To be of use

by Marge Piercy

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who stand in the line and haul in their places,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come or the fire to be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

Poetry While You Wait Submissions

Poets and poetry lovers – now is the time to submit your original poems to the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Project for the next Poetry While You Wait poetry booklet. Submission is free and open to all residents, adults and children, of El Paso and Teller counties. This year, poems will be considered in English and foreign languages. If you wish to submit your poems in a foreign language, include your original foreign language poem and its English translation. All forms (free verse, blank verse, etc.) will be considered for publication. You may submit up to five poems, 30 lines or shorter, and suitable for public consumption, in the body of one e-mail, not an attachment, to poet@pikespeakpoetlaureate.org. Or mail to: Jim Ciletti, Poet Laureate, 1215 N. Union, Colorado Springs, 80909. Deadline is December 7, 2011. Please include your postal and e-mail address and phone number and a one-line bio with your submission. Poetry While You Wait will be published in Spring and distributed to waiting rooms, like your doctor’s or dentist’s office, tire stores, auto repair shops, beauty salons, barber shops, etc. – wherever there is a waiting area. Contact: Jim Ciletti - 634-2367.

Tree-Ring Circus

__________

The tree rings on the small tree on the sidewalk outside the COPPeR Office are part of the Art on the Streets (AOTS) public sculpture program that exhibits artwork for one year in Colorado Springs' downtown corridor. Eleven sculptors from around the country were juried in and invited to place work around town. I think this work has some properties that are atypical of artwork one typically finds in the area or as part of this type of art program.  And, it may be Colorado Springs' first multiple-sited, site-specific, community-specific artwork.  It might also be the largest.

It's challenging to create a work like this, because it follows contemporary art sensibilities and practices that don't get talked about much here. Maybe this is because there hasn't been anything like this, although an even larger art installation is going to take place in Manitou this October with The Chair Project. This work seeks to expand ideas about art, art making and art's value in the region.
After the work was installed, I emailed the organizers of the AOTS program to illuminate some of the reasons for my work. AOTS gave the installation a second place award, even though 
they did not have an artist statement at the time of adjudication.

As I explained in the email:


There is a gesture toward the businesses and activities in the vicinity of each sculpture siting--not in the rings themselves.  The rings are purposely non-objective and use a black & white color scheme to differentiate them from any common associations with other things. I changed pattern recognition on a couple of the trees to deviate from conformity and habituation of the viewer. One tree has colored rings, but it proves to be the hardest to find. 
The sites I chose were based on several factors:

-the physical characteristics of the tree  (straight saplings when possible)
-the visual aspects of the site  (noisy to serene sites, the rings have a different effect in each)
-frequency of occurrence and the use of both sides of the street (about 3 per block along 7 blocks)
-the kind of businesses or social activities in the immediate area  (the rings could bring visitors to each site, endorsing existing businesses and bring attention to vacancies or new businesses)
-the likeliness or unlikeliness of vandalism 
Following are site selection photos taken in early April followed by completed installation photos taken the morning of June 24, along with my thoughts and reasons about siting. At the end of the email is an artist statement and something about how the rings were made and installed.
Thank you for reading.

- Sean O'Meallie
__________
Tree Ring Circus -
#1.   SW corner of Boulder & Tejon



This is the northernmost site.  Driving south, this begins the highly active stretch of Tejon Street.  There is usually a cluster of people in their teens and twenties and a few homeless folk hanging around the front door of the locally owned coffee shop located on this corner.  Seeing the crowd clustered here as I drive into downtown signals to me the the start of the active street culture of our downtown community.


#2.   320 N Tejon


In April, Richard Skorman, the owner of Poor Richard's restaurant, bistro and bookstore was a candidate for Colorado Spring's first "strong mayor." Richard is a recognized supporter of the creative class in the community, but not Republican in a largely Republican leaning county. I thought including this site would have meaning whether he won or lost the election. He lost. I want to honor Richard's commitment to the community and his aspiration to make Colorado Springs a more interesting place. This block has a huge amount of visitation due to Richard's businesses.


 #3.   Tejon near Platte across from the El Paso Club

This area of Tejon St is the loneliest, grayest part of the entire street.  A lively nightspot called Jinx's Place used to be on this corner.  It could use a mural or a projected photo image of the former business.


#4.   SW corner of Platte & Tejon

This is a lush raised garden area at one of the most used intersections downtown.  Drivers wanting to bypass the shopping district or enter the shopping district, either cross or turn south onto Tejon St at this intersection.  The neighborhood immediately turns more urban.  Acacia Park is to the east.  The El Paso Club, the oldest man's club west of the Mississippi, is to the north. 


#5.   226 N Tejon


I love the urban clash of bikes with the tree here.  I intentionally kept the rings high on this one so that the use of the tree for securing bikes could continue. I also wanted to honor Mountain Chalet, one of Colorado Spring's favorite downtown fixtures. The bikes belong to residents of The Albany, a low income apartment house. The residents were very accommodating during the installation, removing all their bikes for the two hours necessary to install the armature and rings. They look after the artwork and are careful not to lean their bikes on the rebar.



#6.   214 1/2 N Tejon
 
Here's an empty storefront. It's been empty a long time. There are a few of these as backdrops to the tree treatments. Not only does the place look vacant, but it looks disregarded. I wondered if calling attention to this area would help advertise the location for the owner and additionally, for a new tenant.



#7.   Acacia Park


What an important urban community space this park is. Here, I'd like to honor Kat and Bob Tudor for their gifts and investments in the community. Their wildly popular Uncle Wilbur Fountain plaza is in the background below.


#8.   124 N Tejon

I chose this tree because of the setting and rhythm of the placements along the street.  Johannes Hunter is a long time downtown jeweler. I decided to incorporate a more intricate and lacy design motif on the rings. Michelle's candy store, once famous for its lace candies, chocolates and soda fountain, now defunct, slides into decrepitude next door.


#9.   115 N Tejon

Primarily chosen for physical and rhythmic reasons, I notice that the storefront advertises artmaking experiences available to anyone coming to their open classes.  Right next door is Lasko Fine Art, a very small art gallery finding a way to survive.

