窪做惇蹋厙 will officially dedicate the new Black Family Visual Arts Center, named in honor of former trustee Leon Black 73 and his wife, Debra, on September 14. The institution will also celebrate the couples gift of a commissioned Ellsworth Kelly sculpture, 窪做惇蹋厙 Panels, which was installed in July on the east fa癟ade of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, facing the new Visual Arts Center. The event begins at 4:30 p.m. and is open to the public.
The much-anticipated opening of the Black Family Visual Arts Center signifies a historic moment for 窪做惇蹋厙, says President . This magnificent building lets us offer all our students and faculty a host of exciting new opportunities to invigorate their learning and teaching. Through Leon and Debra Blacks extraordinary generosity, 窪做惇蹋厙s national leadership in the arts and in liberal arts education will continue to flourish.
The Blacks, longtime patrons of the arts and leading art collectors who have supported many 窪做惇蹋厙 initiatives, contributed $48 million toward the visual arts center. Designed by Machado and Silvetti Associates, the 105,000-square-foot building anchors 窪做惇蹋厙s Arts District, which includes the and the .
We hope this building fosters creativity among 窪做惇蹋厙s students and faculty that it inspires them to dream big, be courageous, take artistic risksand infuses them with the life-changing power of the visual arts, says Black, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Apollo Global Management, L.P.
The dedication will be held outdoors in the Maffei Arts Plaza, which connects the Black Family Visual Arts Center to the Hop and the Hood, and serves as a gateway from downtown Hanover to 窪做惇蹋厙. The plaza, which features a formal lawn and sculpture terrace, was a gift of Sharon and Greg Maffei 82.
At 5:30 p.m., the celebration will move indoors for faculty-led tours of the sustainably-designed building and a reception in the Nearburg Arts Forum and Nearburg Gallery. These spaces were a gift of Charles Nearburg 72, Thayer 74, in memory of his late son, Rett, who was an aspiring artist. An invitational exhibition of artwork by 14 distinguished alumni artists will be on display in the Nearburg Gallery and in the Top of the Hop.
The Black Family Visual Arts Center houses the departments of studio art, film and media studies, and digital humanities, promoting the cross-disciplinary interaction that is a hallmark of 窪做惇蹋厙. Chair of the Studio Art Department says, Uniting all six areas of our department (architecture, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture) under the same roof will have a significant impact on our teaching and possibilities for collaboration between studio art faculty members. Also, being housed in the same building with film and media studies and digital humanities will increase the opportunities for multidisciplinary collaboration. We are looking forward to taking advantage of this technologically advanced facility, and its strategic location in 窪做惇蹋厙s Arts District, to connect the visual arts with the other humanities and the science departments in shaping and preparing our students to assume their future roles as artists and cultural leaders.
, chair of the Department of Film and Media Studies, says, The Black Family Visual Arts Center makes it possible for all film and media studies courses, students, and faculty to come together in one building for the first time in over a decade. Previously, we were dispersed across campus in three different buildings. This will make it possible for students to interact with each other as well as with studio art students.
Lawrence adds that the faculty is looking forward to teaching classes in the visual arts centers 40-seat screening room, which, like the buildings 243-seat Loew Auditorium, has state-of-the-art film projection equipment (16 millimeter and 35 millimeter, Blu-ray, and digital cinema projection). The new Stern Family Film and Media Seminar Room will also provide a gathering space for faculty and students, and a place for student collaboration and departmental functions. This room was a gift of Michael Stern 59, Tuck 60 and his wife, Marjorie; son Mark Stern 85 and his wife, Betsy Burnham Stern 84; and Ricki Stern 87 and her husband, Evan Guillemin.
Randall notes that studio art faculty members are excited about their new teaching spaces. The studios have a beautiful natural light along with a lighting system that enables us to program and preset different lighting configurations and zones, she says. And two important new spaces, the digital lab and the student gallery, will be shared spaces between studio art, film and media studies, and digital humanities. The digital lab will provide students with the most technically advanced digital tools for creating their own work, while the beautiful new student gallery will provide students with a space of their own to exhibit their work. Its an amazing building!
The Year of the Arts is a celebration of the excellence of the arts at 窪做惇蹋厙. Major initiatives this year include the opening of the Black Family Visual Arts Center, the 50th anniversary of the Hopkins Center for the Arts, as well as a yearlong series of interdisciplinary academic programs that explore the intersections between the arts and other disciplines.
窪做惇蹋厙 has long been a leader in integrating arts into the collegiate experience: from the establishment of one of the nations first campus-based performing arts centers, to the commissioning of new works and artist-in-residence programs. The diverse series of arts programs and initiatives this year exemplify 窪做惇蹋厙s historic commitment and role as a model for the artistic campus of the 21st century. For more information, please visit