University of Kentucky art professors and students are getting their first glimpse of their new home base.
"So we're standing on the second floor of the 1917 wing. Just to my right is the photography studio and behind me is the print-making studios," UK School of Art and Visual Studies director Robert Jensen says, smiling.
He's giving a video tour of the school’s new Art and Visual Design Building off Bolivar Street. Formerly loft apartments, the sleek, modern-looking space is a welcome change for many faculty and students whose previous studios were housed in a former tobacco warehouse.
"We just were able to get access to the building just now, so here we are the beginning of June of 2015, we're starting to move in all our stuff and it's really quite exciting," Jensen says.
The Omni Architect-crafted design emphasizes openness and offers a more transparent work environment that professors and artists hope will foster more collaboration. Among the new amenities are six digital media labs, studio spaces for painting and ceramics, and a row of darkrooms.
UK purchased the building for $6.7 million and spent a further $8 million creating new classrooms and offices. Summer school students are already taking advantage of the facility, though the official grand opening won’t happen until September.
