Clarification: According to the leadership team at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts at Colorado College, there is not a set numbered goal from CC for the FAC to fundraise. 

Friends argue about whether Colorado College took over the Fine Arts Center, whether it formed an alliance, or whether it was a buyout.

More accurately, it should be called a rescue.

As you might remember from last month’s column, the center was in serious debt, much of it left over from the building expansion in 2005-2007.

I’ve talked to a lot of people about that financial picture, and one thing they agree on is that if the grim financial situation in 2015 didn’t kill the center, COVID certainly would have.

When a mysterious community member (whose identity is strangely unknown beyond some key players) came up with the idea of an alliance, and then-CC President Jill Tiefenthaler and then-FAC President David Dahlin embraced it, the center’s board members saw it as the rescue rope it was. From a historic perspective, the alliance made sense. The center’s roots began as the Broadmoor Art Academy, which was CC’s art department in the early part of the 20th century.

A rough reunion

As a former communications director and longtime fan of the FAC, I had some of the same questions about this rescue/merger/acquisition as much of the community did.

Would it become more relevant to the community or would it turn inward, becoming a resource for the college but irrelevant to the rest of us?

I knew there would be lots of wins, losses and compromises along the way.

But from one perspective, the partnership would be a clear win. The building was finally going to get the love it deserved. This 1936 gem by legendary New Mexico architect John Gaw Meem is considered one of Colorado’s 10 most significant buildings and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Prior to the alliance, priceless documents were destroyed when water poured in from one of the many leaks. One or two overworked facilities workers couldn’t keep up with years of deferred maintenance.

CC facilities crews have worked miracles, updating the electrical, internet and physical structure. Today you’ll see a truck at the center almost every day, with a full crew of workers.

That’s what the alliance team undeniably got right.

Unfortunately, what they got wrong could fill a book. In fact, former trustee president and longtime patron Jim Raughton (who’s married to one of the center’s most generous donors, Kathy Loo) wrote a novella (“Hope for Newport”) not so loosely based on what he saw as the mess that was the early phase of the merger.

“What CC brought to us was a large endowment, and they could sustain the center,” Raughton said. “What Jill (Tiefenthaler) also sold me on was the idea that this would be a bridge to the community from Colorado College. What they did was build that bridge and burn it down once they took over.”

I have plenty of disagreements with Raughton about some of the particulars, but we agree that the way the post-transition years were handled was a cluster. He calls it a betrayal.

Docents who’d volunteered for decades were shown the door. (Some of them would later return in new volunteer roles.) Three sensationally talented and visionary directors (Scott Levy and Nathan Halverson in the theater and Joy Armstrong in the museum) left, saying they were mistreated and made to feel unwelcome.

And then there was the clash of cultures.

CC’s fierce commitment to anti- racism brushed up against the FAC’s more traditional culture.

One example came in 2021, when the FAC and CC leadership said the murals in the cafe depicting an enslaved black man on his knees and another minstrel character in blackface were offending patrons. As a temporary measure, they covered the murals with curtains.

Raughton freaked out. Hearing about what he considered censorship, he derailed a theater event, got into a shouting match with the director and ended up trying to tear down the curtains. Security guards arrived.

Raughton left and was temporarily barred from the building; the CC president asked Raughton for an apology for disrupting the event, and he responded by pulling his and his wife’s patronage (not an insignificant thing).

They also were dealing with the aftermath of COVID, which ruined or crippled many arts organizations around the world. The FAC’s museum went dark. The theater did some outdoor performances. Memberships and donations fell off.

And that unavoidable catastrophe was exacerbated by what several employees called questionable hires that created a revolving door in the leadership offices.

Even with government grants and CC’s endowment for backup, the future of the organization looked grim.

The FAC/CC second act

Nicole Herden took the helm of the center in July 2023.

The 41-year-old administrator, artist and educator arrived with an impressive history of fundraising and community building in Nebraska, Idaho and Arizona. The hiring committee loved her, and Maria Capp, director of operations for the center, saw Herden as a perfect fit.

“We have a lot of work to do in those areas and especially building the community back up,” Capp told The Gazette of the hire. “Post-COVID, we lost a lot of people. We’re trying to entice them to leave Netflix and come back into the fold and see live theater again and enjoy the galleries. That will be a big push for all of us, and she’s going to need to lead us in that effort.”

I met extensively with Herden and the directors in the theater (Chris Sheley), art school (Tara Thomas) and museum (Michael Christiano), and I’m encouraged.

“I’m so inspired by the possibilities here,” Herden said. “I felt like I could jump in and make an impact, working to make us compelling and relevant to the community.”

Her enthusiasm is infectious.

Ron Brasch, a former chair of the trustees, a longtime patron and now on the advisory board, had felt frustrated by the missteps since the CC alliance started but has come to believe the center is turning the corner.

“I’m very optimistic right now, with Herden and Sheley and Thomas and Christiano — they’re all forward, community facing people,” he said.

Sheley, a longtime award-winning set designer under Levy, is like a sous chef stepping into the role of chef d’ cuisine. Ticket sales are up. I’ve seen more young people and people of color at shows than ever. And his upcoming production of “Little Mermaid” promises to be the most expensive, elaborate and (I’m betting) profitable show in the city’s history.

But it’s “In Her Bones,” an upcoming show written by former FAC Youth Repertory Ensemble member Jessica Kahkoska, that Sheley feels best exemplifies his vision.

It focuses on a Latino family in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.

“I want to do shows like this that celebrate a sense of place, shows by and for our community,” Sheley said.

In FAC’s Bemis School of Art, Thomas (the only director to survive the alliance) has rebuilt the community programming, made more community partnerships than ever, and is serving lots of CC students.

For many students, she says, it’s almost a mental-health break, adding to all the art theory in their classes by getting their hands dirty in the Clay Club.

In the museum, Christiano, most recently from Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art, started in September 2021, with his first exhibition smartly celebrating one of our best and most provocative local artists, Floyd Tunson.

Christiano plans an exhibit that will showcase the FAC’s immense permanent collections, curated by community members from diverse backgrounds.

“It’s bringing together folks in our community who have different perspectives,” he said. “That’s something I’d like us to nurture.”

Herden layers on top of that several community events, from “Spirits of the Night” tequila tastings during the Dia De Muertos celebrations to a planned resurrection of the FAC’s major fundraising galas.

The FAC has brought back the essential position of development director (Cristina Gonzales). The center has been charged by CC with raising $1 million a year, and Gonzales and Herden are working to rebuild broken relationships with donors.

They’re also working to reinvigorate the membership and subscription programs, and they’ve added new outreach positions to engage the community.

But the Fine Arts Center is like a giant wagon wheel that’s been stuck in mud for a long time, even before the CC takeover (sorry, I mean “alliance.’)

Under the new leadership, it’s certainly starting to move. These people are energetic, they have ideas that make sense, and the staff morale seems to be extraordinarily high. (They did get raises and better benefits under CC’s umbrella.)

They have a ways to go. The gorgeous cafe is open only for special events. The museum, which has scaled down to four days a week, hasn’t brought in a blockbuster in years. And the new name — Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College — represents the worst kind of tack-on branding. (How about The Square?)

Still, for the first time in a very long time, I have hope.