#10.   112 N Tejon

Bryan & Scott Jewelers has been around for 70+ years. It's my local gallery. Owner Roberto Agnolini has been supporting artists and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center for many years. The business and building are up for sale.


#11.   31 N Tejon - SE corner N of The Famous

This site offered a bit of a sidestep from the Tejon Street busyness, although a lot of vehicles and people go by. It seems a little off the path, but it's a nice little oasis. The spacing rhythm and backdrop led me to select this tree. The tree is full of 2" thorns. There's usually a homeless person sitting in the shade here. There's some office space available in the building behind.


#12.   30 N Tejon

Another empty storefront. Shewmaker's Cameras was an important resource for many artists in the community for many years. I knew a few of the employees. Not sure where they are now.


#13.   19 N Tejon


I'm not sure what all goes on in this building, but I needed a tree in the area and I thought the rings would fit with the architectural design of the entrance. There's a bank in the lobby and the county Public Defender's office. Perhaps the building is owned by LandCo, a local real estate developer in bankruptcy and tied to political and financial shenanigans with the former mayor and the U.S. Olympic Committee. The site is near the rowdy Cowboys bar and required a sturdy ring and armature.



#14.   3 N Tejon

Downtown's new 7 Eleven. This is on the corner of downtown's central intersection. Here the city is quadrisected into North, South, East and West. The building houses another bank, or used to. Now, a lot of youth and homeless hang out there and the downtown community makes good use of the convenience store's convenience. This tree required some of the largest rings in the installation, and sits kitty-corner from another large tree with rings. 


#15.   6 S Tejon:


Here North Tejon becomes South Tejon. US Bank has been a corporate financial sponsor for AOTS since it began. I used to bank at this location when it was Colorado Bank Exchange and had built some of the cabinetry in the lobby years ago when I was in that trade. This tree also required large rings. It plays a little with the tree in front of 7 Eleven, located diagonally across the intersection from this tree. A statue of Spencer Penrose is located nearby. 



#16.   15 S Tejon


The Ritz restaurant has been a local fixture for many years. My daughter works there and I know some of the employees. Every once in awhile, there's a scuffle or a stabbing within arm's length of this tree.  The tree also gets lots of water from leftover drinks and I suspect some mineral nutrients from an occasional puking. This probably goes for a number of the trees downtown. Here, the ring's black and white motif echos that of the Ritz. The bouncers and staff are helping to keep an eye on the sculpture.  


#17.   22 S Tejon

To foster alertness, I decided to use color on these rings. The sapling is one of the skinniest in the array and it's also tall. I chose this location for rhythmic layout reasons.


#18.   111 S Tejon

David Jenkins and his son Chris are developers and philanthropists and major supporters of the AOTS program. They've invested heavily in the community. I know Chris somewhat and I've spoken with David on the phone a few times. I wanted to acknowledge their contribution to local cultural organizations. I think the sophistication of the rings contrasts the sophistication of their architecture here, but both are clean modern ideas. During the installation of these rings, we were accosted by building security and threatened with dynamic emergency art extraction (they own the sidewalk!) until they discovered a gap in their internal communications. Now, Michael The Security Guard, and I are cool.


#19.   121 S Tejon

This tree, the smallest in the array, sits a few steps from the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR), a fledgling, community-supported organization that works to gather and disseminate information about cultural organizations and happenings to the community and tourism interests. It also works to educate and seek support for these same entities. This is a worthwhile effort by an earnest and dedicated group of civic-minded cultural activists. 


#20.   The Pioneers Museum

This former courthouse and county seat houses one of the most important historical collection of art and artifacts in the region.  Director Matt Mayberry is a dedicated historian, curator and cultural leader. The setting is quite nice. The rings, subtly present in the landscape. This is the last and southmost tree in the installation.



Statement:
Tree Ring Circus is a multiple-location, site-specific art installation that makes use of intimate knowledge for the activities and history of the Tejon Street corridor in which it is sited.  The rings are specific to each tree and setting upon which they are situated.  The rings were fabricated about one mile from the site using local labor.
The artwork addresses the stated aims of the AOTS sculpture program.  The artwork is intended to fulfill the year long duration of the program and no longer.  The materials are impermanent and will not be re-sited or sold, but destroyed during their removal.  The artwork concept was planned to precisely meet the parameters of the AOTS program and yet, by intention, expand the possibilities of the program, enrich opportunities for artists and those invested in the success of the program and of downtown Colorado Springs.

The rings are non-objective, non-representational sculptural forms intended to evoke curiosity about their unlikely occurence, placement and recurrence along the streetscape, or to just be enjoyed for their existence.  The artwork is original and non-traditional.  It establishes its own syntax from which any viewer can derive meaning, question or enjoyment. 
All the rings are different across 20 different sitings.  They can be viewed and considered while driving or while walking the street.  The work is urban in conception, nature and setting and acknowledges the community and activities in which it exists and which support it.
Media / Fabrication / Installation:
The sculptures are made of Styrofoam sheeting, readily available from building suppliers and sold as insulation.  Foam circles were sawn to size, laminated to thickness, then hand shaped with rasps and sandpaper.  The rings were painted with exterior grade wood glue before being covered with two layers of paper saturated with the same glue.  The rings were then primed and painted white before masking for black paint.  The paints are all exterior grade.  Each ring was then sawn in half and labeled by site.  The rings are supported by 3/8" rebar posts driven into the ground to a specific height.  Usually the rebar needed to be driven into the ground 6-10 inches from the base of the tree to avoid roots, then bent to conform to the tree.  Steel rings of varying diameters were hand-formed in the studio then bent around the tree and wired to the rebar.  The foam rings were glued to the steel rings and rebar using silicone caulking.  Soft urethane foam spacers attached to the inside of the rings prevent the sculptures and rebar from knocking into the tree.  Nothing is attached to the tree.

