31 minute read
Arts in the Pandemic
Teaching and Learning During COVID-19
By Kirsten Akens ’96
Rosy Simas’ first scheduled campus performance through CC’s
Department of Theatre and Dance was a go for March 2020. She packed up, got on the road, and, as Simas puts it, “from the time I left Minnesota and drove here, in that two-day timeframe, we started to enter the pandemic and that is when people started to think about restrictions.”
When she arrived in Colorado Springs, Simas, a transdisciplinary artist who historically has presented work as a choreographer, carried on. With partner and dancer Sam Aros Mitchell, she installed and performed a transitory piece in Cornerstone Arts Center on March 6, weaving together movement, film, and immersive music.
Though the year to follow would throw everyone for a loop, including Simas, her visit had made an impact. She’s back on campus for the 2021 Spring Semester, as the Department of Theatre and Dance’s first artist-in-residence, thanks to the newly established Pamela Battey Mitchell Visiting Artistin-Residence in Contemporary Dance in honor of Hanya Holm. (See “Gift Creates New Visiting Artist Position in Dance Department,” p. 15).
“It is impossible to overstate the importance of Rosy’s contributions to the Department of Theatre and Dance — and above all, our work on the antiracism initiative,” says Associate Professor of Performance Studies Ryan Platt, who also is chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance. “Rosy is a Native artist and activist who actively builds new Native audiences and combats the marginalization of Native artists,” he says. “Her teaching always involves astute attention to questions of identity, power, and cultural difference. These issues are particularly needed in dance, which many students regard as inherently neutral and a matter of technical skill.”
Platt notes that Simas also is contributing to the larger artistic and intellectual discourse on campus and that the Department of Theatre and Dance has been collaborating with the Native American Student Union, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, and faculty in anthropology, English, and race, ethnicity, and migration studies.
Photo by Jennifer Coombes Photo by Chidera Ikpeamarom ’22
“These interdisciplinary connections are essential to bringing new knowledge and critical perspectives on indigeneity, colonialism, and embodiment to both our department and the larger college,” he says.
As a part of her residency this semester, Simas has been teaching and creating — and learning.
During Block 6, she taught a dance production lab class for both trained dancers and students new to the stage. In it, the students worked toward creating a culmination project of an online and socially distanced live performance. At the time, students could choose to take their classes either in-person or online, and Simas ended up working with four students in person and one virtually. The four students on campus met for class in Cutler Hall with Simas (and Mitchell, who came along again to assist). The one taking class long-distance happened to be living in Minneapolis, where Simas is from and where Rosy Simas Danse, the Native-led arts organization she founded is based, and so Simas pulled in colleagues there to offer support and provide the student with a bit of their own in-person experience.
“While we could wish that we could have more hands on to every element of the work, the multidisciplinary aspect of it, it’s just hard to do that right now,” Simas says. “I’m basically creating a container and we’re creating performance to put within the container and the students have a lot of input into what that is and how that is executed, or, for lack of a better word, interpreted.”
“It’s challenging,” Simas adds, “but I think that it’s a challenge that is worthy of doing … . I don’t think we’re going back to all in-person anything. So whether we like it or not, we’re gonna learn from this experience. And even if we learn we don’t like it, we still have to participate in it, you know?”
Beyond learning how to make the logistics of teaching during a pandemic work, Simas also learned how the pandemic would impact the content of her class conversations. She and the students spent a lot more time talking about what it is to perform, to share, and to communicate at a time like this, as well as more about presence and how personal space has changed. For instance, she says, when considering what is an individual’s kinesphere — the notion created by dance artist and theorist Rudolf Laban to define the space around a person’s body that can be reached by extended arms and legs — how has the dimension of that gotten bigger for most people because of the pandemic?
“What is it to permeate that,” she asks, “and actually connect with audiences in a way that people have not been practicing for the last year?” The class also talked a lot about grief.
“We [talked] about grieving and condoling and caretaking. I talk in my own work about how we’re all sort of in a state of shock. And as we exit that, we will begin to grieve, regardless of the fact that over — I don’t know what it is today — 550,000 people have died,” she says. “There will be this, I think, decade-long impact in how we do things. I mean, people have not been able to grieve, so how does that change our rituals around grieving?”
