Following a comprehensive national search, Colorado College is pleased to announce that Nicole Herden will take the helm as executive director of the Fine Arts Center.
Herden previously served as executive director of the Museum of Nebraska Art (MoNA), in affiliation with the University of Nebraska. Since joining MoNA, Herden led the organization through a period of exceptional transition and growth, including overseeing a capital campaign that has cultivated $28 million. Additional demonstrated successes include conducting extensive community outreach and redesigning the museum’s approach to staff and facility management.
“I am thrilled to join the incredible team at the Fine Arts Center, as the institution and region are both poised for tremendous growth,” says Herden. “I am looking forward to cultivating a dynamic and inclusive institution that is relevant not only to the art world but also to the lives of everyone who lives in the Pikes Peak region.”
Over the past decade, Herden has held curatorial roles at the Boise Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, and the Arizona State University Art Museum. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona, a Master of Fine Arts from Boise State University, and a Master of Arts from Arizona State University.
“We are thrilled to have an art advocate with strong university ties guide and inspire a fine arts center that has been a cornerstone of the Pikes Peak region for more than 100 years,” says CC Senior Vice President Mike Edmonds. “We look forward to Herden building upon that history and creating a vision for its future as a destination of world-class visual and performing arts and arts education in the Rocky Mountain West.”
In her role as executive director, Herden will serve as a key constituent in CC strategic planning, advocating for the FAC as a unique entity within CC, and overseeing the growth of 50 staff members and another 50 temporary employees.
Colorado College used an international search firm, WittKeiffer, along with a search committee led by Dean of Faculty Emily Chan. Community leaders Thayer Tutt, vice chairman and CIO of El Pomar Foundation, Susan Edmondson, president and CEO of Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs, and Blake Wilson, partner and appraiser of The Art Bank, participated in the search committee.
“I was glad to be part of a board-based, inclusive search process that yielded a superb candidate with great experience,” says Thayer Tutt, who also leads the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Foundation.
“We also want to thank the CC faculty, staff, and students who contributed their time and effort to this critical search,” adds CC Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff Manya Whitaker.
Herden will begin her role on July 31 but will be transitioning through a series of visits to CC in the coming months.