The $96 million Fine Arts Center improvement project at the University of Rhode Island is on schedule to be completed by the end of 2025, featuring three new art galleries for faculty, students and local artists.
Construction of the new center began in 2019, according to Karl Calvo, assistant vice president of facilities at URI. The project was then divided into two phases.
Phase one remodeled the windows and added new exterior cladding to the sides of the building. In construction, cladding is the protective outer layer that protects the structure’s exterior from the elements and improves the building’s aesthetics.
The new cladding was applied to the parts of the building that weren’t undergoing construction, according to Calvo. Students are now observing phase two of the construction.
Both phases share the same $96 million budget; and the project will connect all aspects of the fine arts department in one building, according to Calvo.
Due to the construction at the fine arts center, the art department has been moved to Pastore Hall temporarily, according to Calvo. He wants to start moving the art department into the finished portion of the building by the end of this school year.
“I fully expect that the building will be turned over formally to the dean by the end of the calendar year,” Calvo said. “I’m sure that somewhere along the line, in the spring semester next year, there’ll probably be a dedication ceremony of some kind.”
An additional $2 million has been donated to the construction of the center by Howard and Mary Frank.
This donation will go toward three new art galleries and a new atrium between the two new fixtures. Both structures will be in the Frank name, according to Ben Anderson, the department chair of art and art history at URI.
One gallery will be an experimental area where students will be able to work on different art projects that might not be a traditional piece of art that would be put in a gallery, according to Anderson.
“We always are actively exhibiting regional artists and artists from further afield,” Anderson said. “Curating is an ongoing process in itself.”
Anderson expressed his desire to continue the center’s history of displaying local art at the new facility, when it is complete.
Anderson has worked with artists from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and parts of the midwest to help give them a place to display their works at the university.
Within the new art galleries, artists will be able to display their work for a short period of time and new projects from other artists will take their place, continuing the tradition of the department, according to Anderson.
On top of the new buildings being constructed there will be work done to the existing auditoriums, according to Calvo. He wants to give them a refresh through paintwork, putting down new carpets and adding a new curtain to the auditorium.
Additionally, the theatre department will receive a new ventilation system, a place to store costumes and additional safety features, like more handrails, according to Calvo.
“That [the new renovations] wasn’t part of the original project,” Calvo said. “But we basically included that into the project while we have a vendor there already, so we’re taking advantage of that.”
Calvo feels like the university and every art student should be excited about the new facility, describing it as a fantastic place to work out of.
“Almost $100 million is being invested into the arts at the university,” Calvo said. “So I think that, in and of itself, is huge for the arts community.”
Anderson is also looking forward to moving back into the center from Pastore Hall and is excited to pick things up where they left off.
“I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s very exciting,” Anderson said. “Everybody’s excited to be back in that space and I’m proud of that. I’m proud of it for the university. It’s just good development.”
