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Nelson Kies

Meet Our April/May Member of the Month: Nelson Kies

FAC member for 1 year

Why did you become a member of the Fine Arts Center?

As a CC student I am lucky enough to come to the FAC for free. As a freshman, the Fine Arts Center was one of my first stops and I was immediately blown away that I could come for free. Not only is the building beautiful but the art work in the FAC continuously inspires me to create and empathize every time I walk out. As someone from Wisconsin that is relatively clueless about the region, I attribute a lot of my appreciation for Colorado and the Southwest to the FAC.

When did your interest in the arts begin?

I have drawn since I was a kid, but my interest in fine art did not begin until I started college. Visiting the FAC every time there was a new exhibition has consistently kept me eager to create art of my own. Taking drawing and sculpture classes through CC’s art department allowed me to fully immerse myself in art of many different forms.

What has been one of your favorite exhibits at the Fine Arts Center?

If I had to choose, I would say Don Coen: The Migrant Series (2017). Seeing those massive portraits in person was incredible. From far away the image was colorful, coherent and incredibly realistic. As you walked closer and closer, the texture of the painting continuously changed and evolved until you were right next to the images and you could see all the marks that went into the whole. Additionally, I also really enjoyed Raven Chacon and Postcommodity’s work in the Fine Arts Center.

What is your favorite work of art at the FAC?

If I had to choose one, I would say Buck Walksy’s Beach Front installation in the center courtyard. It is an incredibly immersive sculpture that mimics the feeling of being underwater. I was also lucky enough to DJ for the Snowball silent disco that the FAC hosted underneath the sculpture so that memory of people from the Springs and students dancing underneath Walsky’s sculpture will forever be linked in my mind.

What else do you like to do for fun in Colorado Springs?

Some of my favorite things to do are get food from at Monica’s Taco shop, enjoy sunsets at memorial Skate park, and see the view of the Colorado Springs and the plains from the top of Cheyenne canyon..