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Hello! You may have noticed me walking around downtown Colorado Springs, fervently pushing a red dolly emblazoned with a shiny yellow COPPeR logo. Depending on the occasion, said dolly may have been weighted down with PeakRadar Pages (your official, comprehensive guide to arts and culture in the Pikes Peak Region), house paint, or a root beer keg. WELL. I’m not just a mule for the arts; I have a name, you know! (It’s Sarah Wool. Cozy, right?) And I am working with COPPeR for the summer with the awesomely fancy title of Community Arts Development Specialist.

Sarah Wool, Summer Fellow. Here I am!

COPPeR and I found each other through Colorado College’s Public Interest Fellowship Program, or PIFP. Jeff Livesay, one of my favorite Sociology professors, designed PIFP to give students an opportunity to work with nonprofits in Colorado in summer or yearlong fellowships. Because I will still be in school as a senior next year (Sociology major, Art History minor), I was interested in the summer fellowships. COPPeR immediately caught my eye. It seemed like the perfect place to combine my interest in social action and enrichment with my love of culture and art.

Whether I was coloring on the walls, giving myself a spontaneous haircut, writing a newspaper that only my parents would read, or coloring my dog’s fur with washable markers, I’ve had a passion for creative endeavors since I was very small. (And I guess I’m still pretty small, because Christina told me last week that I’m the shortest person COPPeR has ever hired.)

It was in the second semester of my junior year, during a semester of studying art in Chicago, that I began to realize how vital the arts are to a city’s personality, energy, and sense of community. (Fun fact: I interviewed with COPPeR on Skype while I sat in the closet of my tiny Gold Coast apartment in a desperate attempt to get some privacy from my roommate.) As I made my way through Chicago’s famous art spaces—the Art Institute, Improv Olympic Theater, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Moth StorySLAM, among many others—I decided that I wanted to do all I could to make my own city of Colorado Springs a vibrant and attractive arts community. Lucky for me, COPPeR and PeakRadar are really into that goal too! Who would’ve thought?

I’ve been engaged in quite a few projects this summer, the most active of which was planning and executing a large mural on the wall of COPPeR’s office where people could paint messages or logos on an abstracted cityscape of the Springs. That should explain why I was wheeling paint along the sidewalk. When I’m not breaking a sweat to keep the arts community alive, I’m usually creating emails or surveys, planning events, and indexing local arts and cultural resources. I also organized and led a forum-type meeting called Coffee with COPPeR, where different cultural projects around the city presented their plans and progress to arts professionals and interested or curious community members.

One of my favorite things about this job is that it’s given me the opportunity to talk to a lot of different people about a lot of different things that are going on in this area. CC students very often forget that they are merely a small part of a much larger community; they rarely acknowledge that there is anything to do outside of the comfortable bubble of campus. Working with COPPeR and PeakRadar has shown me that there’s always, ALWAYS something to do. In fact, COPPeR employs [the wonderful] Brett Garman with the specific task of fighting boredom!

So there you have it: the story of how COPPeR and I met and came to be great boredom-fighting, arts-building friends. 

On living in the Pikes Peak Region and loving the arts for more than a decade

A multitude of thanks to the many friends who attended my going away party at the Fine Arts Center on Wednesday, January 5. There were so many wonderful people in attendance and I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone. A few people have asked me to share my remarks from last night, so here they are.

This place is inextricably linked to creative experiences for me. My first visit to Colorado Springs was on a field trip with my high school orchestra, where I played Copland's Rodeo Suite on the Pikes Peak Center stage as part of the Cavalcade of Music. Later, after I had been accepted to Colorado College, where I would ultimately earn my degree, I saw a production of My Fair Lady at the Fine Arts Center Theater.
Since I moved here, I've played in orchestras, string quartets, bands, and acted in amateur dinner theater. I even started an underground music venue in my venue while at college, the High Life House. I've amassed a respectable collection of work by local artists. And all of those experiences added up to what ended up to be an extremely satisfying career in the arts; and ultimately, a job at COPPeR, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region.

It has been my privilege and honor to serve as the first Executive Director for this organization. I have been so lucky to act as ambassador for the arts on behalf of all the amazing creative people who make this such a quality, vital place to live. To my friends and colleagues, the artists: You guys are AWESOME. The arts scene here is so rich, so vibrant and you all accomplish an astonishing volume of work with limited resources. My hat goes off to you.

I've been thinking a lot about what to say tonight. Having spent the last 13, very formative, years here, I have a lot to reflect upon. The past three years at COPPeR have been a period of exceptional growth. But in the past few weeks, as I have been packing up my belongings in preparation for my big move to California, I came across the document that is responsible for me being here in the first place.

The following is an excerpt from my college application essay that granted me entrance to Colorado College thirteen years ago. Keep in mind, if you will, that I was 17 years old when I wrote this. A little backstory - I was fortunate to have performed in the orchestra that inaugurated a brand-new Performing Arts Center with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This essay is about that experience.

"After the standing ovations, I walked through the champagne reception and stood outside in the October air. I couldn't talk through my tears yet, and the conversations I'd overheard as I passed through the lobby contributed to my intense feeling of joy at having been able to contribute to something as so bold as fulfilling an artistic vision. This must have been what Beethoven felt as he was turned around on the conductor's podium to face the applause he could not hear: joy, triumph, pride, and above all a feeling of belonging to something with a greater power that that of beginnings or endings: a constancy of both the human spirit and the presence of beauty.

I have had many profound musical experiences, but this story seems to be the best illustration of why I want to pursue an education and career in the arts. Art has the ability to convey the entire spectrum of human emotion, whether it takes form in a sculpture, a poem, or a symphony. It guides us through our lives; it helps us overcome pain, and it enhances the joy of living. Art is a dynamic constant, a true manifestation of the human spirit-- there is always more to learn about it, since just like us, it is always changing."


I'm excited about the new adventure that faces me in California, but I'm also excited about the future for COPPeR. Christina McGrath will do a wonderful job moving the vision forward, and we've got great staff in place, like Brett Garman. I will miss working with you. Judging by the turnout tonight, there are so many people invested in the future of the Pikes Peak region. Say it loud and say it proud: We love the arts in the Pikes Peak region!