Rosy Simas
Grief is a topic long familiar to Simas’ work, which she describes as weaving themes of personal and collective identity with family, matriarchy, sovereignty, equality, and healing, through movement. “I think most of my work deals with movement in general, and by movement, I mean, either moving bodies through space, moving sound, moving objects, or moving image,” she says.
Her link to her ancestors — Simas is Haudenosaunee, enrolled Seneca, Heron Clan — is what calls her to create in the way that she does.
“My work is really very simply about attention and building relationship to the natural world, building relationship to audiences and community, and bringing attention or bringing into focus issues or philosophy or ideas that are both related to my experiences culturally. But also my work really follows a genealogy because that’s a huge part of my research. A huge part of what I’ve spent the last 10 years doing is deeply discovering a very extended, wide family.”
And, she adds, a part of that for her now “is about developing processes of grieving immense loss of my ancestors and of those of extended families.”
She explains: One of the ways Canada disenfranchised many people was to enforce a patrilineal system in which Native women who married and had children with a non-Native man lost their status. Both they and their children were deemed non-Native.
“It’s very significant,” Simas says. “Those are part of the losses that we both mourn and also try to investigate to understand more what it is that our families have historically gone through.”
It’s a process that takes many shapes. Which is why when Simas describes her work as an artist as transdisciplinary versus multidisciplinary, it makes sense.
“Multidisciplinary is, to me, bringing different disciplines together to create a whole, and transdisciplinary is working in different forms and with different materials and using different processes that the project requires, listening to what is needed,” she says. “I could end up doing a project that doesn’t have any dance in it at all, if that’s what the project requires. And I have done that, I have done just installations.”
“Being in the messiness of not always knowing,” she says, “and working in a transdisciplinary way is more conducive for that for me.”
In 2020, Colorado College’s Department of Theatre and Dance received a $530,000 gift to establish the Pamela Battey Mitchell Visiting Artist-in-Residence in
Contemporary Dance in honor of Hanya Holm. The gift, from Jere Mitchell, an emeritus academic cardiologist at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, is made in honor of his late wife, Pamela Battey Mitchell ’58.
Pamela Mitchell was a student of Holm’s for two years and was profoundly impacted by her time with her. Considered one of the founders of American modern dance, as well as one of the 20th century’s most sought-after choreographers of musical theatre, Holm made her way to Colorado College in 1941 as a visiting artist, and returned to campus every year until 1983 to teach in the summer dance program. CC gave her an honorary degree in Hanya Holm, 1980. 1960, and at a later event honoring Holm’s legacy, Dance Magazine’s Nik Krevitsky wrote, “The evening was filled with convincing evidence that Hanya Holm ... has prepared her students, then released them to fulfill their own potential, to become independent artists and to develop the security of their own uniqueness.” The gift allows the department to create a new visiting artist position, which will enable it to bring a variety of artists to campus and create relationships over time, much like the relationship that existed between Holm and Colorado College when Pamela Mitchell was a student. Pamela Mitchell attended CC for her final two years, also spending two summers on campus.“It was the most exciting, rewarding, and interesting time in her college career,” Jere Mitchell says. — Leslie Weddell
Hanya Holm, center, dancing, undated.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center of Colorado College. Photo by Jennifer Coombes
Largest Gift From Individual Donor in CC History
By Leslie Weddell
Colorado College has received a $33.5 million future estate gift from an anonymous donor,
the largest gift ever from an individual in the college’s 147-year history. The unprecedented estate commitment will support future needs of the college and provide funding for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.
“We cannot fully express how grateful we are to receive this unprecedented gift on behalf of the Colorado College community,” says Mike Edmonds, acting co-president of the college. “The donor who made this bequest for the future is showing gratitude for the powerful impact the college has on its students now — including our efforts toward antiracism and becoming more accessible — and entrusting CC to create even greater opportunities for thousands of students in the years ahead.”
In noting that the donor has designated the gift to support future needs of the college and to provide funding for the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, Robert Moore, acting co-president of the college, says, “This donor, through their extraordinary bequest, will make a transformational difference for the future of the college and the Fine Arts Center. Their foresight and generosity inspires our entire community.”
