COLORADO SPRINGS, CO.- The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (FAC) will unveil a $28.4 million transformation during its Extremely Grand Opening, Aug. 2-5, 2007. The two-story, 48,000 square-foot expansion, conceived by award-winning architect David Owen Tryba, has been designed to compliment the original 1936 John Gaw Meem building, which has housed the FAC for the past 70 years and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The expanded 132,286 square-foot facility will host major international traveling exhibitions and feature works from the Center’s significant permanent collection.

In six months, the FAC will host a series of blockbuster events to celebrate the unveiling of the new facility, including a visit from international art icon Thomas Hoving, the former Director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art; artist and filmmaker John Waters; Broadway legend Joel Grey; and the inaugural exhibition for the new building – The Eclectic Eye: Pop and Illusion – Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation.

A Center for Fine Arts - The FAC was the first facility of its kind west of the Mississippi to offer arts education, theater and museum under one roof. The new FAC was crafted to marry the old with the new and to meet the burgeoning cultural interests of the region.

“The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center has rich and intriguing roots,” said Hoving. “This rebirth is monumental and sets the stage for an infinite future for the arts in the region.”

The new museum, which project architect Tryba characterizes as “my finest achievement,” will feature nine permanent collection galleries, two traveling exhibition galleries, and an unprecedented tactile gallery; the renovated SaGāJi Theatre with its state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems and a dedicated rehearsal studio; two museum gift shops; seven new art studios and interactive spaces at the Bemis Art School; and a unique courtyard to display outdoor sculpture and hold special events.

“This cultural asset belongs in the company of the top fine arts centers in the world,” said Dr. Michael De Marsche, FAC President and CEO. “We expect visits from art and architecture enthusiasts from around the globe, and anticipate their exhilaration will only be surpassed by their appreciation for the various art forms all under one roof.”

The FAC’s $2 million collection of Dale Chihuly glass will be installed in the new museum. It is one of the largest in the world and includes the historic 12-foot Orange Hornet Chandelier, which was featured in the internationally renowned 1996 Chihuly Over Venice exhibition.

The FAC’s permanent collection also features a wide array of American art by John Singer Sargent, Arthur Dove, Georgia O’Keeffe, Walt Kuhn, John James Audubon, Robert Motherwell, Paul Cadmus and others. The FAC is noted for having one of the largest collections of Native American and Southwestern Art in the country.