VCU dedicates School of the Arts Building

By Lissette Linares

The Virginia Commonwealth University community, on Sept. 28, dedicated its new $13.8 million School of the Arts Building, an integral component of the university’s commitment to the revitalization of West Broad Street. The 114,000-square-foot fine arts center, 1000 W. Broad St., houses the Crafts, Painting and Printmaking, and Sculpture departments.

The new building is a flagship studio and instructional facility in fine arts education. It houses one of the top 20 graduate art schools in the nation, as well as one of the top five graduate sculpture programs, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

"With the School of the Arts Building, our students gain access to the latest tools and technology in fine arts education, while our community benefits from a landmark facility that is helping to reshape Downtown Richmond," VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., said. "On this former warehouse site, we have created a working factory that is sparking some of the most creative exchanges today between faculty and students, particularly in the area of contemporary art."

The center, which opened for classes in August, is providing more than 800 students with space for fine arts education, production and storage. The building’s unique features include specialized studio space, a foundry and a welding shop, woodshops, a computer and video editing room and faculty offices.

"Departmental faculty were heavily involved in creating the best layout and outfitting the facility with the latest equipment so that we can continue to offer the highest quality of education to our students," said Richard Toscan, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of the Arts. "This building will play an integral role in advancing the national image of fine arts education at VCU."

VCU broke ground for the School of the Arts Building in 1997. Designed by architectural firm Rancon Wildman Architects and constructed by Kenbridge Construction Co. Inc., the art production house is a reflection of the designs of historical Broad Street warehouses and of nearby VCU buildings. Construction costs were funded primarily through general-obligation bonds approved by Virginia voters in 1992.

The facility is the latest VCU initiative along a six-block corridor of West Broad Street stretching west from Belvidere Street. In the past year, the university opened the Stuart C. Siegel Center, the university’s new recreation and convocation facility and the West Broad Street Deck which houses the VCU e² Bookstore. Additionally, a 396-bed dormitory will be built between the School of the Arts Building and the Siegel Center and the Sports Medicine Building will be constructed just west of the Siegel Center. The Sports Medicine Building will house the Sports Medicine Center, Student Health Services, the VCU Sports Center in the Athletics Department and a large conference facility.

Dedication activities for the School of the Arts Building also included a keynote address by the artistic director of Documenta XI, one of the most well-known, international exhibitions of contemporary art, shown every five years in Kassel, Germany. In his first public presentation, Okwui Enwezor explored Documenta XI’s relationship with the exhibition’s traditions.