The donor saw a chance to have a lasting impact with their gift. “Colorado College has given so much to me, and it brings me great joy to see how CC positively changes the lives of students,” says the donor. “Every year I see curious, creative, critical thinkers expand their world, find their passion, and apply the knowledge and courage they gain at CC under the guidance of fantastic faculty and staff. That translates to exciting progress ahead for our world: This is where our next leaders are inspired. My wish is to keep that brilliance and spark bright for future generations.”
The donor also says they made the gift because they want other members of the CC community to participate with gifts of their own. The amount of the gift is much less important than the act of giving, says the donor.
“My first gift to Colorado College was $25. I’ve seen the promise that students bring, and that CC fosters. I encourage others to give back at all gift levels, because supporting this great place is a way to have impact far beyond the college’s boundaries, and far beyond this time.” “The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College is beyond grateful for this incredible and generous gift,” says FAC Director Idris Goodwin. “As we strive to foster impact by supporting artists, educators, students, and communities across our region, generosity of this magnitude further cements our presence for future generations.”
He notes that because this is an estate bequest, it will likely be decades before the funds are received. The Fine Arts Center is not actively making plans for how the gift will be used; that will be up to the leadership in place when the gift is realized.
The college’s Building on Originality campaign is slated to end in December. Among its remaining priorities are: • Funds for a new Creativity & Innovation building • Increased scholarships and access • Increased alumni participation
The campaign supports strategic plan priorities developed during the nine-year presidency of Jill Tiefenthaler, who left the college in July 2020 to become the CEO of National Geographic. L. Song Richardson, current dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, will become CC’s 14th president on July 1.
Pivots in the Pandemic
By Katie Grant ’92
Just as art comes in many forms and doesn’t need to fit into a specific box or category, neither does the work produced at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College during the pandemic. In fact, the FAC has risen to the occasion and proven that necessity really does breed creativity.
The FAC’s newest director, Idris Goodwin, not only stepped into the role after the doors were closed due to the pandemic, but he stepped up in a major way. Under his direction, programs have received remote options when possible and new programs have been born.
“There is no substitute for the living, live-in-person experience,” Goodwin says. “But the remote work has only been good for us. It’s increased our reach, it’s increased the visibility of our brand.”
Goodwin, a former professor in the Theatre and Dance Department at CC who recently was awarded a United States Artist Fellowship with a no-stringsattached $50,000 grant, is the first Black person to lead the FAC and sees the arts as crucial in a very specific way. “I think the arts are catharsis. I think the arts are therapeutic for makers, but also cathartic for the viewers and listeners. So, no matter how heavy the world gets, there will always be people there exploring and reflecting on what it means to humanity through arts … . For those of us who work in arts organizations, that’s our duty. Our duty is to create the space to center the arts or the artist and ask people what they think.”
What the FAC gave visitors to think about after the pandemic hit just came in different forms than pre-pandemic. Before reopening their doors last November to a reservation-based system, the museum opened an eMuseum to be enjoyed from home (coloradocollege.emuseum.com/collections). Art and theatre classes went virtual, dance concerts such as Cleo Parker Robinson’s “The MOVE/ment” took place online, and new work started remotely. Three projects of note include the audio play series “Of Spacious Skies,” the 3X3 Projects: Creative Collaborations from Isolation, and FAC Connect.
Former FAC Theatre Company Artistic Director Scott RC Levy took the helm for the “Of Spacious Skies” series by channeling his love of old radio plays into a historical extravaganza of Colorado Springs and the area’s celebrities including stage and film actor Lon Chaney and Katherine Lee Bates, who was inspired by Pikes Peak to write the lyrics of “America, the Beautiful.” The audio series can still be accessed online, and even viewed with a visual companion on Facebook.
The 3X3 Projects funded $3,000 each to nine projects and required three artists in three different creative disciplines to work remotely and develop a digital experience about the Rocky Mountain West or the American Southwest region. One of the projects awarded funding was “Rocky Mountain Locusts,” submitted by filmmaker Emily Swank ’02, interdisciplinary artist Adam Stone, and actor Erin Rollman ’98 of Denver’s Buntport Theatre Company. Their film project focused on investigating a swarm of locusts that ravaged the Rocky Mountain region in 1875, and became a companion piece to “The Grasshoppers,” a drive-in, socially distanced short play staged in Denver and Colorado Springs by Rollman and fellow Buntport members Erik Edborg ’96, Hannah Duggan ’98, Brian Colonna ’00, and
Samantha Schmitz ’00.
