Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Wesleyan Breaks Ground on New Art Gallery

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/05/21

On the campus of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., officials broke ground this week on a new art gallery. The Davison Art Gallery will be the campus’ first new art building since the mid-1970s. The university is partnering with design firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO) and Newman Architects on the project, which is projected for completion in summer 2023 and to open its doors to students for the spring 2024 semester.

The university found itself outgrowing its existing art gallery, the Davison Art Center, which houses a collection of more than 25,000 works of art. The collection was already relocated to the Olin Memorial Library in 2019. The new facility will measure in at 5,550 square feet and was designed as a long, narrow space to fit between the library and the Public Affairs Center.

“The new gallery presents an opportunity to expand the visual arts from the iconic Kevin Roche-designed Center for the Arts to the very heart of the campus,” said PRO founders Nathan Rich and Miriam Peterson. “The building is deliberately designed for interdisciplinary learning and to expose a range of students to this renowned collection.”

The facility will feature an open, glass-walled lobby space and an exterior of red brick and limestone to blend into the surrounding area. An outdoor teaching courtyard and exterior gathering space will serve as active learning environments for a variety of courses. Sustainability initiatives include a green roof, solar panels, in-flooring heating and cooling, motion-sensor lighting, displacement ventilation and a landscape of native plants. The gallery represents PRO’s first full, ground-up project in the education vertical.

The Davison Art Gallery is being constructed simultaneously with renovations to the adjacent Public Affairs Center (PAC). The gallery will be accessible through the PAC as well as via walkways in front of and behind the library.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.

  • Construction Begins on New University Research Vessel

    Boat-building company All American Marine recently announced that it has begun construction on a new catamaran research vessel for the University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas, Texas, according to a news release.

  • Arlington High School

    Arlington High School

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. Arlington High School has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of New Construction.

  • 144-Year-Old High-School Campus Debuts New Academic Facility

    San Diego High School (SDHS) in San Diego, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new student services and classroom building; the project is part of a larger SDHS Whole Site Modernization project that began in 2022.