News

Art Department relocates to Brown property

Turned upside down in preparation for facility remodeling, the Art Department's studios and classrooms have been moved from the Art Building at "D" Street and Arrow Highway to several offices and classrooms throughout the campus. The move that has taken the department across Arrow Highway to the newly-acquired Brown property has also sent students to study in the Hoover Annex, the Barkley Building, AAIC and in the maintenance shed behind the Barkley Building. / photo by Jason Cooper
Turned upside down in preparation for facility remodeling, the Art Department’s studios and classrooms have been moved from the Art Building at “D” Street and Arrow Highway to several offices and classrooms throughout the campus. The move that has taken the department across Arrow Highway to the newly-acquired Brown property has also sent students to study in the Hoover Annex, the Barkley Building, AAIC and in the maintenance shed behind the Barkley Building. / photo by Jason Cooper

by Jennifer Contreras
Staff Writer

Behind the Barkley Building on D Street lies the maintenance storage building, more recently known as the temporary Art Department.

Renovations to the Lemon House started this spring, so the Art Department faculty and staff were forced to restructure their classes to fit the new accommodations.

Original plans for the Lemon House renovations were that they would start last summer and finish this summer so as not to interrupt the academic school year. Plans to start last summer fell through and so in order to be ready for the fall semester, the renovations started this spring, having the Art Department vacate the Lemon House before spring break.

“Several proposals of where classes could be held [were made]. Discussion began last fall; it was even hypothetical for us to move to the basement of the maintenance building. But the options were the Brown Property, the Harris Art Gallery, we were even thinking about holding classes outdoors in the fields,” said Keith Lord, assistant professor of art

“We were working with Brian Worley [as a medium to Executive Vice President, Phillip Hawkey] and were thinking about what we would need to make our program work. So the Brown Property became available, Ruth [Trotter], Dion [Johnson], and I met with Brian at the Brown Property and looked at the space and it was agreed it would work well; more than all the other options,” Lord said.

The Brown Property, located on Arrow Highway about half a mile away from ULV’s main campus, was supposed to be ready to hold classes and faculty offices on Monday April 16, the first day back from spring break. However fire marshals and safety officials inspected the building over spring break and the property failed to meet standards put forth by the officials and the city of La Verne. The city deemed the property “unsafe” for students, because it broke fire and safety regulations.

The Art Department faculty had no choice but to scrounge up a location to hold classes, so the maintenance department had the storage room cleaned out and divided into several studio classrooms, and the Art Department moved the minimum amount of equipment needed to continue its program into the building.

“It’s so dirty, there is so much dust and cobwebs. They tried to split a small space into two studio classrooms, so there is no privacy, you can hear the class next door and there is no wall space to hang artwork. As an artist, I really feel that the environment that you are in totally has an affect on your art and your concentration and focus as an artist. In this space I can’t focus, and my art has suffered because of it,” said junior art major Jessica Lord.

In the meantime, the Art Department faculty have no offices. Their offices were moved to the Brown Property and are still there, but the faculty does not have access to these offices. Despite the complaints and inconveniences for students, the faculty of the Art Department said they are able to see that these inconveniences are only temporary and will be appreciative when they are able to use the new facilities in the fall.

“We have had to maintain the integrity of our program and were forced to be flexible with our curriculum. We are excited about the new building, and we are looking at the short-term inconveniences with the long term in mind. We are confident that the University is behind us and supports us,” said Lord.

Lord and the rest of the Art Department faculty have adjusted to the space they have had by moving their class sessions around and taking field trips.

“Ruth [Trotter] took her painting class to the Harris Art Gallery. Dion [Johnson] and I have moved toward more field trips, and I’ve done a lot of work outside,” said Lord.

The newly renovated Lemon House will house the Communications Department along with broadening the facilities of the Art Department and changing the façade of the building to better represent the two departments.

“We have just got the approval of having an Art History major offered here and along with that we will be having a slide presentation, lecture auditorium for the art history classes. The Communications Department will have a new television studio and access to our facilities. We will have climate control, which has been a major concern of ours. Also, we are adding a third studio and smart classrooms [rooms equipped with Internet and data projectors] and we are changing the façade of the building and helping our visibility with display cases. It puts on the map,” said Lord.

Lord also said that the Art Department members are excited to have their colleagues in the Communications Department joining them in the Lemon House and that it will be nice to not have a commercial business in the same building anymore. The Graphics Department will move to facilities behind the old gym where they have previously been located and the printing press has moved to facilities beyond the maintenance department.

According to Provost Richard McDowell, the Art Department has been able to maintain its program’s integrity by adjusting to its situation.

“The plans that were meant to play out were difficult to implement and the department worked creatively to adjust to their situation. It has been a tough spring, and we are looking forward to fall, and we were disappointed that the move was not easier, but they were creative in responding,” said McDowell.

Lord went on to express his feelings on the situation and how it has been handled by not only the students but the faculty and the University as well.

“Having no office is an inconvenience, but I have just had to be more diligent on keeping up with my messages and appointments. It [the move] could have been done better, but with the information they were working under I understand how it happened. There are no hard feelings and we feel our needs are being considered. I was concerned about student’s reactions and in an ideal world we would not have had any problems. The University could not snap their fingers and give us facilities and I tried to make the students understand. It didn’t truly compromise the program, it impacted it but it didn’t compromise it.”

Jennifer Contreras, Editorial Director
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Jason Cooper, Staff Photographer
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