Photo by: Michael Furman

Completion of the Art Annex addition to the Shwayder Art Building (SAB) is on a new schedule because of heavy rain this summer and will now open Dec. 1.

The annex will house painting, drawing, some foundations classes and a color class beginning winter quarter.

Painting will use the majority of the space because the main donor is interested in painting, said Jason Kellermeyer, coordinator of the academic program. The donor wishes to remain anonymous.

The annex also will include three classrooms and two large studio spaces, one for undergraduates and one for graduates.

Deborah Howard, painting professor, has been in charge of deciding what materials will be hauled to the new building from the old and what new materials are needed. She has been teaching at DU for 22 years.

“I wanted change, and change came to me,” said Howard. “At first I didn’t want it, but now it’s very exciting.”

New resources have been an ongoing discussion and though there is no set budget, as much as possible is being refurbished and recycled. Most everything will be on wheels, including movable walls that can be arranged in the studio space to create separate workspaces, said Howard.

The goal is to put an emphasis back on painting and drawing as something art students can concentrate in, said Kellermeyer.

“People have been saying painting is dead since Pollock but painting is always reinventing itself,” Howard said.

The Electronic Media Arts Design program will use the former painting and drawing rooms.

Renovations to the Victoria H. Myhren gallery and room 119 are completed and other renovations in the building are to occur.

The annex will be an extension of the soccer stadium next to the Ritchie Center. It will not directly attach to the art building and the exterior space behind SAB will remain intact as part of the sculpture lab.

The combined cost of construction for the projects is $9.2 million.

In the annex, there will be a student lounge in the new building and a black box for open studio space for installations and performances.

“It will be nice to have an environment where all the art students can hangout where artists from different mediums can come together,” said Taylor Arns a senior studying art.

Currently there is no student lounge space.