New facility to house growing art program,
provide students additional Opportunities

By Justin Hager
Staff Writer

          Arkansas Tech's art program is on the verge a literal explosion that will
spiral outward and envelope the whole campus and even the larger River
Valley community, or at least that's the hope that the administration has
approaching the new $4 million art building's construction.
However, from looking around the campus, most students would
probably never realize that the program is currently "pretty much bursting
out at the seams," as David Mudrinich, assistant professor of art, put it. The
number of students in the program "has more than doubled since I've been
here."
          Enrollment in the program has reached an impressive 130 majors,
with a steady stream of minors trickling in, up from a mere 60 majors about six
years ago, showing an impressive amount of growth.
In addition to general improvements in the appearance and reputation of
Tech, recent changes in the art department faculty might help explain some
of the recent growth. In the last six years, the department's roster has
undergone almost a complete switch.
     

     Georgina Duncan, dean of Liberal and Fine Arts, commented, "We've
worked very hard to bring people in that would help support and cement the
program," adding that the new faculty "are people who are still sort of
hungry and are willing to work harder and push instead of [those] who [would
say], 'Well, it's been like this for 15 or 20 years'," and senior art major
Adam Faucett when asked where the new faculty changes have been good for the
department replied, "absolutely," without a second's hesitation.
Between fresh new faculty and a rapidly expanding student body, the
department is in a prime position to really take off and move onto a higher
tier entirely. "[We've] got a gel that's really working out right now," said
Mudrinich, and the new building may well be the only remaining missing
piece.
          The current art building, located somewhat on the peripheral of
Tech's campus next to Caraway Hall, was originally constructed in 1913, and
has been used by Tech over the years for a variety of purposes from a
dormitory to classrooms to extra office space. The physical structure itself
poses a number of limitations on the department in terms of both educating and
studio work.
          According to Faucett, "Space is the issue." While there is usually
adequate storage space (though sometimes sculpture workers have to cart
their work home at night, an especially daunting task for those working with
stone, according to department head Cathy Caldwell), often the simple fact
that the building was not designed for its current purpose leaves student
problems of pure navigation, having to squeeze past each other to move
across a room, which is something that occurs far more frequently in say a
ceramic lab than in your average lecture hall.
          The issue of space also spills into the options available to
students as far as form in some cases. With larger facilities, students will
be able to work on larger pieces.

          "When you have a painting and sketching lab of this size with 20
students in it, and someone wants to work on a piece of slightly larger size
then the matter of space becomes a problem," said Caldwell.
While these concerns have been well known to the administration for
the past few years, the recent upward slope in enrollment has undoubtedly
pressed the need up to an even greater state of immediacy, and quietly Dr.
Robert C. Brown, Tech president, began working to make available the funds of
the construction of a new building. About six month ago, these plans came to
a head and was, as put by Duncan, "able to liberate an art building."
"With the climate of the state and the economy right now, it was a
bit of a surprise," said Mudrinich, "when the opportunity came, we didn't
have to think twice about what we really needed."
Since the green light was given to the project, the department and the
administration have been meeting with the architects almost every week to map out
every aspect of the new building, down to where to put the light switches.
Both Mudrinich and Duncan indicated that the architects had been cooperative
in ensuring that everything was set to the department's satisfaction while
still staying within the allotted budget.
          The new building is set to be located across from Corley in what is now
a gravel parking lot. It will be two stories, with a small patio-like area for working with
larger sculptures spilling off on the side toward the street. Mudrinich,
Duncan, and Caldwell all hope that the new central location will help give
other students a chance to see what art students actually do, something the
location of the old building helped prohibit.
In addition to added space and a more central location, one of the
most anticipated features of the new building is the gallery, finally giving
the art department a place of its own to display works. In the past, the
department has always had to rely on temporary space in other buildings for
senior showings and the like.
          Once the new building is complete, student work will be accessible to
the public throughout the year, allowing students, both majors and non-majors,
a better chance to get a feel for what, artistically, is going on at Tech.
"I don't see how you gauge what you're doing when you don't really
see anybody else doing anything other than learning the same techniques right
next to you," noted Faucett. He added, "I think it kinda motivates you. You
know, [thinking] I could do that better."
          In addition to displaying student work, the department plans on
bringing work from regional artists in for display, an option that so far has
been unavailable due to the absence of a secure space.
"Right now, we have to drive 80 miles to see art," said Mudrinich.
"Students are wanting to make everything into a glossy photograph. There's
all the other senses that aren't being incorporated when you're just
looking at a glossy photograph of a painting."
          Students of the program will benefit greatly form having real art
objects in front of them to study with all their senses, and additionally
the gallery could provide valuable experience in unpacking, packing, hanging,
and otherwise caring for show pieces as many art students will likely go on to work
in a museum or gallery at some point after graduation.
          Finally, the gallery will also allow the department to become a more
integrated part of the school and the community at large by allowing a
greater cultural exposure to works of art than would normally be available
in the River Valley area, Mudrinich said.
          The Department is optimistic about the response from the community.
"There's not much to do in Russellville. An art opening might be a really
cool thing to do on a Saturday," Mudrinich said, especially if the opening
features the artist present to talk and take questions about his or her work.
The new building on completion will be, according to Caldwell, the
most technologically sophisticated university art facility in the state, set
apart largely by the planned $20,000 dynamic ventilation system that will
allow students to work with acids, spray paint, and other potential
hazardous materials inside with a great deal more safely.
          Given the success of Tech's past building programs, this new
facility could provide even a greater boost to the department's growth as it
solidifies the strength of the program put in motion by the faculty changes.
          Within a year or two after the building's completion, Tech will have
the best art program in the state, Duncan said.
Their building may be meager for now, but if the department's
ambition is any indicator, they may set this town on fire when the new
building's doors swing open for the fall semester of 2005.
Mudrinich concluded, "We've just been waiting for that final piece
to fall in line. And there it is."

-The Arka Tech
Wednesday, February 11, 2004

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