After a long anticipation, fine arts students and faculty alike are bustling with excitement as they propel into a new era of creativity from the official opening of the new Fine Arts Center on Sept. 14.
The home of the art, art history, music and theater departments, the post-renovation FAC has new features for each department to utilize.
For the art and art history department, new studios are now accessible with pragmatic layouts for all mediums to work expressively in, as well as an updated art gallery in the central walkway creating a space for students and regional artists to display their work.
The theater department is also updated, with new seating in the Will Theater and finished studios housing sprung floors. Given the newfound space they also now have the resources to begin offering student directed shows again.
The music department now has almost twice the amount of practice rooms, a completed choral hall and a brand new recording studio equipped with production technology not seen in the pre-renovation FAC.
Furthering the excitement from all departments, there is a collective inspiration from the newfound interconnection the space provides, according to faculty. Ben Anderson, the art department chair and David Gilland, the music department chair both said the new space is bringing forth ideas of interdepartmental projects that could be seen in the future.
“It [has] certainly been a long time coming,” Rachel Walshe, URI theater department chair and director, said. “It has [the wait] been challenging for sure but it’s totally worth it.”
Walshe said students showed resilience while waiting for the building to be finished, and spoke to their happiness with the new building.
The FAC building was originally built in the late 1960s, so there was incentive to preserve the building’s bones, but with input from all departments, it was clear that renovation for additional updated space was much wanted. All of the FAC department chairs expressed positivity towards the architectural design of the new building.
“[The building is] bright, airy and full of natural light, and the actual instructional spaces that [they now] have… are absolutely wonderful,” Walshe said.
Anderson is similarly pleased with the space. He has taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and University of California San Diego’s art departments as well, but he notes the finite attention to detail put into this new space.
“Details like… student lockers, they’re so subtle and flushed to the wall and the space is so open,” Anderson said. “I think it [the new FAC] is incredible… I think it really expands this idea we have of collaboration between departments… we cross paths with each other…much more frequently.”
Anderson also spoke on the design areas like the interdepartmental space, sharing that students from different departments run into each other more now and are bringing the departments together.
I’ve definitely noticed a lot more interaction between theater students who I know and music majors and art majors, or just students coming into the buildings to take classes,” Walshe said. “Everyone needs directions!”
The new architectural design is providing a huge morale boost for the arts students, according to Walshe.
New programs can be expected in the future from the arts department, beginning with the art curriculum being fully updated and the music department’s plans for a recording studio. Gilland said that they are even hoping to open a music production line in the near future.
Music is also working to create a video game music class and a film scoring curriculum. Theater is excited by the new studio’s ability to lead to a possible return of a dance minor.
The only grievances of the new space, according to Gilland, was the budget cut for the recital hall renovation. Gilland expressed his desire to have it be renovated in the near future. There were also some comments from fine arts students who have expressed the desire to add more creativity to the aesthetics of the space itself, which is currently fairly white and monotone, stating they feel that for an arts center it lacks color.
For more information on what the new FAC has to offer, check out the building on campus, located at 105 Upper College Road, and take a look at the new gallery which is open noon to 4 p.m. on weekdays.