Goodwin says, “We were able to provide money to artists during the pandemic, to keep creating. Essentially, that was my goal. The staff and I here are all lucky that we are gainfully employed people in a pandemic. We felt it really important to try to support independent artists who don’t have these full-time salaries to fall back on or who couldn’t tour or had exhibitions canceled and postponed.”
FAC Connect is a place to experience the arts: visual arts, performing arts, arts education, and more, with new content added regularly. With FAC Connect, online visitors can view new works and talk with the artists about them. For example, one option, Clay TV with Bemis School of Art’s Assistant Director Jeremiah Houck, takes viewers “in his studio for fun, relaxing videos of all things clay.” The biggest challenge when the pandemic hit was that the FAC staff “had to all of a sudden take on new responsibilities and to learn new skills seemingly overnight,” says Goodwin. “That’s been a challenge just to keep people motivated and feeling supported ... and we just wanted to make sure people still felt engaged in their duties and in the jobs that they take pride in.”
While motivating and supporting the FAC staff, Goodwin has been continuing to do what he does — create. Last year he wrote a rap for Nickelodeon that was turned into an animated short called “Black History Month (It’s Yours).” And then, of course, there’s the work he’s doing with the United States Artist Fellowship.
“I hope folks realize that it should be evidence of my passion for the arts,” he says. “That it’s bigger than just what I make. … It’s about really supporting the arts and culture landscape of our time ... I see the big picture of it all because it’s really about what I think the arts can do for people or for communities and that’s why I’m out here doing this.”
What’s next for the FAC? In May, expect a summer-long project called “City as a Venue” which, Goodwin says, “is an initiative that brings arts experiences outdoors safely. We will have a permanent stage on campus and then we’ll be out in downtown and various communities doing everything from theatre pieces to music, dance pieces, poetry. Bemis Art School will have a lot of interactive things going on, and we’d love to do some mural walking tours.”
With its new director at the helm, the FAC will continue to make art and Goodwin is grateful for just how engaged folks have remained, despite being separated.
“It’s just a reminder of what this is really all about. People want to gather and be in each other’s presence. So, yes, we can still get the things we need and survive in a largely virtual, masked, and distanced environment, but that’s not who we are as a species. We’re social, we need to gather.”
As a part of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College 2020 3X3 Project, Brian Colonna ’00 plays a grasshopper in the aptly named drive-in, socially distanced play Grasshoppers by Denver's Buntport Theatre Company, a companion piece to the "Rocky Mountain Locusts" film project. Courtesy Buntport Theatre Company
DECOLONIZING DURING A PANDEMIC
By Molly Seaman ’21
During her residency as the Andrew W. Mellon Artist-in-Residence at Colorado College
for the 2019-20 academic year, Anna Tsouhlarakis erected two eye-catching billboards near downtown Colorado Springs.
Attempts at Minimalism, performance still.
These billboards read: “I really like the way you respect Native American rights” and “It’s great how you acknowledge that Native Americans are here.” Their design — in capitalized black sans-serif letters on white backgrounds — demonstrates a Minimalist approach that remains consistent throughout the videos, sculptures, installations, and other media now included in “To Bind or to Burn,” Tsouhlarakis’ new exhibit at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.
When asked how she employs Minimalism to Indigenize contemporary art, Tsouhlarakis says, “Minimalism has always been connected with white men. This is a fiction that Western art historians and critics have led the world to believe. But so much of Indigenous art utilizes the framework of what we know as Minimalism and I believe this is why I have always been drawn to it. To see Native face-painting, beadwork, weavings, and rock drawings as forms of Minimalist art would rightly open the definition and help it be more accurate. I think I’m merely pointing to connections that are apparent to me.”
