John Gaw Meem was born in Brazil (his parents were Episcopal missionaries there), but moved to the United States in 1910.  After being diagnosed with tuberculosis, Meem traveled to Santa Fe to seek treatment at the well-known Sunmount Sanitarium.  While in New Mexico, Meem began to study the indigenous buildings of the area, include pueblos and Spanish mission churches.  Meem also spent time in Denver, working for the architectural firm of Fisher and Fisher and attending architectural classes at night.  Few architects embraced the Spanish-Pueblo building tradition with as much sensitivity and passion as John Gaw Meem.  His works include the La Fonda Hotel expansion in Santa Fe, numerous buildings on the University of New Mexico campus, as well as other public buildings, churches and several private residences.

In 1928, Meem met Alice Bemis Taylor in Santa Fe, where she often traveled from Colorado Springs in search of new pieces for her collection of southwestern art.  Two years later she hired Meem to design a new gallery for her growing collection.  Alice Bemis Taylor's vision for a new museum was shared by other patrons of the arts in Colorado Springs, notably Julie Penrose, wife of Spencer Penrose (builder of the Broadmoor Hotel) and Elizabeth Sage Hare, a wealthy collector from New York.  Together these three women began planning and promoting the idea of a new arts center that would combine exhibition galleries, music and performing arts spaces, a library, a lecture hall and a school for art education.  

John Gaw Meem rose to the challenge of this complex assignment, creating what has been called his "crowning achievement because of the size and complexity and the consummate skill and taste with which it was achieved."  For the Fine Arts Center commission, Meem extended his design vocabulary to include Art Deco, modern and classical elements, while at the same time maintaining the overall form and massing of a southwestern pueblo.  Working during the Great Depression, Meem demonstrated how regionalism and modernism could be reconciled. In 1940, Meem was awarded a silver medal from the Fifth Pan American Congress of Architecture for the building's design.

Built on a platform of expertly laid fieldstone, the Meem building is cast-in-place concrete trimmed in black aggregate. Both the exterior and the interior feature murals painted by some of the most important regional artists of the time, including Kenneth Adams and Frank Mechau.  Many of the doorways, stair rails and lighting fixtures in the building feature design motifs executed in polished aluminum.  

The Fine Arts Center's collection of Native American and Hispanic folk art is recognized as one of the largest and finest in the world.  The Center also has an expanding collection of more recent American works, including pieces by Georgia O'Keeffe, John Singer Sargent, Arthur Dove, Dale Chihuly, and Robert Motherwell.  

The Fine Arts Center has grown significantly since the time of Meem's original design.  In 1970 a large addition extended the museum galleries to the east.  A new addition, designed by David Owen Tryba Architects of Denver, was completed in 2007.  This project included a full restoration of the original Meem-designed building and will bring together all three eras of construction.  More than 40,000 square feet of additional space will provide for new galleries, classrooms for the Bemis School of Art, more space for the Theatre, additional storage to accommodate the museum's extensive collections, and larger public areas for educational programs and community events.

The Museum is open Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm, Saturday 10am - 8pm and Sunday 10am - 5pm.

Designing Women of Postwar Britain: Their Art and the Modern Interior || September 20, 2008 - January 25, 2009

Fun Facts to Know and Tell:

Architect John Gaw Meem was a historic preservationist and a founding member of "The Committee for the Preservation and Restoration of New Mexico Mission Churches," which was established in the 1920s.

The interior of the original building features striking decorative metalwork, light fixtures, murals and bas reliefs.  For example, the design of the aluminum stair rails leading to the second floor music room include a treble clef and a five-line musical bar. 

The Fine Arts Center was founded in 1919 as the Broadmoor Art Academy and was affiliated with Colorado College. 

Other Places to Visit:

Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, downtown

Rock Ledge Ranch, at the Garden of the Gods.

Best Times to Visit: Year Round