Arts Union
From CarlWiki
Carleton purchased the former Northfield Middle School in September 2005. The buildings had been empty for two years after the construction of a new middle school on the south edge of Northfield.
The Carleton purchase occurred after an unsuccessful attempt by arts groups in the city to create a studio, performance, and residence center for Northfield artists. Foundation grants and government subsidies necessary for funding the project failed to materialize.
The Carleton press release announcing the purchase stated that it was the college’s hope to create “a first-rate interdisciplinary arts center for the college... [and] a much deeper connection between Carleton's arts curriculum and the Northfield community.”
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2007
In a June 2007 press release, the college announced the selection of Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle LTD (MS&R) as architect for the project.
The press release referred to the project as “The Collaboratory,” a project “that will support multiple student and classroom projects and allow faculty members to teach with words, images, sounds, and narrative in a variety of media.” At that time, the college planned for student studio space in the building along with a “teaching museum, a dramatic theater, a cinema theater, a small black box theater, dance studios, and the student-run radio station, KRLX.” In addition, the college announce, that the “curricular core of the Collaboratory would be the academic departments of studio art, art history, cinema & media studies, theater & dance, and English.”
[This fits in with long range plans to vacate and demolish Laird, move the president’s office and other administration offices to Willis, and move political science, economics, and others, to Boliou.]
Director of the Arts
On October 11, 2007, Carleton announced the appointment of Steve Richardson, class of ’86, as Director of the Arts. The college press release said that Richardson would be “responsible for management of the new interdisciplinary arts center, coordinating major art events, and performance and exhibition series, along with managing curricular and co-curricular arts activities. He’ll also be in charge of arts publicity and work with Carleton’s career center to connect students with internship opportunities.”
Richardson will also be the “liaison between the College’s faculty and building design team for the new arts center...” He was also assigned the responsibility to promote “arts outreach to local schools, the Northfield arts community, and the Twin Cities area arts community and beyond.”
Naming contest
Two weeks later, the college announced a “Name that Building” contest. The announcement said, “The building formerly known as Northfield Middle School (the new Carleton Arts Center) needs a new (provisional) name. Name it and win an iPhone and six months’ service (or cash equivalent).” The contest was won in January 2008 by Erica Abshez, a junior Art and Art History major, and Karen Moldenhauer, senior administrative assistant to Associate Dean Liz Ciner. Both of them submitted the name Arts Union.
2008
In January 2008, the design team completed the schematic plans for stage one. The project will be undertaken in multiple phases over a number of years. Fund raising for the project will have to accompany renovation and construction.
The announcement at that time was that the first phase will include the renovation of the 1910 building and demolition of the 1954 cafeteria. The gymnasium will be prepared for use as a flexible, informal theater space.
Later stages of the project include renovation of the auditorium and the gymnasium and the enclosure of the space between the buildings to create a glassed-in atrium.
In the fall of 2008, the college announced that development will be slower than planned because of the financial crisis that has affected the resources available for the project.
Architectural renderings, floor plans, and a 3-D "fly through at the college web site
2009
Planning continued, and a neighborhood impact study was begun in the summer of 2009. Some spaces in the building were prepared for limited use. In the fall of 2009, the roof was replaced on the 1910 building and large-scale masonry repairs were done on the front (west face) of the auditorium building.
In November, the college announced that plans have been revised. Arts Union director Steve Richardson wrote, "At its heart, the Arts Union is intended to be a place to showcase the arts, to foster interdisciplinary work between the arts departments, and between arts departments and other disciplines across the curriculum."
Richardson went on to describe a vision for the Arts Union as a place to spotlight the visual arts, the performing arts, and the media arts.
These areas will be linked by instructional spaces, unstructured “white space” and a large public atrium with a coffee shop and meeting rooms.
Richardson's goal is to bring final plans to the Board of Trustees at its February 2010 meeting. If approved, construction would begin in the spring of 2010 and be complete by the fall of 2011.
2010
In February, the college announced a $15 million pledge to fund the completion of the Arts Union from the Weitz Family Foundation. The gift is dependent upon a matching $85 million gift from the Board of Trustees (of which $83 million had already been pledged).
As reconfigured, the Arts Union will house the departments of Theater and Dance and Cinema and Media Studies as well as the Carleton Art Gallery. The plans also call for a dramatic theater, a cinema theater, dance studios, and an audio recording studio as well as faculty offices, classrooms, studios, a conference room, and a coffee shop. The Presentation Events and Production Support (PEPS) office and the Idea Lab will also be headquartered in the Arts Union.
The college announced that it hoped to begin construction in the fall of 2010.
Carleton news release of 15 February
External link
- Arts Union page on the college web site
