction to Pastel Techniques
2024-01-22 13:00 - 15:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
This course is aimed toward beginners but creatives working in other mediums who want to learn something new about this frequently overlooked art form. Through demonstration and hands-on creating, students will learn the variety in which pastels, papers, and tools combine to create the most colorful artworks imaginable.
Level 0 – This class is for the true beginner with no prior experience in the medium.
Adults

Realistic Animal Portraits
2024-01-25 18:00 - 19:30 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Do you have a favorite pet? Is the zoo your favorite place to visit? In this class you will learn multiple techniques to bring those furry friends to life! We will explore the grid scale technique to help you confidently draw complex shapes more simply. We will then practice skills to explore the charcoal medium and other tools that help achieve the unique characteristics of your individual animals.
Level A – All levels welcome.
Ages 16–Adult

Slip Casting and Mold Making
2024-01-25 18:30 - 21:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
You will explore the process of creating multiples of a single clay object through foundational techniques in clay slip casting and plaster mold-making. You will have an opportunity to create your own object from clay and will learn to mix and pour plaster to fabricate a functional and reusable one-part mold. We will spend ample time learning to pour our own porcelain clay slip castings using plaster molds, as well as introductory techniques for how to glaze porcelain castings. There is a material fee of $22 due to the instructor on the first day of class.
Level 0 – This class is for the true beginner with no prior experience in the medium.
Ages 16–Adult

FAC Member Tour: Clarence Shivers: Experimenting with Form
2024-02-02 16:00 - 17:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
This event is at capacity. Please email fac@coloradocollege.edu or call (719) 634-5581 to be placed on the waitlist.
Join Michael Christiano, Director of Visual Arts & Museum, for a tour of the exhibition Clarence Shivers: Experimenting with Form. Over the course of his career, Clarence Shivers (1923-2007) demonstrated a commitment to artistic experimentation, working across different media—both two- and three-dimensional—and cultivating a range of stylistic approaches. Explore the artist’s wide variety of work from representational portraits to abstracted landscapes and more.
Make a night of it! Stick around after the tour for our First Friday Art Party.

First Friday Art Party
2024-02-02 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 the FAC’s chic, historic venue.

FREE museum admission, including to the newest museum exhibition Clarence Shivers: Experimenting with Form
Art in Deco Lounge by Bruce Nall
Music by Tidal Breeze Creos Jazz Trio
Drinks and snacks available for purchase
FREE downtown shuttle, THE ZEB, running along Tejon Street to downtown art galleries

About Tidal Breeze Creos Jazz Trio
The Tidal Breeze Creos Jazz Trio brings Creative Energy to jazz and Latin jazz, while also playing new compositions and a wide variety funk, blues, swing, and New Orleans styles. The Tidal Breeze Creos Trio features Terri Pederson on trumpet, Tony Szajowski on keyboard, and Pat Abbot on bass.
Terri Pederson is a Trumpet / Flugelhorn player who leads Tidal Breeze Jazz Arts and the Creos Jazz Trio. Terri has performed with singer Ernestine Anderson, singer / entertainer Clint Holmes, and jazz greats Bill Watrous and Phil Urso. Terri’s recent composition “Ode to the Emergency Room” can be heard on YouTube and Spotify and features Pat Abbott on a killer electric bass solo.
Keyboardist Tony Szajowski has appeared at The Taste of Chicago and has shared the bill with artists such as Willie Nelson, Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood, Dumpstaphunk, Forq, Method Man & Red Man, Dark Star Orchestra, and Umphrey’s McGee. Since moving to Colorado Springs in 2018, he plays with many of the top artists and groups in Denver and Colorado Springs.
Bassist Pat Abbott is an Orchestra Director in the public school system as well as a college level Adjunct Professor of Jazz Studies. Pat has performed with legendary jazz masters Bill Watrous, Paul Smoker, and Phil Haynes and is very in demand throughout the region.
Creos: from the Latin “Creo”, to make or create

Classic Calligraphy
2024-01-27 09:30 - 11:30 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
In this two-hour class, you’ll develop skills using an edged pen for calligraphy. You’ll learn to write in Italic calligraphy, along with an introduction to other historic book hands. We’ll harness a combination of design awareness, craft skills, and rhythmic vitality to create beautiful writing.
Level A – All levels welcome.
Adults

Clarence Shivers: Experimenting with Form Opening Celebration
2024-02-09 18:00 - 20:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us for the opening of the museum’s newest exhibition Clarence Shivers: Experimenting with Form and celebrate this prolific artist’s wide-ranging and exceptionally creative career. Enjoy live music by Tidal Breeze, food, and chat with friends and family of the artist. This event is free and open to the public; RSVPs are requested.
Please RSVP

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

Water by the Spoonful
2024-02-15 19:30 - 21:00, 2024-02-18 14:00 - 15:30, 2024-02-21 19:00 - 20:30 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot has returned from Iraq and is struggling to find his place in the world. Somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts keep each other alive, hour by hour, day by day. The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide. WATER BY THE SPOONFUL is a heartfelt meditation on lives on the brink of redemption.

Museum Object Photography
2024-02-16 13:00 - 16:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join the museum collections team in the Agents of Care gallery from 1–4 p.m. to learn about museum object photography. Staff will discuss some of the tools and tricks of the trade with live demonstrations and hands-on opportunities. Discover why we photograph collections and how those images are used in our object catalog and eMuseum to make the museum’s collections accessible to communities around the world. This is a drop-in program that is free and open to the public.

Behind-the-Scenes Sunday
2024-02-18 16:30 - 17:30 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Ever wonder, “how’d they do that?”? Well, unbox your inner theatre nerd with the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company staff for a thorough look at the special effects, backstage spaces, costume, and scene shops. This event will begin immediately following the Feb. 18, 2 p.m. performance of Water by the Spoonful.
This event is free and open to the public; no reservations required.

Advance Your Darkroom Skills
2024-02-21 13:00 - 16:00 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
You will process your own traditional black and white film and learn to make handcrafted silver-gelatin prints in the darkroom. You will learn advanced techniques such as split-filter printing, Sabattier printing, and combination printing to challenge your creativity and bring ideas to new heights. We will work to nurture your creativity, giving you an opportunity to create a lasting portfolio of handcrafted, photographic imagery.
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

Dirty Dyeing Colors
2024-02-24 10:00 - 15:30 | Bemis School of Art, 818 Pelham Pl, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Get down and dirty with this introduction to immersion-dyeing class using acid and fiber reactive dyes. Students will learn the basics of how to color fabric and skeins using a dye bath. Color is free and loose while learning the step-by-step method of safely using synthetic dyes. This class is good for weavers, knitters, crocheters, and quilters. There will be a 30-minute break for lunch, so please be sure to bring a sack lunch. There is a material fee of $25 due to the instructor on the first day of class.
Level A – All levels welcome.
Ages 16–Adult

Yoga at the FAC
2024-02-24 11:00 - 12:00 | Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St., Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, United States
Join us for yoga in our beautiful glass-walled Smith Family Gallery. Participants are invited to stay and enjoy the museum for free after class. All experience levels are welcome.
Please bring your own mat. Water is allowed during class, but not in the museum galleries if you choose to visit. Suggested donation of $10 to benefit the Fine Arts Center (you’ll also have the option to donate at class). Space is limited.
PLEASE RSVP
