Visual Arts Building ribbon cutting and special talk by architect Steven Holl, Oct 7

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Watercolor sketch of Visual Arts Building
Architect Steven Holl's 2011 watercolor sketch of the Visual Arts Building,
perhaps the first visual idea for the building.

“Architecture for Art”
Presentation by Steven Holl and Chris McVoy of Steven Holl Architects, N.Y.
Oct 7, 2016
11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Art Building West 240

Visual Arts Building ribbon cutting and open house
Oct 7, 2016
3:30-5 p.m.
Visual Arts Building

 

The University of Iowa's new Visual Arts Building, replacing the Art Building complex that was flooded in 2008, will celebrate its opening on October 7, 2016, with a special presentation by Steven Holl, the building's world-renowned architect, and Steven Holl Architects Senior Partner Chris McVoy. A ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by an open house, will officially dedicate the new facility.

At 11:00 a.m., Holl will give a talk on recent art-related architectural works; McVoy will present the Visual Arts Building within this larger context. After the ribbon-cutting, which takes place at 3:30 p.m., guests are invited to tour the building's state-of-the-art educational and exhibition spaces.

Visual Arts Building
The University of Iowa's new Visual Arts Building, which opened for classes this fall.

The 126,000-square-foot Visual Arts Building was designed by Steven Holl Architects in New York and BNIM Architects in Kansas City, Mo., and built by Miron Construction. Among the building’s features are an atrium-like central skylight, channel-glass walls, and assorted square windows. The building houses five galleries and a 70-seat auditorium. It was featured in the New York Times on Aug. 4 and Sept. 16.

The building will be used by printmaking, ceramics, 3-D design, metal arts and jewelry, sculpture, painting and drawing, graphic design, intermedia and video art, and photography.

The School of Art & Art History is part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.