An addition to the Schwayder Art Building, which houses the School of Art and Art History, will soon give students, faculty and staff more elbow room.
The $7 million 12,500-square-foot art annex is scheduled for completion by the end of October.
The project includes the addition of a large painting studio, more classrooms, offices for the drawing and painting teachers as well as a meeting space for students.
Although the faCB’ade of Shwayder is contemporary, the annex will resemble the brick, limestone-and-copper exterior of the nearby Ritchie Center.
Included is a renovation and upgrading of existing classrooms. The art history, creative expression and digital media programs will use these. The annex will house all of the painting, color, two-dimensional design, creative expression and art education classes.
“The art annex project significantly enhances not only the studio and art history programs but digital and creative inquiry programs across the campus including those in engineering and mass communications,” said Provost Gregg Kvistad, commenting on the project.
Commenting on the existing space, Annette Stott, the art school’s director, said, “There is no place for students to gather and the building is very crowded. We have had to accommodate 50 students in a classroom that is only adequate for 32 and there is no storage space so we have to keep materials and equipment in our office.”
She added, “Having students in a setting such as this can sometimes crowd out creativity and provides little room for equipment that can help students taking classes in any department, especially those that require technology such as digital media and art history courses.”
The building will offer both space and the ability to include new facilities aimed at bettering the art program Stott said.
“The new building solves all of the issues with space and provides features that will improve the way in which students learn,” he said.
One of the spaces in the annex will be a spray booth that will provide students with an area to safely apply a spray fixative to drawings and other works. A central gathering space lit by a skylight will give students a place to meet and display their works.
“The new building is designed with artists in mind,” Stott said. “This includes the interior which will more closely resemble a warehouse. Painting and drawing are best done in raw space.”
Technological improvements throughout the art building are also a high priority, Stott said. “Almost every area of art and design has been transformed by digital technologies in the past decade. It is wonderful to be able to rethink Shwayder in ways that allow us to better teach electronic and digital media.”
