Downtown Partnership March 2011 Newsletter

The Downtown Partnership Advocacy Committee recently extended an invitation to all Mayoral and City Council candidates to respond to five questions relating to their perceptions of and ideas for Downtown. Not all candidates chose to or were able to participate. We have posted on our website the responses of all who did.

Thanks to the outstanding volunteer force who led the two-day interviewing process: Randy Case, Pat Doyle, Rich Guy, BJ Hybl, Chris Jenkins, Chuck Murphy, Judy Noyes, Ryan Riesterer and Michael Schlierf.

Downtown Partnership views the upcoming April mail-in election as critical. To learn more about our perspective and to read candidate statements, visit www.downtown80903.com. This is the subject of our current front page "Downtown Spotlight."

Growing more social

Downtown is (almost) everywhere

Everywhere social media can take us, that is.

There are now more ways than ever to stay connected to what's new, what's on special, what's happening Downtown. We're still delivering this monthly e-zine, but have you found us yet on Facebook? Like us and get streamed a daily post or two to keep you in the loop.

We're also in the early stages of developing a Downtown blog, Youtube channel, and Twitter Feed. (New to Twitter? Check out http://tweeternet.com/ to learn more.) At every touch point, we want to know your Downtown story. So talk to us! On Twitter, use the hashtags #COSrocks and #DTstories so we can find and follow you, too.

http://www.youtube.com/downtown80903

http://www.facebook.com/downtown80903

http://www.twitter.com/downtown80903

http://downtown80903.tumblr.com

Grab your girlfriends for...

Downtown Chick Crawl

What's better than spending an afternoon shopping, dining, and just enjoying the sights and sounds Downtown? Sharing it with your BFF's and supporting a mainstay nonprofit in the process.

Chick Crawl returns to Downtown Colorado Springs on April 2. Sponsored by Colorado Co-Op and benefiting local food bank Care and Share, this event is a blast! At each stop on the crawl, participants enjoy food and beverages, gifts, discounts and promotional offers for future visits. Participating venues are Colorado Co-Op, Ellie K Boutique, Terra Verde, Title Nine, CJ Kard, Mt. Tejon, Saboz, Savory Spice and Sparrow Hawk.

Tickets are $40 per person and must be reserved. Three flights are available, starting at 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Go to www.chickcrawl.com to sign up!

Volunteers needed

Van Briggle tiles need some TLC

Are you as passionate about Van Briggle tiles as Downtown is? Perhaps you are a member of Van Briggle collectors' society, a new enthusiast or one of the lucky Colorado Springs homeowners with a much-coveted Van Briggle fireplace.

The intersection of Pikes Peak and Tejon has long been dubbed "Busy Corner." All four corners are graced with raised flowerbeds that are covered in Van Briggle tiles. The planters are an artistic element enjoyed year-round. In the growing months, when plantings come to life, they are even more spectacular.

The Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) plants and maintains the flowerbeds. This year, the Van Briggle tiles are showing some fatigue. Snow removal products, blowing debris, accidental bumps and drops upon them have taken a toll. The BID seeks volunteers to help clean the tiles. Can you spare a weekend afternoon? Contact Jacque Stanley at jacquestanley@downtowncs.com. Want to know more about Van Briggle? Visit www.vanbriggle.com.

Pioneers Museum

Pikes Peak Regional History Lecture series

Connecting to its So Far from Home exhibit, the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum will host a lecture by Dr. Guenter Bischof, an authority on POW treatment during World War II, on Saturday, March 19, at 2 p.m. in the old Division 1 Courtroom. Dr. Bischof will speak about German POWs in the U.S. His father, Josef, was interred at Camp Carson until 1946. Bischof is Marshal Plan Professor of History and Director of Center Austria at the University of New Orleans, and has contributed narratives of his father's experiences as part of the Don't Fence Me In: German POWs at Camp Carson exhibit at the Pioneers Museum.

Admission is $5.00 per person and reservations are recommended due to limited seating. Call 385-5990 to reserve.

