“Enthusiastic consensus.” That’s how Board Chair Debbie Hull termed the Earlham Board of Trustees’ decision to move forward with the College’s new fine arts building.

Hull made the surprise announcement during President David Dawson’s inauguration on Sat., Oct. 15, 2011. Hull said the board also approved additions and renovations to the science buildings, which had been announced previously.

No longer will visual and performing arts be created or rehearsed in tucked away spaces at Earlham.

Instead they will be highly visible in “storefront” displays and performed in a space modeled after a church where the London Philharmonic Orchestra practices. The “storefront” displays and rehearsal/performance space are all features of the new fine arts building that was given a green light during the Board of Trustees meeting on Fri., Oct. 14. 

“This shifts art from something we do behind the scenes to being something we do in a very visible way,” says Nathan Jones, assistant professor of art.

“The exciting thing is that we will have a centralized space that says here’s where the arts happen at Earlham,” says Forrest Tobey, associate professor of music. “Right now we are scattered in different buildings throughout campus and in spaces that were not designed for the things that are going on inside them.”

The new building, which has an initial cost estimate of $17.5 million, features separate studios for photography, weaving, metals and ceramics, a classroom, and practice rooms for percussion, jazz and gamelan. A highlight of the building is a large performance and rehearsal space for choral and instrumental music.

“It will have a really tall ceiling and a wood interior with state of the art curved, retractable seating for an audience of 280,” says Tobey, who along with Jones and Professor of Theatre Arts Mickey White serve as arts representatives on the building committee. 

The current ceramics area in Runyan Center will become a new classroom for art history and related topics, while the current metals and photography area will be renovated into a painting and drawing studio. The Hancock Room will be renovated into a black box theater, with five or six possible configurations. The new L-shaped building will feature lots of natural light and will be situated just south of Wilkinson theatre extending east to form a new quad.

Many of the current fine arts classes are offered in Runyan Center, which was built in 1968 and includes the campus bookstore, coffeeshop and post office.

“Runyan will flow into the new building,” Tobey says. “The emphasis of light and public gathering spaces of the new building will be really attractive and welcoming.”

“When Runyan was built there was no art, music or theatre departments, just a fine arts department,” notes Jones. “Since then we’ve grown from an umbrella department to an entire division, and we didn’t do half or a quarter of what we do now. Drama was a club. This building wasn’t built as an art building to do the kinds of art and serve the numbers of art students that we currently have.” 

Tobey says that nearly a third of Earlham’s students are involved in one of the College’s music performance groups, and with such a high level of participation, the new building will become a new hub or social center.

“Because everything will be on the same side of campus, students will be in regular proximity to each other, which will greatly increase the potential for collaboration,” Jones says. “The sense of art community will go through the roof.”

The new building also will help to alleviate scheduling problems for students wanting to take introductory art classes.

“The way the arts spaces are configured we can’t teach a lot of the classes concurrently because we share the same space,” Jones says. “Now we will have separate physical spaces, which will vastly improve the class availability for students. We can offer more classes and service more students. This will radically change the enrollment issues of getting into art classes.”

Sustainable features in the design and construction of the project will earn a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED certification. Construction on the fine arts complex is expected to begin as soon as the final schematic drawings and construction documents are developed, and may occur along a similar timeline as the science building, which is expected to break ground in May 2012 with renovations to Stanley Hall scheduled for completion by August 2013.

Facilities Director Ian Smith notes that since the announcement, the fine arts building architects already have been working on design development. Currently, Smith projects a Sept. 2012 start with completion by early 2014. The timeline will firm up as the plans come together. Fundraising continues for both buildings, which were part of the College’s recent Purpose and Passion fundraising campaign.

LEARN MORE

Art at Earlham

Music at Earlham

Profile of Earlham fine arts grad Micah Sommer '11

Hands-on Art Experiences at Earlham (video)

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