Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Sam Houston State University Arts Complex Breaks Ground

  • 12/10/18

A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) in Huntsville, TX, for the new Arts Complex, designed by GUND Partnership. A new model for visual arts buildings, it brings together arts programs from eight buildings across campus into a dynamic new center where students can pursue traditional arts studies and explore new digital arts programs like animation under one roof. The entry level of the complex invites the larger community in with a dramatic two-story gallery to exhibit work and flexible event space for artist’s talks and lectures.

San Houston State University Arts Complex

The school’s signature WASH program (Workshop in Art Studio and History) moves into the building from its previous off-campus space. This highly successful introduction to the arts gives SHSU students a broad exposure to all aspects of the programs offered, with classroom and hands-on learning experiences.

The new, 70,325-square-foot, four-story building includes classrooms, labs, and studios for painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, graphic design, animation, ceramics, wood and metal sculpture, WASH, faculty offices, indoor and outdoor galleries, working courtyards for ceramics, sculpture and WASH studios, and a student commons.

Sustainability is a key factor in the design, the new Arts Complex features state-of-the-art mechanical systems to handle the specialized ventilation needs of arts processes to support a healthy and safe environment for students and faculty.

The Arts Complex is expected to be complete in fall 2019. 

Featured

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • Colorado School District Breaks Ground on Unified PK–12 Campus

    The Haxtun School District No. Re-2J in Haxtun, Colo., recently announced that ground has been broken on a renovation/addition project that will unite its two schools, Haxtun Elementary and Haxtun Jr/Sr High School, according to a news release.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.