Renovation Complete on Macalester College’s Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – A long-term renovation of Macalester College’s Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center (JWFAC) in St. Paul, MN, is now complete. Placing the values of a liberal arts education at the forefront of its master planning process, HGA, a national multi-disciplinary design firm, completed the last phase housing the Theater and Dance department in the spring of 2019. The Arts Center is part of a wider educational movement across campuses today, in which arts facilities help shape social change and inspire students.

Macalester’s new Theater and Dance department is located in the center of its beautiful urban campus. HGA revitalized the facility’s connectivity within departments and to the campus itself, ushering in a new wave of creativity and collaboration for students and faculty.

Macalaster College Fine Arts Center

Photo © Corey Gaffer Photography

The JWFAC is designed with an outward expression that integrates the three phases (music, visual arts, theater and dance), giving each a distinct yet unified identity. Each phase includes a featured façade with custom architectural expression related to the arts discipline within. The entry of the Theater and Dance building, for instance, features a flowing, perforated, custom-metal scrim façade that is internally lit, alluding to the movement, fabric, and theatricality of the performing arts.

The finale of this three-phase, four building project included demolishing the original 1965 Theater and Dance wing, and replacing it with a new three-level building. To foster interdisciplinary collaboration, the new plan takes advantage of adjacencies to existing resources within the complex, including the Mairs Concert Hall, the Law Warschaw Gallery and the Lowe Dayton Arts Commons.

Featured

  • Fellowes Launches New 3D Modular, Product Configurators

    Contract interiors and architectural solutions provider Fellowes recently announced the launch of new 3D modular and product configurators for several of its product lines, according to a news release. The new products offer SIF file integration and pricing for the Volo, Markerboards, Sena, and Rising product lines in connection with 3D Cloud, which provides 3D product visualization and 3D digital asset management.

  • Epson Receives Seven AV Industry Awards

    Projectors manufacturer Epson recently announced that it received multiple awards across the Higher Ed AV Awards, SCN Stellar Service Awards, and InfoComm 2025, according to a news release. The company was recognized for three projectors from its PowerLite L-Series line, accessories, installation process, and its customer support team.

  • old university building with visible aging signs, overlaid with digital data graphics like thermal maps, charts, and system icons

    Modernizing Higher Education Infrastructure: Why Smarter Facility Management Is Essential to Protecting Aging Schools

    Schools now have the opportunity to adopt smarter, more strategic approaches to futureproof operations and enhance the on-campus experience.

  • Addressing the Housing Affordability Crisis Through Creative Campus Development

    Many Southern California college and university campuses are living amidst surging housing costs, driving the need to house more of their populations on campus. Especially for community colleges, the need to support millions of unhoused and housing insecure students has become a prominent issue that lawmakers and institutions alike are trying to solve.

Digital Edition