“So long and thanks for all the fish…” -Douglas Adams
The Manitou Springs Library is on the move back to the historic Carnegie Library building. The Manitou Art Center is here to stay in its storied location, 37 years strong.
The Manitou Art Center Board of Directors would like to formally thank the Pikes Peak Library District Board of Trustees for their partnership these last four years. During that time, the Manitou Art Center has increased its makerspace membership by 2,000 and has truly become the art center that it always wanted to be. Our staff have repeatedly expressed their appreciation for their time with Manitou Springs Library staff. True friendships have resulted from their time together. And, as always, we understand and heartily champion the power and importance of a public library in Manitou Springs. We are all here to help and support the Pikes Peak Library District as it navigates through these next few years.
During the move, the MAC will be open during its regular hours of operation (outside of holiday hours). As always, all of our meeting spaces are still free and available to the community. We will have Library Market (our room/makerspace reservation system) in place until the end of the year and will replace this system with something new in 2025. There will be no changes to memberships, reservations, classes or programs in 2024. New classes and membership opportunities will launch in January.
It is the goal of the MAC to maintain all current programs and opportunities in 2025. Since it took us 4 years and hundreds of hours to create and manage what we have built together, it is going to take us several months to disentangle and reemerge as two separate, but forever connected, entities. We appreciate your patience and trust at this time. Feel free to reach out with questions and concerns.
PPLD’s trust and willingness to collaborate so intimately with the MAC serves as a model for what can be done when creative minds come to the table to solve complex problems without fear and by sharing resources. We wanted to take a moment to step back and appreciate this success story as PPLD moves on to the next chapters: the move back to Manitou’s beloved Carnegie library, the return of our Library Lawn Concerts, expanded spaces for patrons and more.
As the MAC is ever-evolving to meet the identified needs of this community, we will be re-imagining previously Library-occupied spaces and working to make your neighborhood art center the best it can be for our members, artists, supporters…and you.
Contact: Laura Ettinger-Harwell
Phone: 719-625-1861
Email: communications@manitouartcenter.org