COPPeR Announces New Executive Director: Colorado Springs native Christina McGrath brings arts passion and organizational savvy

The Board of Directors of COPPeR, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, is pleased to announce the appointment of Christina McGrath as Executive Director, starting January 18, 2011.

Christina comes to COPPeR from El Pomar Foundation, where after completing the Fellowship program she was invited to stay on and manage several programs including: the Anna Keesling Ackerman and Freda Hambrick Funds, The Empty Stocking Fund, and the foundation's compliance program. McGrath will replace Executive Director Bettina Swigger, who will step down in January after having served in that position for three years.

"COPPeR is at such an exciting stage in terms of growth and development," said Amanda Mountain, board chair of COPPeR. "The board feels that Christina is the perfect fit to build on all of the tremendous work Bettina has done, and to further expand beyond what even we can see in terms of possibilities for the organization."

Christina has lived in Colorado Springs for over 20 years and says that her passion for the arts started as a toddler when she was first sprinkled with "fairy dust" by Mary Mashburn, long beloved locally as the Fairy Godmother of the Arts. Christina grew up taking classes at the Bemis School of Art, and as a student at The Colorado Springs School, she was exposed to and participated in all aspects of fine arts thanks to their strong arts curriculum. Christina has a Bachelor's degree in Architecture and a Minor in Arts Management from Miami University. While at Miami, she played Baritone in the Marching and Athletic Bands and was a member of the Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity. An active community volunteer, she serves on the board of Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity.

"At El Pomar I've had exposure to hundreds of outstanding nonprofits, I am excited to now be working for one," said McGrath. "The vitality of a city depends on its arts and cultural scene and having grown up in this community I know we have a lot to offer."

"Christina's many experiences and leadership opportunities here at El Pomar certainly have prepared her for this new responsibility. We are pleased to see her take on this next challenge and believe that COPPeR and our entire Colorado Springs community will benefit from her skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm," said William J. Hybl, chairman and CEO of El Pomar Foundation.


"I am delighted to know Christina will be taking the reigns at COPPeR," said Swigger. "This vibrant organization has an active, committed board of directors, excellent staff, wonderful support in our community, and a solid plan for growth and development. I look forward to working with Christina in the next few weeks to ensure a seamless leadership transition."

Members of the community are invited to meet Christina at an open house/art opening in the COPPeR creative space in the Plaza of the Rockies on Friday, February 4, 2011 from 6-9 p.m. This celebration will happen in tandem with the opening of the Breaking the Sound Barrier, Sonic Art 1860-2010 exhibition at the UCCS Gallery of Contemporary Art next door.

Important News from COPPeR's Board Chair

It is with both sadness and a sense of excitement for her bright future ahead that I must share with you the news that COPPeR Executive Director Bettina Swigger has accepted a position as the executive director of Festival Mozaic, a music festival in San Luis Obispo on the California Central Coast. This is a tremendous opportunity for Bettina for which she was approached as a part of a competitive national search. This not only speaks highly of her personal and professional integrity and work ethic, but speaks to the culture of COPPeR where we strive to provide our staff the best opportunities possible to actualize their fullest potential.

COPPeR has grown leaps and bounds since its inception four years ago. We've established PeakRadar.com as THE go-to website for arts, culture and fun. We've worked together with artists and arts organizations, donors, businesspeople and local government and municipalities to leverage the role of arts and culture as a vital part of the fabric of community identity, and a significant economic driver. We've told the story of how arts and culture bring together people from various backgrounds and perspectives to celebrate what is truly important, our shared humanity.

All of this with Bettina Swigger as the leader of this vibrant, ever-evolving organization. She served first as a founding board member and then as the organization's first executive director for three years.

As Bettina transitions into the next phase of her career, COPPeR itself is poised to head into the future with many exciting things ahead. In 2011, COPPeR will be working with members of the community to implement parts of the Cultural Plan for the Pikes Peak Region; gather data for the next economic impact study on the arts and culture sector and its impact on the local economy; move forward with the board of directors on its new five-year strategic plan; publish the next edition of the COPPeR Pages; and more.

A party is planned to honor Bettina's legacy at COPPeR and to wish her bon voyage. Please save the date for January 5 and you can expect an invitation with all of the details shortly.

As we look to the future, the Board of Directors of COPPeR is seeking a new executive director who will help lead us into the next phase of our development. We are currently accepting applications and you will find the job posting on our website. Deadline for applications is December 3, 2010. Click here to see a complete job description.

Look to hear more from us as we embark on this exciting search for the next leader of this tremendous organization.

Thank you for your support of COPPeR, and of the entire arts community.

Amanda Mountain
COPPeR Board Chair

Two new arts trainings - Audience Development and Impact Measurement and Outcomes

COPPeR is delighted to invite you to our final two arts training
"Boot Camp" sessions for 2010:

Audience Development: Beyond Butts in Seats
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
4:30 - 6 p.m.
Jack Quinn's Pub
21 South Tejon Street

In today's world, it takes enthusiasm, energy and innovation to grow audiences for the arts. This boot camp will explore new ways of opening up to new audiences. Hear from Ivette Gallegos and Karen Evers, the masterminds behind the Jack Quinn's Running Club, a phenomenon that has transformed Tuesday nights in downtown Colorado Springs by bringing thousands of runners together. Also hear from realtor Benjamin Day about his experience as an audience member and how the lessons he learned from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' CEO Michael Kaiser inform his business planning and building his client base. Finally, hear about trends in audience development from across the country from Brett Garman, manager of PeakRadar.com, fresh from the 2010 National Arts Marketing Partnership Conference. This conversational session will allow time for questions, comments and dialogue about how to expand our reach as an arts sector. Click here to register by email.

Impact Measurements and Outcomes
4:30 - 6 p.m.
Wednesday, December 8
East Library
5550 N Union Blvd

Measuring the impact of the arts can be challenging. This session will provide insight in to how your organization can measure and track your impact in real ways. Debi Krause-Reinsch with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association will share tools she has used to measure impact in the nonprofit and commercial sectors. Susan Edmondson, Executive Director of the Bee Vradenburg Foundation, will discuss the importance of accurate measurement from a funder's perspective. And Caitlin Green, Director at the UCCS Gallery of Contemporary Art will share research she has done across the sector in new techniques. Boot camp participants will be guided through exercises. Click here to register by email.