After walking past the billboards, which are now displayed at the exhibit’s entrance, and a nearby projection of the billboards on the gallery wall, visitors are greeted by a large multimedia space that Tsouhlarakis decolonizes through a diverse selection of art forms that work in tandem to translate the Navajo tradition of binding. Binding can be described as an action used to teach self-control, respect, and balance within the worlds of human and nature. Examples of binding within the Navajo tradition include wrapping infants in cradleboards to ease their lack of bodily control and keeping hair clean and tied back so as to provide clarity of mind and positive intentions.
Tsouhlarakis explains that her translation of binding is just one way to decolonize contemporary Western art. She explains, “I’m sure there are so many ways to get there but, for me, this made the most sense and was the most relevant.” “The idea of having your child in a cradleboard is such a departure from Western mentality that non-Natives didn’t know what to think. The Western, or should I say American, mentality of being childcentric, rather than family-centric, does not grow a family or create people who are community-based,” she says. “I am more interested in helping create a population that is aware of our pitfalls and also interested in sustaining and building communities.”
Experiencing the translation of binding happening throughout “To Bind or to Burn” can only be possible in person, for the efficacy of Tsouhlarakis’ messaging lies in the visitor’s ability to literally walk through installations like “Edges of the Ephemeral” — a site-specific installation made of found wood, found metal, crushed granite, other found objects, and manufactured signs — to watch massive projections of videoed performances, and to observe the series of sculptures and framed works of fire and ash on paper from every possible angle. Fortunately, visitors are now welcome at the FAC as long as enhanced COVID-19 safety protocols are followed.
The new difficulties associated with creating during a pandemic haven’t slowed Tsouhlarakis down. In fact, the COVID-19 conditions may have rendered “To Bind or to Burn” even more impactful to a wider audience.
“It seems so many people sought new methods to deal with stress, anxiety, and isolation during the pandemic in various ways, so maybe it is more relevant in this time,” Tsouhlarakis says. “I think the relevancy may come from the fact that people are open to new ideas of dealing with new feelings and situations that we haven’t experienced.”
Anna Tsouhlarakis works in sculpture, installation, video, and performance. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College with degrees in Native American studies and studio art. She went on to receive her Master of Fine Arts from Yale University in sculpture.
Her work has been part of national and international exhibitions at venues such as Rush Arts in New York, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Crystal Bridges Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, the Heard Museum, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. In addition to her residency at CC, Tsouhlarakis has participated in various art residencies including Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and Yaddo.
Billboard erected near downtown Colorado Springs, 2019. Legend V, performance still.
PROFESSOR NATE MARSHALL’S ENDURING MOMENTUM
Chicago Public Library Award, “Finna,” and More
By Molly Seaman ’21
PHOTO BY JENNIFER COOMBES
Assistant Professor of English, poet, and spoken word artist Nate Marshall has not allowed the circumstances posed by the
pandemic to decelerate his exciting momentum. In one year, Marshall published his anthology “Finna,” named one of the best books of 2020 by NPR; was awarded the 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library; and — thanks to the pandemic — adapted his unique teaching style to remote learning.
“Finna” explores the current era of reinvigorated white supremacy by examining the brevity and disposability of Black lives and other oppressed people. Through lyrical poems that celebrate the Black vernacular, Marshall widens notions of linguistic and social possibility as he considers the violence inherent to gendered language and the propensity to erase certain peoples from the American narrative.
In addition to receiving the 21st Century Award and publishing “Finna,” the English professor has also managed to convert his captivating teaching style to the online learning sphere, where he mentors students while simultaneously regarding them as fellow artists. He imbues his teaching with the idea that students have the ultimate power over their poems — that they are the story.
Because poetry students look toward their powers of observation and their own identities for material, their message often intersects with the racial and social unrest that has taken place over the last year.
“Classroom discussion has reflected upon the climate of white supremacy that has been particularly pronounced over the last year. I think many of these issues are new to students or at least students perhaps feel an urgency around these issues that is new,” says Marshall. “It’s been interesting to observe and to engage with, and in many ways it has been rewarding to offer students some frameworks to consider these issues. The reality of my experience is that structural and interpersonal racism has been foundational to my understanding of the world and so these issues of white grievance or police violence or broad inequality are things I’ve been thinking about since childhood.”
