Gold Winner ... Reclamation of a Good View

The Independent's Best of 2008 issue recognized the 'Reclamation of a Good View' at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center's Cafe 36:

“When Café 36 first opened last year, I couldn’t help but cheer. An exceptional building and pristine views waited for the perfect food match. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Dull menu items and bland dishes left a bad taste in my mouth and eventually closed the café for a short stint. But thanks to new overseer Garden of the Gods Gourmet, the sky is a little bluer, trees a little greener and the food a whole lot more exciting. Rising to the level of art, lunch is now worth talking about – and definitely worth eating.”

The Independent: Best of 2008

The Indy named the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center the city's best Cultural Attraction or Museum for the third year in a row, writing:

With new CEO Sam Gappmayer in place, and superb curators like Tariana Navas-Nieves and Blake Milteer – not to mention the staggeringly gorgeous, year-old, $28 million expansion to the one and only Southwestern Art Deco building – the Fine Arts Center’s livin’ as large as a Dale Chihuly bowl filled with ice cream and sparklers. Not surprisingly, this most high-profile member of our scene has won the Cultural Attraction of Museum award in each of the three years we’re offered it. It’s embraced a more collaborative spirit in recent programming, even inviting local artists to create works in conjunction with the Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe exhibit. By the way, the FAC’s not only the place to be for First Thursday wine tastings and gala show openings, but also for outstanding theater productions put on by the award-winning, in-house FAC Theatre Company.

Denver Post reviews Walt Kuhn exhibit

“A new exhibition at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center makes a powerful case for a reconsideration of this modernist,” writes Denver Post art critic Kyle MacMillan in a review of Walt Kuhn: Imaginary History of the West, an exhibit on view at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center on Sunday. “His zeal for the subject matter is obvious in the unashamedly romanticized vision and swashbuckling energy he brought to these depictions. Compared with much of Kuhn's later output … these works are rendered with bright, fauvist-influenced colors and black highlights and loose, highly animated strokes. (D)on't miss this long-overdue opportunity to see these modern masterworks.”

Biloxi Blues reviews from Gazette bloggers

The Gazette has posted reviews of Biloxi Blues from three individuals: Todd Wallinger, JaNae Stansbery and Leah Chandler-Mills. This weekend is the final weekend for Biloxi Blues. The FAC is offering discounts for military personnel. Call 634.5583.

Highlights include:

• “The FAC Theatre Company started off its new season with more than a bang last Friday. It started it off with a full-blown rifle blast.”
• “Mark Rubald is riveting as Sergeant Toomey”
• Jeffrey S. Miller, as Arnold Epstein, the bookish intellectual … burns with a courageous yet quiet intensity that was compelling to watch.”
• “ … an exuberant, hilarious performance by some of the area’s best talent … “
• “ (a) humorous and engaging production … “
• “ … a funny and insightful night of theatre … “
• “Marco Robinson has grown into this role, and it’s hard to imagine a better Eugene. (Matthew Broderick, who played the role in the movie, has big-time competition here.)”
• "Chris Sheley has given them a magic puzzle box of a set – don’t let the plain wall fool you, there are amazing things hidden here.”
• "There’s one more play in this trilogy; Broadway Bound completes the cycle (can we hope for this next season?) Right now, give yourself a night out and don’t miss this warm, funny play.”

Biloxi Blues on FOX21

On Friday, Oct. 10, the FAC Theatre Company kicked off its season with the opening of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues. FOX21 Morning News reporter Meaghan Collier talked with director Alan Osburn about the military comedy, which runs Thursdays-Sundays until Oct. 26:


See the story on FOX21

Designing Women Opening Video

On Sept. 27, Colorado Culture Cast joined us for the opening of the Designing Women exhibition. Craig Richardson interviews curator Tariana Navas-Nieves and Art Collectors Jill A. Wiltse and H. Kirk Brown III: