From the Director

Greetings from my home office in Old Colorado City (also known as my dining room). I’m surrounded by beautiful artwork by many of our local and regional artists, including my husband, whose work is over my head right now. I’ve been listening to the In the Heights soundtrack and getting inspired and excited for the eventual opportunity we’ll have to produce the show on our stage.

I’ve been finding a silver lining in becoming more immersed in the digital landscape. I’m also so proud of the FAC team and how they’ve come together, working hard from locations around the community, in some cases while they’re helping their kids distance learn from home, in the face of these unprecedented circumstances. We’re focused on the ways in which we can stay connected during this time and how we can build on new and innovative ways of connecting even after we can once again welcome you to our galleries, our theater, and our classrooms.

In the meantime, we’re thinking about you: feeling grateful for the connection and support felt from you and about the value the arts bring to your lives. We’re thinking about so many in our arts community who are deeply and profoundly impacted by this public health crisis. So many of you have chosen to convert your tickets or class registrations to donations or account credits; we’ve seen new memberships and continued contributions. We are so heartened by this; it means the world to us. It is incredibly powerful for our future, for our programs, and for our mission. We can’t thank you enough.

Hopefully you’re finding the resources that we’ve provided on our website and to be helpful in continuing a virtual relationship with the arts and for finding ways to support the arts community. We’re also working on additional ways that we can virtually gather; watch for announcements on our website, social media, and emails.

In my last month that we have together while I’m still at the FAC, I’m continuing to manage the day to day operations while working on a transition plan with Idris Goodwin, who will be our new director, as he starts to think about the exciting future and what the next century will look like. So stay tuned for a message from Idris and I look forward to seeing you sometime soon in person. I hope that until then you are well and safe and healthy, and I wish you all the best. Take care.

I am reporting to you from Louisville, Kentucky, where I remain with my family on lock down. I’ve been thinking a lot about the future, as most of us have, while also thinking about the present as well. Before moving to Kentucky, I was a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Colorado College, and I was invited to give a baccalaureate speech. In that speech, I told students that the choices they make now will help forge their path for the future—that the present and the future are inextricably linked. The concern for how the future will play out is equal to that of how the present is going to play out. The conversation we’re having now with the FAC team is focused on what we can do in our present moment. What is this situation teaching us? How do we respond as curators, as thinkers, as educators? How are we going to respond to all of this and use it to make us better? Ultimately, once this situation evolves in a positive way, how are we going to be a better organization because of it? I can’t wait to get to know all of you. I can’t wait to continue to move this great institution into the next century. I look forward to seeing you again once our doors reopen. I wish you health, I wish you hope, and I look forward to seeing you soon.