Idris Goodwin Appointed Director of Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center

Playwright, poet, educator and organizer Idris Goodwin has been appointed to become the new director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, where he taught for six years, starting May 1. He will replace outgoing director Erin Hannan, who announced she would be leaving late last year; she will work closely with Goodwin through the transition.

"We are incredibly fortunate to have Idris return to Colorado Springs and focus his considerable talents on the Fine Arts Center,” Hannan says in a statement announcing the appointment. “I’m honored to pass the proverbial torch into his capable hands, as his literary and theatrical accolades, understanding of the creative and artistic process, background as an educator, scholar and practitioner, and involvement in the Colorado arts community can serve the mission in countless ways. As the Fine Arts Center continues to implement an aspirational strategic plan, Idris’s vision for the ways in which the arts create transformational experiences and social impact will be invaluable.”

Goodwin, a graduate of Columbia College who earned his MFA in creative writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was most recently working as producing artistic director of Stage One Family Theater in Louisville, Kentucky. While he promises to bring new energy — and ever higher aspirations — to the position, Goodwin is also deeply rooted in the Front Range arts scene. He has directed at Curious Theatre, taught at Colorado College, and collaborated with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and MCA Denver, among other institutions. Westword honored him as a Colorado Creative in 2017. 

“During my time as a professor at Colorado College, I engaged with the Fine Arts Center in so many different ways, from co-planning a hip-hop festival, to teaching classes, to wandering its galleries lost in inspiration,” Goodwin says in the announcement.  “And what a time to return! This alliance between two fixtures of the community brings together centuries of impact in the Front Range. In an age of innovation and creativity, we can become the defining multi-disciplinary art space of the 21st-century West. I am humbled, honored and energized by this tremendous opportunity and I can't wait to join the team and help shape the next chapter. See you soon, 719!”

Goodwin was chosen for the job because of his commitment to developing new audiences for the arts, as well as his deep connections to the community.

“As the Fine Arts Center completes its transition to Colorado College this summer, we sought a director who could maintain and expand its essential community ties, and also help develop exciting new opportunities for our members, visitors, students, faculty and staff,” explains Alan Townsend, provost at Colorado College, in the announcement of the appointment. "I’m thrilled to welcome Idris back to the college and the Springs. Not only is he an internationally known artist with extraordinary vision, he brings unique knowledge of the Colorado Springs, Denver and CC communities that will be invaluable to the FAC in the coming years.”