Administration approves new art department building

The University’s art department is set for expansion with the addition of the Art Studio Complex. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new complex is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 11, said Gary Hatcher, professor and chairman of art and art history, said.

Plans have the new buildings surrounding the current art studios and sharing a common roof to provide covered pedestrian walkways.

The current location of the art studios and the Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center has been “inconvenient” for both students are professors, Hatcher said, but he said he hopes the new building will “unite the department.”

Also, the addition will provide the capability for the department to grow. “The art faculty and students have been very patient.  They’ve waited years for this and I’m delighted to get it moving,” Greg Lassen, vice president of business affairs, said.

Hatcher has been with the University for 15 years and teaches ceramics, introduction to art and senior exhibition.  He said Lassen has been responsible for the project moving forward. “He’s been a great asset [to this effort],” Hatcher said.

“Our ability to grow has been severely limited because of space.  From 2001 to 2005, enrollment grew by 400 percent,” Hatcher said, but that growth cannot continue without more space. “The problem isn’t having students, it’s having room,” Hatcher said.

“The facilities are specific, like science labs,” Hatcher said.  For example, a student interested in woodwork and another in print making cannot work in the same space. The new facility will house seven complete studios for various media, as well as a lecture hall, administrative offices. Plans call for a lecture hall with a seating capacity of 100 students, and art history professors will have a seminar room.

There will be two drawing and painting studios, a clay and sculpture studio, a ceramics studio, a sculpture studio, a design studio, a student work area to frame and matte creations and a wood shop. The art department’s administrative offices will also be located in the new Fine Arts Complex. “We’re excited about the layout.  It’s affordable and easily accessible,” Lassen said. The University has been planning this new building since 2001.

Recent fund raising efforts have been successful, but the cost of materials has risen greatly since 2001, Lassen said, proving the budget a major obstacle in moving forward.

Hatcher said he announced the new facility to his classes and said they are “very excited.” With so many studios geared toward specific mediums, the students will enjoy the proper environment in which to work and the right tools to bring their ideas and creations to life.

A self-proclaimed “big fan” of art, Lassen said he hopes the additional studio space will not only provide a great environment for art majors and graduate students, but also will encourage more students to dabble in art electives.

“Art is a fundamental part of education,” Lassen said, “It gets another part of our brain working, and that is what college is for.”

Lassen signed a contract with local architecture firm Bucher Willis and Ratliff. BWR has 400 days to complete the $7 million project.

Although the construction begins soon, the current art studios will remain functional.  Lassen said a sidewalk was built for students to use the back entrance.

Construction is a nuisance, but “it’s a sign of progress,” he said. The goal for completion is the 2009 fall semester, but judging from the length of time required to complete the UC extension, only time will tell, Lassen said.