Dear supporters of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum,
Happy New Year to all of our MuseLetter readers! Each year around this time I like to reflect on where the museum once was, where we are presently, and what we hope to achieve in the future. Over the past two years, the museum staff, volunteers, supporters, and visitors have witnessed the extensive and disruptive capital project to rehabilitate the historic 1903 El Paso County Courthouse. There were so many notable efforts over the past year that deserve recognition. Allow me to just list a few.
- During the building closure, we continued engaging with the community and partnered with numerous organizations to host five programs at different locations around Colorado Springs.
- The team developed “History Detectives,” an educational outreach program designed for 3rd – 4th grades so we could continue connecting with schools when field trips weren’t possible. The program received rave reviews and was so successful that the museum will continue offering these educational outreach programs alongside our popular in-person school programs. If you’re interested in volunteering to support these education programs, please reach out!
- After a year of construction, the CSPM completed its $8.2 million HVAC Renovation and Building Restoration project and hosted its Grand Reopening date on July 13, 2024. The community was invited back to explore refreshed and new stories.
- The CSPM nonprofit raised $1.6 million from individuals, foundations and businesses to support the CSPM’s HVAC and Building Restoration project. This funding includes the $450,000 raised annually to keep the museum thriving.
- We opened three new exhibits, including 50% of the Story: Women Expressing Creativity, Accessorize It!, Camping in the Rockies, and a new publicly accessible collections workspace.
- 150 women artists are celebrated through their works of art in the 50% of the Story. This exhibit increased representation of women artists in the CSPM’s collection to 15%.
- Two spaces previously never seen by the public are now part of the visitor experience— the Division III Courtroom and Collections Workspace. These beautiful spaces add much needed capacity for the CSPM to tell stories and care for its collection.
- With more of the building open to the public, over 840 additional artifacts are now on display for visitors to see.
- Since we reopened, we focused on reengaging the community. We hosted tours, workshops, family fun days, lectures, events and much more. We are delighted to share that these efforts helped rebuild the CSPM’s visitation to 86,064 visitors. This is an 11% increase compared to the previous year.
Please join me in thanking our staff, board and foundation board members, volunteers, supporters and community partners for their ongoing support. Everyone was a part of this success. I hope you feel a sense of pride after you read through these amazing achievements.
Our future is quite exciting as well. Until Forever Comes: This is Ute Homeland is scheduled to open on Saturday, May 2, 2025. This pathbreaking exhibit is a culmination of consultation work with our partners: The Southern Ute, the Ute Mountain Ute, and Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation. This powerful exhibit will share the ongoing history and culture of the Ute people from their perspective. Also, this year we will develop a new strategic plan to guide the CSPM over the next five to ten years. We may reach out to you to get your thoughts on our direction.
Again, happy 2025! We wish you all a wonderful and prosperous year.
Sincerely,
