Creative Campus Grand Opening, May 18; Astor House Grand Opening, May 25
GOLDEN, Colo, May 7, 2024….Later this month, when Foothills Art Center (FAC) opens its two newly renovated historic buildings, it will mark the latest multi-million dollar arts investment in downtown Golden. Over the past six months, three historic and high profile downtown Golden buildings have undergone major conversions to now serve as arts venues.
"The new Foothills Arts Center Astor House and Creative Campus, combined with the new Miners Alley Performing Arts Center, the city's many murals, public art, flower gardens, and Victorian architecture all work to make historic downtown Golden one of the most beautiful and creative arts centers on the Front Range," said Robin Fleischmann with Visit Golden.
FAC redesigned and rehabilitated two historic downtown buildings with a $6 million investment. FAC's longtime home in a gorgeous 1872 Gothic-style church at 15th and Washington is now known as their Creative Campus with classrooms, artist studios, and a new ceramics studio, all opening to the public on May 18, 2024. A few blocks away in the heart of Downtown Golden, at 12th and Arapahoe Streets, the historic Astor House, one of the oldest structures in Colorado, dating to 1867, has been redesigned and expanded and will be FAC's new exhibition and performance space, hosting major local and national art exhibitions with a grand opening on May 25, 2024.
The Astor House is adjacent to the $9.5 million Miner's Alley Performing Arts Center, which opened in November 2023 with a 157-seat theater that in Phase 2, will be expanded to 300 seats, plus an education center and artist housing.
"Foothills Art Center has served as Golden's cultural community hub for over 55 years," said Hassan Najjar, executive director of FAC, "And with two distinct locations – one to practice and learn about art and the other to appreciate and display art – we can offer something for everyone in Golden. This project doubles our footprint and allows us to serve our community in a very purpose-driven way."
Also new to Foothills Art Center is a free membership level. "This takes our mission of 'making art accessible to all' to a new level," said Najjar.
FAC will continue to offer free admission, thanks to a grant from the Colorado Gives Foundation, but the new free membership level offers a deeper level of commitment and engagement with FAC, regardless of ability to pay, and deepens the organization's commitment to providing accessibility for all.
MORE ABOUT THE TWO NEW ARTS CENTERS
The Foothills Arts Center Creative Campus, 809 15th Street. Originally, the main building was the First Presbyterian Church of Golden, an 1872 Gothic-style church built on land donated by W.A.H. Loveland. A bell tower and two additions were completed in 1898, and the church was expanded again in 1947. In 1892, a Queen Anne-style manse was added with a wood-shingled second floor and a two-story rounded corner tower with an onion dome roof. In 1899, P.O. Unger purchased the two lots south of the church and arranged to construct a two-story Queen Anne-style residence featuring a wraparound porch and a rounded corner tower with a conical roof. The complex became the home of the Foothills Arts Center in 1968 and has hosted many national and international art exhibits. On May 18, 2024, this location will now be known as FAC's Creative Campus, housing a learning hub of classrooms, artist studios, a ceramic studio, and the home of FAC's popular Open Studio program. The Creative Campus public opening will be on Saturday, May 18, from 10 am to 5 pm.
The Astor House 822 12th St. This historic two-story hotel was built in 1867 out of hand-cut sandstone, quarried just up the block at the end of 12th Street and was the premier hostelry of Golden when it was the Territorial capital of Colorado, serving patrons from miners to Territorial legislators and Supreme Court officials. It was known as the only hotel in Golden that did not allow alcoholic beverages. For more than 100 years, the building served as a hotel and boarding house. In 1972, it was saved from becoming a parking lot when 69% of the citizens of Golden voted to preserve the building.
On May 25, 2024, from 10 am to 5 pm, it will open to the public as the new exhibition and performance space of the Foothills Arts Center. The main entrance will be in the new building on the Astor House's west side. People will enter from Arapahoe Street, which has better accessibility and amenities. The main floor features a hands-on gallery, two exhibition spaces, new restrooms, and an elevator that makes this building truly accessible for the first time since 1867. The second floor features a reading room, additional gallery space, offices, and access to three decks with views of downtown Golden, South Table Mountain, and North Table Mountain. The yard will provide space for outside concerts, speakers, demonstrations, and other events.
For more info, visit www.foothillsartcenter.org.
####
Visit Golden Media Contact, Joy Meadows, joy@meadowspr.com, 303-522-9045
