By Kendrew Panyanouvong  |  [email protected]

One of the newest buildings on campus is starting to come to life.

As the 2015-16 school year wraps up, construction on the new state-of-the-art Visual Arts Building is nearing completion, and UI art faculty and students have begun transitioning into their new $77 million home.

Standing five levels tall and with more than 126,000 square feet, the vibrant and clean-slate building will house the UI School of Art and History; the 2008 flood destroyed the old Art Building.

UI studio-art faculty and students were temporarily relocated to the old Iowa City Menards building, 1375 Highway 1 W. The building was refurbished and transformed by the university into the interim Studio Arts Building following the flood.

Construction of the new building began in August 2013.

Many innovative studio spaces and rooms aimed to yield maximum flexibility among the various academic disciplines will help allow a “very contemporary curriculum to be taught,” said Steve McGuire, studio division coordinator for the art school.

“We will be entering the best studio visual arts building created in the United States,” McGuire said. “This is the best studio art building built in the last 50 years. The reason why I say that is because it was built for the specific purpose of visual arts production.”

The newly dedicated building will house academic units for printmaking, ceramics, 3-D design, metal arts, and jewelry. Also included will be sculpture, painting and drawing, graphic design, intermedia and video art, and photography. 

Immersive creative spaces are also featured, in the form of 14 patios, five galleries, and a 70-seat auditorium.

Faculty and students began to clear out of the old Menards building early last week, rushing to meet a May 13 deadline set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with the university’s lease on the interim space.

“By Friday, Studio Arts will be completely empty,” McGuire said.

The facility is on schedule to be fully completed this month. Finishing touches will be put on while the school is beginning to organize, settle, and become reunited with the main campus once again.

“This is a one-of-a-kind building. I’m very happy with this project,” Michael Kearns, senior construction project manager said. “The team’s been great. It was a group that worked really well together; we worked through a lot of unique challenges with the building. It’s been a real collaborative effort.”

Kearns said completion of the building is on schedule.

The Visual Arts Building has been designed to enhance energy use and to make a more creative environment with its sleek and clean design, Kearns said. Inside are many large windows scattered throughout the complex to maximize access to natural lighting, along with an efficient thermal system that helps keep the building cool, with minimal use of the cooling and heating system.

Another significant feature to the new building is the combined spaces that different disciplines can effectively use together, McGuire said. He said an important part in creating art is being able to watch others produce their work.

“When you walk through the spaces, you’re able to see the production that happens,” he said. “It’s very important for students to see other students working.”

While tentative schedules were thrown off course due to moving out of the old Menards building, most UI art students have finished up their final work of the year, and the highly anticipated building will now be home to UI studio art faculty and students this upcoming fall.

“This new building being made gives me the feeling that the university cares, I feel like it will bring out the best in our work,” UI junior and studio arts major Cassandra Garza said. “Now we actually have a space to do what we love to do.”