All sessions include:
- Tools to help your arts organization survive and thrive in a challenging economy.
- Information geared specifically for the unique challenges of arts organizations.
- Time for Q&A and collective sharing of our individual organizations' successes and challenges.
- Networking with colleagues and new friends


Cost: $5 per session per organization (more than one member of an organization may attend).
$2 for COPPeR Arts Partners.
Pay at the door.

RSVP: Space is limited!
RSVP to info@coppercolo.org.

You may RSVP for all sessions at once, too.
Questions? Call Bettina at 634.2204.

Cultural Plan for the Pikes Peak Region is finally here!

I'm sitting in my office, finally sitting at my computer and reveling after having just formally announced the first-ever Cultural Plan for the Pikes Peak Region. It's been a whirlwind morning of press conferences and TV cameras. It's a big moment for our community.

Two years ago we embarked on a journey with Arts for Colorado. In 2008, before the National Performing Arts Convention was coming to Denver and bringing with it 8,000 arts professionals from across the nation, I spearheaded an application for Colorado Springs to participate in a statewide collaborative community planning process. We were selected as one of eight communities around the state, which also included Aurora, Cortez, Steamboat Springs, Monte Vista, Glenwood Springs, Lakewood and Glenwood Springs. We put together a team, which included Thomas Wilson, associate conductor of the CS Philharmonic, Jan Martin, Colorado Springs City Council, Deborah Thornton, Imagination Celebration, and Dave Talbot, an entrepreneur. We headed to Denver for NPAC that summer and began to explore the possibilities of launching a cultural planning process for Colorado Springs and our region. A previous effort at creating a Cultural Plan for the region had led in part to the very formation of COPPeR, and cultural planning is a primary activity of cultural offices around the country, we figured there was no time like the present.

Two years later, I'm delighted to say that we have a plan! Click here to download the plan that will help guide arts providers to better serve the community for years to come. The Pikes Peak region (El Paso and Teller counties) is home to more than 200 nonprofit arts organizations that produce an annual economic impact of nearly $100 million. Thousands of individual artists also call this region home. Colorado Springs ranks in the top 15 percent of 276 metropolitan areas nationwide in the number of arts businesses per capita, proving that creative industries are a major force in the economy.

It just makes sense -- a strong arts and cultural sector benefits everyone from visitors to residents, educators to businesspeople, schoolchildren and seniors alike.

The Cultural Plan is a strategic plan which aims to develop, enliven, enhance and promote arts and culture to strengthen our community. Our arts scene already is vibrant - and we simply want to see even more of a good thing. This 10-year plan has identified the necessary goals, strategies and recommended action steps for supporting the growth, diversity and sustainability of cultural activities in the Pikes Peak region. The plan identifies methods in which the arts can strengthen all sectors of the community, with the understanding that the arts are an intricate ecosystem composed of individual artists, nonprofit organizations, and creative industries like film, design and architecture. In order for our region to be hip, exciting and attractive we all need to be on the same page, with a similar vision for the future built on shared values.

Some major takeaways from the plan:

NEW VENUES
This plan identifies that one of the most critical issues holding back the artists and arts organizations from serving our community is the lack of a variety of affordable and accessible venues throughout the region. This plan calls for dedicated effort toward ensuring a variety of cultural spaces -- from an amphitheatre that takes advantage of our beautiful scenery and weather to more simple and small-scale spaces for performances and exhibit spaces -- spaces that are achievable in partnerships with developers, institutions, municipalities and others.

NEW ARTS EDUCATION
Numerous studies have shown that in order to compete in an increasingly fast-paced employment market, arts education is essential for building 21st-century thinkers. This plan looks at ways to capitalize on successes in innovative arts training and connect more students to arts learning opportunities both in and outside of the classroom. The plan also calls for more interactive, instructive arts programming to build creative individuals of all ages.

NEW RESOURCES
Philanthropic support will always play a part in the arts. This plan identifies new systems and structures for generating new, sector wide private support for the arts, in addition to ways the arts community can better demonstrate its impact and its high level of professional management standards to donors and partners.

NEW NEIGHBORHOOD ART
Serving the community begins at the neighborhood level -- from block parties to coffeeshop poetry readings to concerts in neighborhood churches and YMCAs and community centers -- and especially integrating public art and murals throughout our two-county region. This plan calls for tools that will help artists and arts organizations work with our community at the neighborhood level to increase the quality of life for all of our residents -- in downtown Colorado Springs, in artistic hubs such as Manitou Springs and beyond to all of our neighborhoods.

Download the complete Cultural Plan for the Pikes Peak Region here.

Congratulations to Kevin Johnson

Hello to COPPeR friends, donors, supporters and volunteers:

After two and a half years at COPPeR managing PeakRadar.com, Kevin Johnson will be leaving in mid-September for a brand-new position as
Information and Online Community Coordinator at Pikes Peak Community College. We are extremely excited for Kevin as he faces this bold new opportunity, and we are terrifically grateful for his work here at COPPeR. He will be missed.

Kevin says: "I have had the good fortune to make lasting connections with many of the fabulous people from the diverse arts and cultural organizations we serve at COPPeR, and I will miss working closely with them to support their programming. I was proud to be a part of an organization that has brought attention to the outstanding events and programs that are produced here in the Pikes Peak region."

With apologies to Battlestar Galactica

As we approach the rollout of the first-ever Cultural Plan for the Pikes Peak region, I decided to combine my love of SciFi with my love of Cultural Planning in the video below...



Stay tuned. 9.9.10. The Cultural Plan arrives.

