THE ENT CENTER AT CU-COLORADO SPRINGS

A whole lot has changed at the CU-Colorado Springs campus since I arrived in 1982, but perhaps the most dramatic addition is the new Ent Center for the Arts.  There was a nice write-up about the Center in today's Denver Post, and it is pasted below.  I am looking forward to having a tour of the place and perhaps attending an event.

The Ent Center was a collaborative project between New York’s H3 Hardy Collaborative Architecture and Denve’s Semple Brown Design. (Ray Mark Rinaldi, Special to The Denver Post)

The new Ent Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs arrives with all the optimism that forward-thinking architecture can deliver.

The building — monumental at 92,000 square feet and pricey at $70 million — is an investment in things real and symbolic. It will give the University of Colorado practical, state-of-the art classrooms for students endeavoring to be tomorrow’s creative class, and it will boost the Springs location to the top of the facilities hill in the state university system. No other outpost has a venue quite like it, not even the prestigious Boulder campus.

The building will also serve as a cultural hub for the region at large. The four theaters and art gallery will act as a connector between the college and the community, a place for the public to see plays, concerts and exhibits, and a resource for local cultural groups who will rent out its spaces to present their own events.

The UCCS Presents series hosts international-class performers, like violinist Sarah Chang, jazz star Branford Marsalis and the Alvin Ailey II dance company. (Provided by Semple Brown Design)

TheatreWorks — the respected, resident professional stage company — is already doing shows there, and the university has kicked off its UCCS Presents series, hosting international-class performers like violinist Sarah Chang, jazz star Branford Marsalis and the Alvin Ailey II dance company.

But, thanks to its design, the Ent Center is also a beacon signaling the importance of culture. Metallic and curvy, it sits on top of rising terrain northwest of the campus close to Highway 25. The building shimmers and waves, bringing attention to itself and the programming inside, as if to say “Art is important” and, perhaps more crucially, “Art is fun, too.”

The design is a collaboration between firms near and far. H3 Hardy Collaborative Architecture took the lead. The New York-based firm has done work on cultural projects across the country and also advised the city of Denver on the possible redo of the Denver Performing Arts Complex downtown.

The local partner, and a crucial player in the way the building turned out, is Semple Brown Design, whose efforts were led by Bryan Schmidt and Dru Schwyhart. The firm is one of Denver’s best, responsible for such landmarks as the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, RedLine arts center and the Colorado Ballet studios.

The Ent’s defining feature comes from a series of undulating bands of steel that layer together to form its facade. They pulse unpredictably and keep the static building in motion, giving it, in a sense, a perpetual, in-and-out breath.

The steel bands are showy but they’re not all show. The irregular curves are employed functionally, serving as floors for small, open-air balconies above them and overhangs for protected sitting areas beneath. One cantilevers far out over the building’s main entrance to create a canopy welcoming visitors.

They also work as sun shade protection and are part of a long lineup of gestures that earned the structure LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The building’s lobby doubles as a study lounge for students. (Provided by Semple Brown Design)

The Ent’s other notable highlight is its lobby, which serves multiple purposes. Tall, glassy and art-friendly, it is a sunny student lounge by day, and an elegant gathering place for audiences attending events in the evening.

Cleverly, the lobby narrows and morphs into a corridor leading to all of the center’s major venues. It links visitors to the main theaters and, eventually, to the art gallery — but the transition is subtle, it never feels like a boring passageway.

Part of that effect comes from the fact that the art gallery itself spills into the main area. The corridor is rigged to hold art that is hung on walls and suspended from the ceiling. Plenty of performing arts centers use their lobbies as galleries, but they are most often an after-thought. Here, it is difficult to tell where the theaters stop and the gallery begins.

This works to pull together a diverse lineup of rooms: a 750-seat, general purpose theater with an orchestra pit and generous fly space; an intimate 225-seat recital hall; a 250-seat, flexible space for plays; and, finally, the art gallery.

All of the facilities provide a lift for the university’s students and its public offerings. The gallery in particular — at 2,500 square feet and with precision climate control and a “suspension strong point grid,” which allows curators to take advantage of the floors, walls and ceilings — will permit the sort of ambitious exhibition program the area has not seen.

Colorado Springs has a long tradition of support for both the visual and performing arts, but it’s never quite built the reputation of other cities and towns along the Front Range. No doubt, that has more to do with a shortage of suitable facilities than with a lack of artists or the people who back them.

The Ent Center — named for the Ent Credit Union, the local institution that provided financial support — creates the kind of infrastructure that allows for big things to happen. It’s a bold move, with seismic implications for the region’s cultural geography. Colorado Springs may not currently be a major cultural destination in the state, but the center gives it a bright future.