Marshall works to encourage student engagement by taking advantage of the online aspect of current classes; he takes classes on virtual field trips at other institutions and has featured class visitors who “would otherwise be too difficult to pull off.” His continuing love for the written word and for teaching writing permeate the classroom atmosphere, even through Zoom, and will continue to inspire students this semester as he teaches Introduction to Creative Writing with Visiting Assistant Professor of English Alison C. Rollins, who last year served as the lead teaching and learning librarian in Tutt Library, and who also previously taught the Advanced Poetry Workshop course.
Marshall’s passion for teaching poetry stems from his ardent belief in the potential inherent in the art of young people. When asked about the overall impact on poetry of Amanda Gorman’s widely acclaimed poem read at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, he says, “I think when we have an inaugural poet — Gorman is only the sixth — it represents a kind of stage for poetry in U.S. life that’s rare. I’m not sure that will have a long-term impact on society, but I think it contributes to a chorus that makes the case for the value of art and specifically the value of investing in young people’s involvement in the arts and in poetry specifically. Amanda Gorman is one of thousands of young people in the U.S. and beyond who have been shaped and impacted by the transformative power of youth poetry programming. A few years ago, I was also one of those young people.”
Marshall therefore views Gorman’s inaugural poem as not an outlier but as one notable piece of art in a never-ending stream of creation that emanates from young people in America.
“We’ve been in a moment for the last many years where poetry has been attracting more attention — I’m thinking of Warsan Shire’s featuring in the Beyonce short film “Lemonade,” for example. Shire, like Gorman, was someone who came to poetry as a young person. I’m not sure if the interest will last but I think more people are reading poetry these days and I think that’s a good thing.”
While Marshall does not believe that “The Hill We Climb” will incite more students’ interest in poetry in the long run, he hopes that it will “attract resources to the programs that make pathways for young people like Amanda.”
IDEA/Campus Collection:
Regional Artwork That Speaks to CC’s Sense of Place
Pieces from the art collection of Conrad Nelson were donated to Colorado College and are currently on display at Tutt Library. The artworks are the beginning of what Professor of Art Rebecca Tucker hopes will be a campus loan program that will incorporate the artwork with students in the Art Department’s curatorial studies program to provide loans to students, faculty, and staff on a semester basis.
By Brenda Gillen Photography by Jennifer Coombes
Prints by Adolf Dehn and Jean Charlot. A desert landscape by Agnes Pelton. Photographs by Laura Gilpin.
These are just a few of the objects that comprise the Colorado College IDEA/Campus Collection. The artwork, separate from that held by the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, has evolved over the years. In the 1970s, it included thousands of specimens when the college had a natural history museum.
Since then, CC has dispersed the specimens, appraised the collection twice, and several people have handled its management. In recent years, it fell under the purview of Jessica Hunter Larsen ’90 when she was curator of the IDEA Space — an interdisciplinary experimental arts program. After CC announced its historic alliance with the FAC in 2016, management of the campus collection was placed in the hands of Professor of Art Rebecca Tucker.
Part of what makes the collection unique is that it is almost entirely donated. It contains 600 objects, primarily paintings and works on paper, 100 of which are on display across campus. The rest are stored in Palmer Hall.
“Officially, the collection is the umbrella for any piece of art owned by the college that is not in the FAC. So, outdoor sculptures, office decoration, all sorts of things, fall into the campus collection. And the job of the manager is to keep it updated, make sure everything is in good condition, and handle loans to faculty and staff,” Tucker says.
A Collection by Way of Community
The collection is a little-known resource that represents many decades of college history. Future plans include creating and implementing a campus-wide loan program that would allow the collection to be more accessible and available to staff and students.
Last year, Tucker facilitated the donation of 59 works from Conrad Nelson, an artist whose work has been exhibited at the Fine Arts Center. Nelson pursued a degree in fine arts after her career in corporate banking. Upon moving from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Buena Vista, Colorado, she made connections in the Colorado Springs arts community.
“Her collection is important to the campus loan idea because she collected local and regional artists. The vision for the loan part of the campus collection is that it will be a collection that highlights our sense of place,” says Tucker.
