Laura BenAmots, PPCC Art Gallery director and Art faculty, and three of her art students have pieces on display in the Dream City 2020 art exhibit showing at the Fine Arts Center’s FAC Modern gallery in the Palmer Center, 121 S. Tejon Street. The exhibit will run through January 10, and admission is free.

The exhibit is part of the community-wide Dream City 2020 visioning process. Dream City 2020 is designed to inspire all citizens to come together to chart a vision for the Pikes Peak Region. The initiative aims to inspire, educate and mobilize the community to create a better place to live, work and play.

Dream City 2020: Through the Eyes of the Artist - Past, Present and Future, is a collaborative art exhibit that seeks to inspire the community to create their own vision of the future of Colorado Springs. The exhibit presents visions of Colorado Springs from very different perspectives, through the eyes of established and upcoming artists. It features the works of several professional artists, including BenAmots, as well as a three-part panel by PPCC art students, FutureSelf students, and community members. BenAmots contributed her original painting, “Sketches for Dreams,” oil on linen – polytych, to the exhibit.

To represent the past, a selection of Harry L. Standley's historic photographs from the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum collection are on display. The photographs capture the nostalgia of Colorado Springs' past with views of Tejon Street and other familiar places. The present and visions for the future are represented by various artists with very different perspectives. All their works were inspired by one particular photograph by Standley as a point of departure, and the finished works give the viewer a sense of pride and hope for the city. Visitors will also have a chance to share their own 2020 vision for the city.

Three-Panel Dream City Piece

Panel 1: The Earth Group
A group of Colorado Springs citizens dedicated to innovation and discovery in the realm of conscious living.

Panel 2: PPCC Art Students
Sean Harper - 25 –year-old Sean is searching for his path. Creating art saved him in high school and has been rescuing him ever since. He is hoping for a career in poster design and promotional graphics for performance groups. Sean is hoping to graduate from PPCC and transfer to a school for fine arts 2009.
Maryruth Eaves Herrera – Maryruth lives in Colorado Springs with her husband and four children. She is learning to walk again following the removal of a tumor from her spine last January, and she currently paints from her wheelchair. Art has been an inspiration through this ordeal, and continues to be one of her greatest motivators to regain her energy and continue living life to the fullest.
George Black – 21-year-old George says he enjoys color and contrast in painting. He aspires to become a studio artist who can live strictly off his art. After completing his Associate of Arts degree at PPCC he will work towards his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree. He states, “Art is another language we use to communicate, celebrate, commemorate, or simply say how we feel.”

Panel 3: FutureSelf
FutureSelf students, under the direction of Amber Cote, create an imaginative, futuristic view of what Colorado Springs could be like generations from now.

The initiative is spearheaded by the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR), the Pikes Peak Library District, Leadership Pikes Peak and the Gazette. The Fine Arts Center, in partnership with COPPeR, the Gazette, FutureSelf, and Pikes Peak Community College, presents this unique art exhibit to inspire community collaboration through artistic and creative participation.