From Sydney Pollack...
As honorary co-chair of the Cornerstone Arts Advisory Council, I am convinced this magnificent building will address the growing needs of the college's arts education program.
Collaboration, collision, or spontaneous combusion -- whatever it's called -- this type of teamwork is not new at Colorado College. Professors have craftily combined interdisciplinary teaching and learning experiences throughout the traditional curriculum for years. The time has come, though, to wholeheartedly apply this collaborative approach to the arts education program.
I applaud the college's foresight. Having taught at CC, I believe this new center will be a model for the country, a true showplace that melds arts education with technology in dazzling new ways. Students studying theater, film, dance, music, and art will use the center as a multi-media production launch pad, going well beyond the linear order of paper texts and chalkboards.
Since the 1950s, artists have increasingly mixed aesthetic media. Meredith Monk, Ping Chong, and Merce Cunningham have all meshed video, audio, drama and dance -- even sculpture and architecture. WIth today's computer technology, contemporary culture increasingly expresses itself in ways that mix or match previously disconnected media. The same rings true on college campuses, as more and more disciplines reach out and engage each other, recreating previous thoughts on how best to use space and existing resources.
The Cornerstone Arts Center will welcome all, those who come to see and be seen. It will most certainly lure great performers, enriching and entertaining the campus and Colorado Springs community. And arts majors are not the only students who will benefit -- roughly three out of four CC students take a theater, dance or film class, help choreograph a show or design a set, or work the lights at a theater production.
It will take considerable investment to build the Cornerstone Arts Center. Most projects of merit do. When its doors open, though, Colorado College's long-standing tradition of excellence will be cemented long into the 21st century. Financial support from the college's longtime friends, alumni and parents is vital to make it a success.
The Building Committee
Carlton Gamer, music
Kate Leonard, fine arts
John Simons, film
Jonathan Lee, philosophy
Donna Arnink, drama and design
Ofer Ben-Amots and Michael Grace, music
Elaine Freed, development and architecture
Gary Reynolds, facility services
Clinton Turner-Davis, drama
Students and other faculty and staff also participated at various stagesBack to Index