From Katie, the friendly Fellow

My name is Katie Ferguson and I’m so excited to be working with COPPeR this summer as their cultural planning coordinator through Colorado College’s Public Interest Fellowship Program. I’m a Mathematical Economics major and dance minor at Colorado College, just down the road. I have grown up in the nonprofit world, training with a dance company and school near Denver and working with their administrative and development departments and teaching in past years.
I’ve not posted a blog on here before so I thought I’d fill everyone in on what I’ve been up to and let you all know that, at least for the summer, there are more people in the office! (I wouldn’t want any of you coming into our office and thinking there was some random girl hanging out at a desk). So here goes!
During my time here at COPPeR, (about 2 months now!) I’ve gotten the great opportunity to work very closely with Bettina compiling and creating the first ever Cultural Plan for the Pikes Peak region. This project is what drew me to the job in the first place so I’m so happy to be getting to do so much work with it ☺ So far this process has been a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the area and discover just how important the arts and culture are to this region. It has been really great to be able to meet so many influential people in the community through the plan0-writing process.
I’ve also gotten to explore the Colorado Springs arts scene and learn more about what’s going on here. I was shocked in my first few weeks to learn how much was going on! I have always considered myself to be pretty aware, but there was so much I hadn’t heard about. As I explored and visited places like Smokebrush Gallery, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum and Cottonwood Center for the Arts, I also learned just how very essential the arts, culture and heritage are to this community and to so many people who live in it and work for it.
I had no idea places like Cottonwood existed, let alone so close to where I live. I got a tour of Cottonwood from artist Jennifer Hanson and to get to meet so many of the artists. I was blown away by the level of local talent we have here. From sculptors to painters and even artists who work with pastels (I never could do anything with those except get them all over my hands and clothes) the work was just brilliant. There was one artist who paints landscapes from pictures so that they would look brilliant-- even clearer than the original picture! And the truth is that there are tons of venues for local artists to show their work- we have an amazing artistic base here in the Pikes Peak region. Unfortunately, not everyone knows about our rich arts scene and that's why COPPeR is so important for getting the word out.
I brought a couple friends with me to the Pioneer’s Museum and besides learning new things about Colorado’s history; we got a secret tour up to the top of the bell tower! Check out this picture - there's COPPeR wa-a-a-y down below. If any of you heard the bells ring a couple random times in mid June- that might have been me! It was great up there; you could see for miles.

In addition to my work on the Cultural Plan and exploring the area, I have also gotten to work on the PeakRadar.com Arts/Culture/Fun(d) drive, in which we raised more than $8,000 to support PeakRadar.com! There have been lots of other activities, too - there's always something going on at COPPeR.
Last weekend I got to hang out at the COPPeR booth at Pride Fest which was so much fun (Click here to see some great photos)! It was great to see the diversity of our region so engaged in such a great festival. It has been a really truly great experience working with COPPeR and I’m excited to continue on through August!

Nuggets from Michael Kaiser's Arts in Crisis Presentation

We just returned from a fantastic morning at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center where we heard from Michael Kaiser, President and CEO of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on his only stop in Colorado on his 50-state Arts in Crisis tour. I served on the interviewing panel along with Maurice LaMee from Creede Repertory Theatre and Elaine Mariner from Colorado Creative Industries (formerly Colorado Council on the Arts). We had a lively crowd and Mr. Kaiser presented some great information about what he's learned during his tour and some of his advice for arts groups moving away from crisis and toward organizational health.

COPPeR Board Member Benjamin Day live-blogged the whole thing on Facebook – so for those of you who couldn't be there - here are his posts for all to enjoy!

Michael Kaiser's Fan Club @ FAC... Representing COPPeR at "The Kennedy Center Presents: Arts in Crisis". Parking lot was full more than a half hour before event was to begin.
“Yes, I'm blogging live... Yes, we have had a Coffee Crisis when we almost ran out of decaf; a Strawberry Squeeze when there was a fresh fruit deficit; but no CC Compromise with Bettina facilitating!”
“first instinct of arts organizations when faced with economic constraints is to start cutting." Equates programming to marketing: your programming is your message.
‎"There is no reason to give to an organization that is doing nothing". Huh. Does that extend to organizations / municipalities / communities / organizations outside of the arts?
‎70% of international tourists to the US identify themselves as cultural tourists. 17% of GDP is manufacturing. Smallest number of any developed nation.
A wish not a plan is to do more marketing and more fundraising. Hint: programming. You can't balance your budget on bequests. Talk about the present and the future, forget the past. Plan big transformative projects, meaning a five year calendar. Kaiser has five years of projects as a menu: donors will connect to one or two; if you have only one, ... See Morethey might get distant. The length of time actually helps tighten the bond with the audience. Five years gives him time to educate an audience. Take time to do the exciting work.
Institutional marketing connects people to "the family." marketing: you do it and you do it again and you do it again. Hint: arts organizations fear doing anything big. You don't need big donors: people want to be involved. Big is a pretty easy way to get people involved. Haley Dance Company facing bankruptcy in 1992 paid off their debt within 12 mos.
There is zero room for negativity in the arts, the spokesperson must be optimistic and communicate the positive attributes exclusively. Arts are notorious for whining about their financial problems, reducing programming, being entitled ("ask Bill Cosby for $1 million"... "why? We don't deserve it"), and living in the ruins of their past ("who was ... See Morethe fool who approved the $56K cannon for The Nutcracker? That was dumb. Let's marinade in dumb..."). That thinking organizes no one. Arts must be visionary and paint a picture/direction that is optimistic.
Arts ticket prices have created a large degree of exclusivity and thus irrelevance. The Met has decent tickets for standard opera next year are $750/piece. Arts orgs have to think inclusive and how to get everyone involved. Kennedy Center has a free performance daily at 6. Changes daily. Most popular are what likely would seem most irrelevant: symphonic music and ballet. These "free" events draw more than anyone.
We are channeling Seth Godin here: don't work on your donor base. Work on being exciting. Example Soweto Dance Company. If you can do it there (one of the poorest slums on the planet creates a top int'l dance troupe)... You can do it anywhere. Do exciting & important, focus on that. Biggest arts progam of 2010 was in Gand Rapids, MI, Visual Arts Festival. 1500 artists showed up: year one. Interesting and Important can happen anywhere.
Creede Rep. Theatre has a value of "we will fail." Kaiser: arts must lead. Probably will fail when you lead. Most "best" arts performances people experience are not ones they expected. Arts are risky: embrace that. People don't claim Phantom of the Opera as their lifetime best arts experience... It's good, maybe great, but the best lies in surprise... See More. For me, Arcade Fire and the Sam Lay Blues Band (at Shove Chapel, 1995) are the two best live music experiences I can think of, not the huge, high expectation events. Both surprised me and left me transformed. (Now we are channeling Aeschylus!)
Lots of grumbling before event on the title and use of "Crisis". We are clearly crisis'ed out. We are city 66 out of 69, maybe is resonated more six months ago. In any event, the theme is exceedingly positive and pokes at the crisis-to-crisis mentality, and that "from the 1890's there are accounts of the arts are doomed." Arts are not allowed to function from a crisis mode.
Totally agree..if you have a product, it needs to be exciting more than anything else. Organizations that cut back on programming also cut back on product...no product, no sales. Most marketers look for the "home run" donors, exclusively. But they don't understand that by tapping the base of the pyramid, you can get tons of singles....Singles win Ballgames!
Arts Crisis Alert! Educational problem and arts not considered part of the necessary curriculum. How to address? Proactive behavior of arts orgs should be to concentrate on inclusive events and actions. Again mentions ticket prices as a huge problem and a deficit of thinking about big programming that's exciting. Innovation also really brings people in.
Interesting spiritual nugget: arts leaders should be mentored and mentoring.
Oh dear... First person has left and I can't say I'm surprised who it was. Yes, an EDC member.
More spiritual... Know when to build a building. Debt kills. The line between sickness and health is very slim. What, is he addressing a bunch of 30 yr old men? :) awesome advice for life not expected at an arts event.
Singles win ballgames... I love it Mark. Thanks!
Send off: we sell more tickets for arts then sports in the US.
Imagination Celebration presents the Dragon Hat, as the Protector of the Jewels of the Kingdom.

