A wide-angle view of art

In the wide-open territory between the beginning of the project and its end, "Dream City 2020: Through the Eyes of the Artist - Past, Present and Future" opened Friday night to a meandering crowd of about 75 at the Fine Arts Center Modern .

The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 10, included photographs of turn-of-the-century Colorado Springs by Harry L. Standley as well as images of the city in 2020 as envisioned by students and three commissioned artists.

As people began trickling into the show, Bettina Swigger explained the role of the arts during the initial planning, in July, for the citywide project to engineer Colorado Springs 12 years hence.

"Specifically and purposely, we put arts at the top of the list," said Swigger, executive director of the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region. The group has been a driving force behind Dream City 2020 - along with Leadership Pikes Peak, the Gazette, the Pikes Peak Library District and others.

"We recognized that art, both culturally and creatively, is what makes a great city."

That said, The Gazette posed a question to some attendees: What role will the arts play in Colorado Springs in 2020?

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"I'll answer your question with a question: Has the artist community increased in vibrancy over the years? I suspect that it has. Of course, it's only a guess, but that trend should continue."

BILL FISHER, 53, architect

"I think a very large one, not just because I'm an optimist. But since I came to Colorado Springs in 1991, there was literally one commercial art gallery. Can you imagine that? But then they came, all kinds of galleries came and went. ... Once - I used to say ‘if,' but now I say ‘once' - once you have a whole country buying original arts, there will not be enough artists in the world to satisfy it all. And why not start in the Springs?"

MARICA HEFTI, 65, artist

"I think, you know, you can't tell. I've lived here 48 years, and every five years people say, ‘In five years, so much will be blank - more this, more that.' (Laughs.) If I could predict things like that, I'd be making money in the stock market."

TOM MCELROY, multimedia artist

"We're looking at a future in which Colorado Springs is a more international city than we have now, and arts, by nature, have to be a part of that. And this show is one critical piece in creating relationships between institutions: the Fine Arts Center, The Gazette, the Pikes Peak Library District and COPPer."

BLAKE MILTEER, 40, curator, Fine Arts Center

"In Colorado Springs, I think, art will be very important because of the Fine Arts Center is such a big part of the city. And I think its role will even expand in the future."

DEE SHAVER, 51, branch manager, American National Bank

"Colorado Springs has always been a place for the arts. So, in 2020, it'll be a dream to have it like it was in the '20s, when the Fine Arts Center was built and the Colorado School of artists was all over the place, before Santa Fe was in vogue."

JOHN CAMERON, 63, architect

"I have a favorite Martin Luther King Jr. quote. He said that while bridges and roads make a civilization, it's arts that make us civilized. ... The thought, for me, is there's something about a community coming together in a shared experience that's like a lubricant: it helps work problems out in new ways; it creates ways to understand each other's values in ways that make us more open to each other; it's an opportunity to identify shared values - and this is what makes many people uncomfortable - to identify our different values, which create an appreciation for mutual understanding and acceptance."

SAM GAPPMAYER, 52, president and CEO, the Fine Arts Center

 
DETAILS
"Through the Eyes of the Artist - Past, Present and Future"

When: Through Jan. 10

Where: The Fine Arts Center Modern, 121 South Tejon, South Tower

Admission: Free; 477.4308 or www.csfineartscenter.org