Arts
New Art Facility on the Way for 网红头条
KENNESAW, Ga. | Feb 4, 2020
Art and Design students to have a new workspace this spring
网红头条鈥檚 (KSU) School of Art and Design (SOAAD) has experienced tremendous growth in enrollment over the last several years, and as a result, SOAAD has felt some growing pains in their current facilities. More space is clearly needed and, with support of the College of the Arts and Kennesaw State, SOAAD began renovating a massive 21,000 square foot facility at Chastain Pointe in October 2019 to give art and design students more space to work and study.
On track to be completed this spring, the Chastain Pointe facility will feature an impressive number of large studios and workspaces, along with additional faculty and administrative offices. Director of SOAAD and Professor of Art Geo Sipp has been overseeing the renovations and is very impressed with the work done so far. 鈥淭he studios will have suspended ceiling panels, and the space will maintain a very industrial aesthetic, with ductwork and the decking visible,鈥� says Sipp.
Of the 21,000 square feet of space, only 1,000 sq. ft. will be used for such items as electrical equipment, leaving ample room for students to create and learn. Major studio spaces include four drawing and painting studios (about 1,400 sq. ft. each) and a 7,000 sq. ft. printmaking studio, including dedicated areas for different techniques utilized by printmaking students.
Many pieces of equipment, including antique printing presses, will be on display and be available for use by printmaking students. 鈥淲e have so many printmaking materials,鈥� according to Sipp, 鈥渁nd, right now, so many pieces of equipment that are in storage are state-of-the-art printmaking equipment. We鈥檙e going to be the best print facility in the South.鈥� The facility will also boast papermaking studio, small computer lab and conference room, plus ample open study spaces. Several faculty offices and an administrative office will help give the growing faculty and staff some breathing room.
While the new facility will primarily house drawing, painting, and printmaking spaces, all art and design students will benefit from this facility. 鈥淲e are a very pluralistic program where fine and applied arts inform each other,鈥� according to Sipp. 鈥淔or example, animation and illustration students have to take figure drawing, advanced figure drawing; they have to take painting, they have to take printmaking. It鈥檚 essential to understand these other disciplines to be a well-rounded illustrator or animator.鈥� This merging of these distinct areas of art, fine art and applied art sets SOAAD students up for success after graduation. Sipp explains, 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about image development and image content鈥攕o you learn these skills and it makes you a better professional in these other disciplines. What we have done is really focused on the marriage of fine and applied arts, and I think that makes us really unique.鈥�
Although it鈥檚 been a tight squeeze in the current SOAAD facilities, the faculty and staff of the school are excited to see such growth. 鈥淪tudents are voting with their feet,鈥� say Sipp. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e coming to KSU specifically because we offer these five disciplines. KSU鈥檚 programs are gaining students rapidly. We now have approximately 1100 students in art and design. When I came here in 2014, we had around 400, and it鈥檚 simply because the faculty and staff supported our ideas that the applied arts would draw students.鈥� Sipp and the School have seen ample support from both COTA and KSU as a whole with the expansion of their programs and facilities as well. 鈥淜SU, as such a young institution,鈥� remarks Sipp, 鈥渉as been supportive of the interesting ways of devising programs and putting programs out there. We have a really unique institution here, and the School of Art and Design is positioned well.鈥�
Above: Framework for the walls is installed.
Although the new facility is on track to complete renovations this spring, faculty and staff at SOAAD are waiting to include the workspaces in their Fall 2020 course offerings. 鈥淲e鈥檙e scheduling classes for fall 2020 based on our available space as it exists now鈥攏ot counting this space,鈥� advises Sipp. However, once completed, the Chastain Pointe facility will give SOAAD the space to make it an extremely competitive art school in the South, particularly in the applied arts.
through the construction site!
--Lauren Richmond and Kathie Beckett; images and video by