US Air Force Academy to Downgrade Band - consequences for our community

From COPPeR Board member Mark Dempsey, Executive Director of the Colorado Springs Chorale:

The Air Force has made the determination to downgrade the Air Force Academy Band designation from Premier to Regional while retaining the Band’s national touring mission. The downgrade is not just in title and stature but will have a very real impact.
The Band will lose 7-10 musicians and the members will have to rotate through other regional bands every three or four years. The ensemble's current strength is based on playing together as an ensemble over a long period of years. They will no longer have as much ability to audition musicians, but will have to consider candidates rotating through the re-assignment pool. In addition, this will leave the Air Force Academy as the only service academy whose band is not a premier band and eliminate the only premier band located outside of the East Coast/Washington, D. C. geographical area.

I see this as a tremendous blow to the Academy, the region’s number one tourist attraction, an insult to Colorado Springs and to Colorado more generally, not to mention the hard to calculate impact on the region as a tourist draw. It certainly impacts our efforts to develop the cultural reputation of the area. The Philharmonic will lose the availability of some top musicians, and regional schools and other clinician, teaching and developmental efforts among kids and adults alike now provided by the bandsman will suffer as band members are regular clinicians with the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association, Peakharmonic and other youth organizations as well as providing off-duty free clinics in at least six area high schools.

The downgrade will also impact recruiting for the Air Force Academy in competition with the other service academies for top quality cadets and in the long run, has the potential to degrade the quality of Air Force leadership. For comparison purposes, the U.S. Army has four Premier bands, the Navy, two, the Marine Corps one plus a Premier Drum and Bugle Corps, all located on the East Coast.

Additionally, the Band uses the Pikes Peak Center 7-10 times a year, presenting at least five concerts to the community. Twenty-five members of the band or their spouses are private music teachers, reaching over 200 students per week. Two members of the band are contract members of the Philharmonic, three band spouses are contract members, while eight band members are regular performers with the Philharmonic.

The only recourse now available to reverse this decision is for individual citizens to contact their political representatives asking them to intervene. I encourage you to contact your elected officials today! (But please keep in mind that cut and paste of my or others’ remarks suggests an organized mass mailing and has less impact than a simple, short call or letter in your own words as an individual concerned citizen.)

El Paso County Treasurer Sandra Damron has made the following plea to her elected officials, as well:

The community’s concern regarding the downgrading of this band from Premiere to Regional is based on several factors:

The Air Force Academy would become the only service academy without a Premiere Band.
The Air Force Academy band is the only Premiere military band west of the Mississippi. This is a slap in the face not only to the Pikes Peak Region and Colorado, but to the entire Western half of the country.

The reason given (career stagnation and lack of promotion opportunities) is simply not true. Musicians function much as a baseball or football team does: the longer they play together, the better they get. For example, the Stellar Brass, which has had the same personnel for 12 years, is possibly the best brass quintet in the country, military or civilian. As far as promotion opportunities, taking away one of the two Air Force Premiere bands effectively cuts promotion opportunities for all other Air Force musicians in half.

There is no cost savings. In fact, the requirement of adding 45 more AF personnel to the list of those who are transferred regularly will actually increase costs by approximately $1 million annually.

The members of the US Air Force Academy Band are permanent members of the community. Because they feel a connection with the community, during their off hours they teach in our colleges (state-wide), they play in our community orchestras (also state-wide), and they volunteer in our social organizations and churches. The loss of this connection would negatively impact all of these organizations.

It is my hope, and the hope of many others, that you will be able to convince the AF Chief of Staff that downgrading the AFA Band is unnecessary, and that we will be able to proudly keep this band as “The Best of the Best” in representing the United States Air Force Academy.