That is the kind of change determined universities can spark for their home cities, and that art can make inevitable if artists seize the opportunities and challenge themselves and the community.
But it is also the revolution that architects can start when they understand their job is to create opportunities, and lead clients to create audacious buildings that act out, sing loud and show off.

The new $70 million Ent Center shifts the region’s cultural scene toward Colorado Springs. (Provided by Semple Brown Design)

A SISTER'S TRIBUTE

Front:  Dorothy, John, Mary

Back: Dale, Betty, Carolyn, Anna Belle, Walter [Archie]

TRIBUTE TO MARY

1-1-1918/3-5-2018

Carolyn Aschliman Stephens

March 2018

Where do I start? Mary was a daughter, sister, aunt, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was a woman of many talents. She cooked, baked, gardened, sang in the Women’s Choir, attended Sewing Circle at the church, attended a Women’s Club, besides sewing and crocheting at home. She was a true role model to follow. Right up until the time she became ill, she was crocheting baby hats and prayer shawls. Besides all her activities and work, she loved to watch sports, as well as the Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Before she moved into Assisted Living she was noted for making dozens of pies for our family reunion. Often the relatives would get their favorite piece of pie before going through the line for the main course. They didn’t want to miss out on their favorite pie being all gone before they got theirs.

Mary was grown when I was still a baby. She and Dorothy stake claims on raising Betty and me. We can’t vouch for which one should get credit but from the baby pictures, whichever one it was they dressed us cute! We lived closer to Mary and Ed when we were growing up and Betty and I would spend time with them on the farm, I guess she was giving our mother a respite because Mom and Dad still had four, and sometimes five, of the eleven kids still living at home.


In adulthood she was my mentor, as well as my older sister. She and Ed would visit us in Texas for Thanksgiving. The first time they came, she walked me through stuffing the turkey and making the fixings, then after that I was on my own. She would teach, then expect you to assume the responsibility. We have fond memories of those visits and our Scrabble games after dinner on Thanksgiving Day and other times during their visit. Brett often joined us when he was around. They were surrogate grandparents to our children. Brett has fond memories of the dollar bill that would float out of the birthday card he received from her. She was always so good about remembering the birthdays of both family and friends.


After our parents died, Mary became the matriarch of our family and was instrumental in keeping our family connected. Over the years their home became what we called “Command Central.” It was the place to check in to see what was going on and where everyone was. The infamous note was always by the stove when she went anywhere.

Hospitality was her gift. One year when the family had gathered for our annual reunion, Mary had gone to the store. When she came home, her table was surrounded by people who had arrived for the weekend event. They were eating the chicken salad she had in the refrigerator and were making themselves at home. She just laughed about it. She always made everyone feel welcome. They hosted many chicken barbeques over the years. When we started having our family reunions at a clubhouse, afterwards we would gather at their house with all the leftovers and continue the festivities. A hymn-sing would be going on in their living room, while others were gathered around the table snacking and telling stories.

Whenever anyone wanted to know something about family or the date of an occurrence, it was always, “We’ll have to call Mary!” She kept a diary all her life and could often dig up the information a person was seeking. Mary also had an uncanny talent for remembering faces and names.

She was noted for having dozens of filled candy dishes and we all succumbed to the temptation to start noshing the minute we walked in the door. Even after she moved to her assisted living apartment her table was filled with stocked candy dishes and the aides were always welcome to help themselves. They had a plethora of sweets to choose from.

When they moved to Greencroft Assisted Living, their apartment was still the gathering spot. And the Sideboard Restaurant became the coffee time spot.

Like St. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:7 “ She fought the good fight, she finished the race, and kept the faith.”

I know she is reunited with her beloved Ed in the Church Triumphant and I know one day I will see her again. But even so, I will miss her and our frequent phone chats and our occasional visits to Indiana.

Sweet Mary, may you rest in peace.

GEORGIA O'KEEFFE AND WARD, COLORADO

I never knew that there was a nexus between these two.  But I discovered the connection while looking at some photos of a home for sale in Ward.  Here is the view from the living room:

Here is another photo taken from the living room:

Note the poster on the wall.  Here is the original:

 

The title is simply Church Bell, Ward, Colorado, 1917.  And, in checking things out a bit more, I found this article in the Boulder Daily Camera explaining a bit about the marketing of the home for sale.   The linked Camera article also has a nice description of how O'Keeffe happened to pass through Ward.  The original painting is a 14-by-17-inch oil-on-board and is at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., but is not currently on display.