New University Center for Arts Opens Doors for New Level of Professionalism in Performing Arts
For the first time in its 138-year history, Colorado State University has brought under one roof programs in music, theatre, dance and art. And what a magnificent roof it is.
The $44 million University Center for the Arts, located in the renovated old Fort Collins High School, “is a world-class facility with its comprehensive design to support all art forms. The UCA provides the platform required for the School of the Arts to achieve new levels of national and international excellence as well as offering a cultural center to the Fort Collins and Northern Colorado communities,” said Michael Thaut, co-executive director of CSU’s School of the Arts.
Colorado State students, along with visiting artists, can now perform and see performances in the new 250,000-square-foot facility’s five state-of-the-art venues: the Griffin Concert Hall, the University Theatre and Studio Theatre in the Bohemian Theatre Complex, the University Dance Theatre and the Organ Recital Hall.
Colorado State performing arts students will polish their craft in 11 classroom and seminar rooms; composition, computer, and piano labs; the largest instrumental rehearsal hall in the state; ensemble and performance libraries; two large acting labs; a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) lab; costume and scenic shops and storage; three dance studios totaling more than 6,500 square feet; 36 soundproof rehearsal rooms; and teaching studios, offices and support spaces. The new design studio, digital lab, lighting lab and sound/video booth give students the opportunity to learn the most technologically advanced production skills.
Space for Art Museums, Art Education, and Biomedical Research
In addition to housing Colorado State’s School of the Arts, the newly renovated facility includes two museums, which will officially open next spring, as well as office and seminar spaces for art history and art education. For the visual arts, the new University Art Museum is equipped with museum-standard climate control systems, lighting and security, and designed to safely exhibit and store works of art at ideal temperature and humidity levels.
The nearness of teaching facilities for art history simplifies coordinated study of the collections. Additionally, the Avenir Museum of Design & Merchandising, newly named with a $1.25 million gift from the Avenir Foundation, is the permanent showcase of CSU’s renowned historic costume collection from the Department of Design and Merchandising.
The UCA is also home to the research facilities of the Center for Biomedical Research in Music?one of the world’s leading centers in brain research into music perception and neurorehabilitation.
Paid for by Students and Private Donors
Larry Penley, president of Colorado State University, said, “The UCA would not have been completed without the leadership and commitment of our own students. Through their commitment the UCA now ranks among the finest facilities of its kind in the country.”
Funding for the building was largely secured through a vote by CSU's student body government. Associated Students for Colorado State University voted to increase student fees in the spring of 2005, which provided $29.6 million for the project. The remainder of the funding came from private donations including the Bohemian Foundation, Griffin Foundation, Kenneth and Myra Monfort Founding and the Serimus Foundation.
“We are deeply grateful to these donors and to the students of Colorado State for funding the University Center for the Arts," said Ann Gill, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. "We now dedicate ourselves to the challenge of taking the arts programs and performances to amazing new heights. Everything we achieve in this new space will be in honor of their investment in our future.”
Go to www.sota.colostate.edu for more information about the School of the Arts