{"id":1719,"date":"2017-12-14T22:55:43","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T22:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2017-12-14T22:55:43","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T22:55:43","slug":"building-a-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/2017\/12\/14\/building-a-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Laird<\/a>Where creativity can thrive<\/h2>\n

Art and innovation often go hand-in-hand. Both are about pushing boundaries and finding new and creative ways to shape the world.<\/p>\n

Art and design students at Winona State University have been creating inspiring and forward-thinking work for years.<\/p>\n

According to Winona State\u2019s Director of Development, Robert Christiano, there\u2019s just one problem:<\/p>\n

\u201cOur current art and design facility does not completely meet the needs of the growing and innovative field of design,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Winona State\u2019s art program has been expanding, which is great – but the program has outgrown its original home in Watkins Hall in both size and scope.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrent students are always faced with the limitations of Watkins Hall,\u201d Art Gallery and Collections Coordinator Roger Boulay said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The building hasn\u2019t been updated since the early 1960s, and the students and teachers are crowded for classroom and storage space. Boulay has hopes for a space that will not only solve those issues, but also lend itself to the creativity of the students and staff who work there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn art and design, we\u2019re all about aesthetics,\u201d he said. \u201cWe believe if you work and study in a beautiful space, it\u2019s going to help you produce higher quality art and design.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s why the University is currently raising funds to retrofit the historic Laird Norton building and create an all-new classroom and community space \u2013 to be named the Laird Norton Center for Art and Design. The plan for the center includes not only more classroom and gallery space, but some of the most advanced 21st-century tools for creativity and innovation: a Fabrication Lab, a Makerspace, a Project Incubator Space and state-of-the-art computer labs.<\/p>\n

With all of these features, the center is being designed as a hub for the arts – both for students and community members. Students and local artists will be able to use the creative spaces, tools and galleries, making and displaying work side-by-side. That\u2019s something students like Victoria Rogers, who is pursuing a degree in art education, can get behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting connections with students and people who aren\u2019t students but just interested in art is a really cool thing,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The updated learning spaces will also be available for students of any major who would like to bring a design, a project or a product to life.<\/p>\n

It takes an investment to make this creative hub a reality. The Laird Norton project will cost a total of $8.5 million. Phase I \u2013 which involves getting the building up to code and implementing mechanical, electrical and sprinkler systems \u2013 will cost $4.5 million to complete. Once that\u2019s done, it will take an additional $4 million to complete Phases II and III.<\/p>\n

So far, donors have committed $1 million out of the $4.5 million required to complete Phase I of the project, and each donor has their own reason to be excited about its future. It may be in the early phases now, but some \u2013 like donor and WSU Foundation Board of Trustees member Dick Record – can already see what will be possible when the center is complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an art collector, I have admired original art and artists for many years,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His hope is that students will have a newfound confidence when they have a beautiful, updated place to display their work – right in the heart of the Winona Arts District.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much original and very good art goes unseen because of the lack of inspiration afforded to students and the space for their art,\u201d Record said. \u201cWhat can be more satisfying to a student than to have others see and admire their work and their efforts?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These galleries, according to Winona State University President Scott Olson, will put the Laird Norton Center for Art and Design in the company of \u201csome of the finest universities in the nation\u201d with regard to the quality of available gallery space. But the center, he said, won\u2019t just be a boon for students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will mean a lot to Winonans,\u201d he said. \u201cSo much of what makes Winona so vital today is the fact that it has a thriving arts community… this is both a way that students can benefit from the richness that the arts bring to their lives, but also that we can give back to Winona and its citizens.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For more information on how you can invest in art and innovation for both Winona State and the greater Winona community, visit winona.edu\/foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where creativity can thrive Art and innovation often go hand-in-hand. Both are about pushing boundaries and finding new and creative ways to shape the world. Art and design students at Winona State University have been creating inspiring and forward-thinking work for years. According to Winona State\u2019s Director of Development, Robert Christiano, there\u2019s just one problem: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1722,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[689,44],"tags":[413,721,722,723,724,725,7],"class_list":["post-1719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hp-feature-4","category-philanthropy-news","tag-art","tag-art-gallery-and-collections","tag-current-students","tag-design","tag-fabrication-lab","tag-makerspace","tag-winona-state-university"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/12\/Laird-Norton-Featured-Image.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PQMT-rJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1719"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1723,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions\/1723"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}