Art collaborative

Mendings: Tikun Olam II

Pikes Peak Community College and its Downtown Studio Art Gallery, in conjunction with the Catamount Institute for Environmental Studies present this unique exhibit through April 15. Mendings is the work of five faculty artists from the front range of Colorado and Wyoming coming together to present visual responses to the dynamic relationship between humankind and the environment. Included are natural and manmade phenomena and ephemera culminating in expressions of sculpture, ceramics, photography, printmaking, video and dance. Artists include Heather Oelklaus, Colorado College; DeLane Bredvik, freelance, Harvard graduate; Caroline Peters, CSU; Dawn McFadden, Metro State; and Linda Ryan, of Wyoming's Casper College.

The Downtown Studio Gallery, 100 W. Pikes Peak, is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, visit http://www.ppcc.edu/about-ppcc/campus-mapsdirections/the-downtown-studio.

Cottonwood March workshops

Looking to enhance your artistic skills? Cottonwood Center for the Arts is offering three master workshops this month.

Clay Enoch will present a three-day workshop, "Simplifying the Figure" on March 18, 19 and 20. Open to beginners through advanced students, the workshop will cover:

            · Getting Started - types of clay, essential tools, the armature,
               key measurements, and roughing in the pose
             · Refining: strengthen composition, simplify anatomy, infusing emotion,
               life, and feeling
             · Finishing: overview of permanent material options

First session on Friday runs 3:30 to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday session are 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Cost is $275 for Cottonwood members; $300 for others.

Chris Alvarez offers a "Figure Drawing Intensive" from March 21 through March 25, with sessions each day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

From the course description: We will explore the body from line, form, values, and planes, to gesture and anatomy. We will learn to focus on drawing from visual experience rather than from mental images. Students will discover how to work from simple to complex through the use of quick gestures and longer, sustained, studies. Interested students should have experience working with the figure or have taken a beginning drawing course.

Cost is $350 for members; $375 for others.

Tom Owen will lead "Design Your Way to Success in Watercolor" for three days, March 25 through 27, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day.

An intense workshop on a logical approach to award-winning design. We will take a subject from start to finish focusing on creating a strong design. Watercolor will be stressed as a technique but all water media are acceptable. We will cover the elements and principles of design as they relate to your subject. Our goal will be to paint a strong watercolor with clarity of statement. Advanced and intermediate watercolorists looking to move up will benefit from this workshop.

Cost is $200 for members; $225 for others.

For supply lists and more information about these and other Cottonwood educational offerings, visit http://www.cottonwoodcenterforthearts.com/classes_at_cottonwood_march_supplylists.html.

Yum

A little NOLA, anyone?

When one door closes, another one opens.

Il Postino has bid farewell to Downtown, but in its place-at 123 E. Pikes Peak- has arrived the oh-so-tempting Springs Orleans. Proprietor Perry Sanders Jr. is serving up all the Louisiana classics-po boys, gumbo, etouffee, red beans and rice, to name a few-as well as a lengthier menu of house specialties, grilled or blackened meat and seafood platters, and so much more. Appetizers, soups, salads, pastas and burgers to leave you satiated and feeling like you've just visited the Big Easy.

Two-for-one specials on seven menu items going on now, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Website is still under construction, but bookmark it anyway: www.springsorleans.com. For more specific information, call 520-0123.

Thank you

John McIlwee

Downtown Partnership extends a huge thank-you and goodbye to John McIlwee, who recently retired after 10 years of service as executive director of Urban Peak. Under John's leadership, this organization helped countless young people get off the street, have a safe place to sleep, and start on paths to more productive lives.

We will miss John and wish him well!

To learn more about Urban Peak, go to www.urbanpeak.org.

Plan for it

Event Calendar

MARCH

5 to May 15 Emilio Lobato: Mi Linda Soledad, Fine Arts Center

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. 634-5583

15 Free day at the Fine Arts Center

10 a.m. 634-5583

17 Showcase at Studio Bee: Muriel Shickman & Genuwines

6 p.m. 520-7469

19 The Screwtape Letters, Pikes Peak Center