Eastern Michigan University to Start Construction on New Arts Complex
Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., will soon begin construction on a new $7.5-million arts complex, according to a university news release. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Windgate Arts Complex, part of the university’s School of Art and Design, is scheduled for Thursday, April 20.
The facility will measure in at 24,000 square feet and is intended to be a collaborative, creative environment for making art. It will play home to spaces for sculpture, ceramics, 3D design, digital fabrication, and metalsmithing. The university will also partner with local organizations like the Riverside Arts Center to offer summer workshops to the community at large.
Funding for the project is coming in part from a $3.2-million investment from the arts advocacy group Windgate Foundation, according to local news.
“The Windgate Foundation and EMU matching grant, along with the initial matching grant, will allow our students and faculty the opportunity to work in one unified 3D Arts Complex,” said Sandra Murchison, EMU professor and Director of the School of Art and Design, in a news release. “The new space will offer sufficient crossover between disciplines to create the types of mixed media works that we aim to teach our students to craft.”
The facility will be located in the northwest corner of campus and is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, according to local news.
“It has been a genuine thrill to see this dream evolve into reality for the School of Art and Design and the EMU community,” said Murchison.
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Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].