President's Page

To marvel is the beginning of knowledge, and where we cease to marvel we may be in danger of ceasing to know. -- E.H. Gombrich

often picture a liberal arts education as a spider’s web -- an intricate weave of academic rigor, creative pursuit, community engagement and appreciation for the world. The image of a spider’s web works equally well for the Cornerstone Arts Initiative at the college, our effort to design a curriculum and to build a performing arts center that will become a national model for its interdisciplinary, technological and academic innovations. This center will bring together drama, dance, music, art, aesthetics, and film studies in an enrichment opportunity for the entire community.

Our vision for the new performing arts center is a place that will showcase the arts, nurture faculty and student collaboration, and serve as a model for arts education across the country. This building will be unlike any arts center now in existence, according to Antoine Predock, the nationally renowned architect who is designing the facility. The spaces will foster collaboration and partnerships within the arts and across disciplines to other parts of the campus.

Even before construction begins, faculty and students are experimenting with new collaborative efforts that embody the philosophy of the Cornerstone Arts Initiative. Last fall, three professors taught a trio of courses in art composition, music, and dance. The final project required teams of students from each course to create compositions that incorporated the three arts disciplines. In a similar fashion, faculty and students created a multimedia performance this spring that integrated spoken text, video, dance, and art. It's very exciting.

I encourage you to become part of the college’s delicate and beautiful spider web by involving yourself -- financially or otherwise -- in this labor of love. As the spider weaves its graceful web, the Colorado College family will be working on the development of the Cornerstone Arts Initiative as a model of the arts at the core of a liberal arts education.

Please join me in supporting the Cornerstone Arts Initiative and helping translate this dream into reality.

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