Elected Officials Contact Information:

The Honorable Doug Lamborn
US House of Representatives
437 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
Phone (202) 225-4422
District:
1271 Kelly Johnson Blvd. Suite 110
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
Phone: (719) 520-0055
Fax: (719) 520-0840
The Honorable Mike Coffman
US House of Representatives
1508 Longworth House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
Phone (202) 225-7882
District:
9220 Kimmer Drive; Suite 220
Lone Tree, CO 80124
Phone: (720) 283-9772
Fax: (720) 283-9776
The Honorable John Salazar
US House of Representatives
326 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
Phone (202) 225-4761
District:
134 West B Street
Pueblo, CO 81003
719-543-8200
719-543-8204 (fax)
The Honorable Mark Udall
United States Senate
317 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Phone (202) 224-5941
District:
2880 International Circle, Suite 107
Colorado Springs, CO 80910
P: 719-471-3993
The Honorable Michael Bennet
United States Senate
702 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Phone (202) 224-5852
District:
409 North Tejon St., Suite 107
Colorado Springs, 80903
Phone: (719) 328-1100 Fax: (719) 328-1129

Flash Mob for Poetry

Perhaps you've seen the Improv Everywhere "Food Court Musical" and thought to yourself, how cool is that? Can we do something like that here? Check out this video for how these spontaneous performances can surprise and delight. Well, just in time for National Poetry Month (April), here's your chance to get involved in a poetry flash mob. Calling all with dramatic flair, a passion for poetry, and/or video skills [BYO camcorder], the mission is to make poetry happen, in sync, all over Colorado Springs. We'll gather to assign groups and tasks on Saturday, April 10 at high noon. Come to the offices of COPPeR, the Cultural Office of the Pike's Peak Region. Missions will include visual and spoken performances of predetermined poems at prearranged places throughout the city. The hope is that we take Colorado Springs by surprise with poetry. Examples of group missions include: -holding posters along sidewalks and across parks, mapping out famous lines of poetry -erupting in spontaneous choral recitations in grocery stores and shopping malls -videotaping crowd responses and enjoyment of spontaneous poetry Deployment of the missions happens on Saturday, April 17th. We want lots of footage so we can gather later to celebrate our success! If you're interested, please come down to our office tomorrow and we'll be sure to post videos of the deployment after they happen.

Art Creates Community Winner announced

Yesterday, the winner of the new the 2010 ART CREATES COMMUNITY $10,000 Award sponsored by the Bee Vradenburg Foundation and the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado was announced. Congratulations to Community in Unison: Chamber Orchestra of the Springs and the Gospel Music Workshop of America!

Community in Unison will combine chamber music virtuosity with the explosive energy of gospel choir in a concert of original arrangements of traditional spirituals and gospels. Chamber Orchestra of the Springs and Gospel Music Workshop of America - Colorado Springs Chapter will present this inspiring concert at the downtown First United Methodist Church on September 10, 2010 in association with a Volunteer Fair. If you want to learn full details of the project and/or play a more active role in its realization please contact chamorch@gmail.com.

Spotlight: Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association

This is the second in our Spotlight series in which we have invited folks from some of the Pikes Peak region's diverse arts groups to tell us what they do, who they work with, and what they're all about. You may have seen the banners in downtown Colorado Springs advertising the 30th anniverary of the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony. Today we give you a behind-the-scenes snapshot of this venerable institution. This post was written by David Sckolnick, Marketing Consultant for the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony.

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At the age of 30, we reach a time in our lives when the previous three decade's trials and tumbles make way for genuinely powerful and consistent accomplishment. The Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association is celebrating that birthday this year, but the experiences and accomplishments of many of the aspiring musicians who have been a part of our program go beyond what is considered normal in the classic model of the human growth curve.

"I love being able to play with people that share my passion for music."

For three decades the CSYSA has been shaping young musicians. As part of this year's celebration we're reaching out to our musicians, folks in their 40s, 30s, 20s and teens to see what our program has meant to the lives of our musicians. The Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association provides high quality, diverse instrumental music education to youth and is a resource to the community. CSYSA is comprised of 7 auditioned groups (2 full orchestras, 2 bands and 3 string orchestras), a Mozart String outreach program and a chamber ensemble program. CSYSA serves over 450 musicians a year in these programs (once a week rehearsals/classes minimum). Musicians come primarily from the Pikes Peak Region and musicians come from more than 60 different schools and outlying communities.

"What I like best about Youth Symphony are the friendships I've made. Through tours, rehearsals and concerts, the other musicians become your second family. I'm thankful to the organization for integrating wonderful musicians from many different schools--without Youth Symphony I never would have met these amazing people. The music is great, too!"

The Colorado Springs Youth Symohony provides an experience outside the schools to offer outstanding musicians real-world orchestral experience. Unfortunately, in our society, money is more frequently alllocated for ahtletics programs than music programs in public schools. It's true that athetic team experiences inspire great camaraderie and growth for young people as they move through the ups and downs of a competitive season. Some of the athletes even spend hours practicing on their own in weight rooms and working on their sport. But the hours spent mastering a violin, trumpet or bassoon may match and in many cases exceed how a high school linebacker or a point guard in basketball gets his or her body and mind prepared for a challenging opponent. And alongside the discipline, devotion, camarederie and growth nurtured by the experience of playing in an orchestra, a crash course in Bach, Mozart and Beethoven expands the minds and spirits of young people.

These young people also act as ambassadors for our community. The Youth Symphony tours internationally every other year as an ambassador of our city and country-they have performed in China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Spain, Czech Republic, Carnegie Hall, and others!

For some of the musicians, playing with the Youth Symphony is the only chance they have to play with other musicians. One young musician says, "The Colorado Springs Youth Symphony is the highlight of my week. It is well worth the 200-mile drive each week. I have really grown as a musician being able to play with such talented kids. Gary Nicholson is an outstanding conductor who challenges me to do my very best." This student drives TWO HUNDRED MILES every week! That's dedication.

"I like losing myself in the music. When I play with all of the instruments, I feel like I am all of the instruments!"

But the benefits of being part of our program extend beyond their time in the ensemble. Although some alums do choose to pursue professional careers, many continue playing their instruments in a part-time community setting. But more importantly, our musicians go on to become one of the most vital component of the arts - the audience! Our cellists and trombonists of today will go on to attend symphony and chamber music concerts and other arts events in the future. The love of music they learn while in CSYSA will make sure that classical music keep sounding off on their loudspeakers and earbuds. It's just a little truth we have learned at Youth Symphony - music is a lifelong "sport" in which its players just get better and better, regardless of how their bodies wear down over the decades.