Nelson’s collection goes back decades. Her husband, Grant Heilman, was a photographer who had collected art since the 1940s. When he died in 2014, Nelson had to decide what to do with the collection, and it just happened that Nelson’s longtime friend, Jean Gumpper, is a lecturer and artist in residence in the Art Department at Colorado College.
“I happen to be lucky. I’m in a position to be able to donate. Jean Gumpper introduced me to Rebecca, and then all the pieces fell into place,” says Nelson.
Nelson’s philanthropy comes naturally. Her parents were generous, and she too has always volunteered her time and resources.
“I feel I have responsibility for doing something good. My theory is that art is like getting to learn to like certain foods. You have to be exposed to it to learn about it and appreciate it,” Nelson says.
Blair Huff ’14 has been one of the first to work with Nelson’s collection. After earning a degree in art history at CC, she realized her dream of working at a museum when she was hired on as a curatorial assistant at the FAC in 2017. Her timing was fortuitous.
“I was especially excited by the future of the Fine Arts Center and its alliance with Colorado College. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to come in when a lot of new, exciting things were happening, and everyone had so much enthusiasm for the future of the museum,” Huff says.
She selected pieces from Nelson’s collection for an installation in Tutt Library. The pieces were hung in August 2020 when the library was closed due to COVID-19. Huff says that they include a wide range of subject matter and media, including abstract, figurative, and nature-inspired pieces.
“I was looking for aesthetic similarities to group the objects and create moments where you could interact with them and see which pieces talk to each other in interesting ways,” she says. “I hope they give a sense of that feeling of stumbling upon something surprising, beautiful, or compelling.”
Each library floor contains some pieces of the installation, and Huff made certain to include artwork in the areas of study and work. Also facilitating the installation were Steve Lawson, interim library director; Jenn Sides, library operations manager; and Dan Crossey ’74, carpenter and cabinetmaker.
An art piece by longtime CC faculty member Jeanne Gumpper is on display at Tutt Library.
Professor of Art Rebecca Tucker manages the campus art collection.
On Campus, Online, and On Loan
In addition to exhibitions like the one in Tutt Library, Tucker wants to make the collection more accessible by putting it online where students, faculty, and staff could view works and choose what they’d like to borrow.
“It would allow people to select art that they like and capture some of the excitement and dynamism of living with original art,” Tucker says.
Students would run the loan program and not only get experience managing a collection, but they’d also have a voice in selecting which gifts are accepted.
“A lot of the antiracist values that we’re all working on can be encapsulated in this new program. We can make sure that the objects that we lend are diverse and reflect our region. There are ways to be thoughtful and mission-driven in how we capture our history and how we share that history in representative ways,” she says.
Amber Mustafic ’19 and Lucas Cowen ’22 have been instrumental in developing the nascent loan program. Mustafic stayed on after graduation as a ninth-semester fellow in the art department, during which she designed the loan program. (See Alumni in the Arts on p. 40 for more on Mustafic today.)
Cowen, a museum studies major, has taken a hands-on approach. He has moved artwork in the storage space, grouped them according to size, met with Nelson about her collection, and helped in other ways to get the loan program ready for launch. One of his tasks involved sorting. “There are a lot of works in the collection. So, we go through them to identify where things are assigned, who made them, when they made them, and when the school acquired them. We catalog them according to that data. And we decide whether or not some works are problematic and if we should omit them from the collection,” Cowen says.
Since the collection contains not only paintings and the like, but also a six-foot-tall portrait of former CC President William F. Slocum, whose legacy includes overwhelming evidence of sexual misconduct and assault, those decisions require sensitivity.
Cowen says the collection democratizes access to art, which sometimes can be a daunting space, especially in commercial markets.
“A campus collection like this is really important, especially at a liberal arts institution, which is trying to foster a sense of values and morals. It can bring someone into understanding that they can have thoughtful opinions about art. Art can make a big difference in their lives. It can set them up for the rest of their lives to be not only casual observers but someone who can find art fascinating and compelling,” he says.
He believes that having young people decide what goes into the collection and what work is worth showing will result in them finding art and artists whose value may not be recognized in commercial settings like conventional galleries.
Tucker hopes to launch the new loan program in Fall 2021.
