Art Department expansion needed

By Lynn Paluga
Guest Writer

Good art incorporates the proper use of formal design elements, such as line, color and shape. In the UNCP Art Department, the most important of these elements in the coming year will be space. Construction began this semester on the renovation of Locklear Hall where approximately 8,000 square feet of new exhibit and classroom space will be added. A second floor addition will house faculty offices, and first floor renovations will include an enhanced digital arts area, a new painting studio, a larger art history classroom and, to the benefit of students and the community, new gallery space for art exhibits.

According to University Engineer Bess Tyner construction, which commenced in September 2004, will be complete by fall semester 2005. In an August 2004 Campus Construction Update, she stated that “the architectural style of the addition will fit the style of work that is taking place inside the building - completely modern and avant-garde.” Locklear Hall remains occupied for Art Studio instruction, while some classes have been relocated to other campus buildings.

What does this expansion mean for an Art major like me? No one savors cramped conditions in the classroom, and overcrowding especially concerns the artist who, like other students, not only sits in front of a computer terminal to print out research reports on 8 1/2 by 11 paper, but also creates projects in three dimensions: and sometimes those dimensions can get pretty ominous.

It is not unusual for the painter to want to express herself on a canvas measuring four by six feet, or the sculptor to work in life size forms. As it stands, one studio accommodates Beginning and Advanced Painting, Beginning and Advanced Drawing and Figure Drawing - all of which are full or nearly full. Art Appreciation and Introduction to Digital Arts are taught in the Education Building and Oxendine Science Building, respectively.

Due to lack of space, some faculty members are relegated to offices in Jacobs Hall. It has, for a long time, been necessary for the Art and Art Education Departments to gain the space they so desperately need to provide adequate elbow room for Art classes and faculty offices in one area.

Though construction is noisy and students must sometimes sidestep construction equipment in the hallways, I, along with others, am grateful for the expansion.

As Art Department Chair Janette Hopper said, “It’ll be well worth the trouble and inconvenience because we'll have a lot more space. We've been so crowded; the extra room will be nice.”