LSU will unveil a new Studio Arts Building, which will house the College of Art and Design, in the fall of 2022 after historic renovations are complete.
For the first time since 1924, the Studio Arts Building is undergoing major renovations, according to the LSU College of Art and Design website.
The building is 41,500 square feet and will cater to students and faculty within the studio art program. The project will cost a little over $18 million and is being funded by the state and private donors.
Formerly called the Old Engineering Shops, the Studio Arts Building was built in 1924 with nine other buildings for LSU’s original master plan.
Because the existing building is placed on the National Register of Historic Places, a complete historic renovation will take place to comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Structures.
Once renovated, the building will contain modernized facilities for the College of Art and Design, including ceramics and printmaking and sculpture programs, as well as office spaces. In addition to interior organization to meet the needs of the school, the new Studio Arts Building will have upgraded air conditioning and ventilation systems as well as an interior finish upgrade.
Dean of the College of Art and Design, Alcibiades Tsolakis, is proud of the contributions made by donors and the state of Louisiana to provide LSU students with a renovated Studio Arts Building.
“This building will bring together all students and faculty who are currently dispersed in different facilities around campus,” Tsolakis said. “It will be a state-of-the-art facility.”
Tsolakis wants this renovation to expand the appreciation of art, its expansive culture and its impactful history to the mass public.
“I want students within the College of Art and Design to have a creative and collaborative environment that will promote the arts to the university community as well as to the Louisiana community at large,” Tsolakis said.
Scott Andresen, an associate professor at the College of Art and Design, says the newly renovated building will allow him to reach out to a broad spectrum of students within the College of Art and Design.
“For many years, the School of Art has been split between multiple buildings across campus, and that has made it hard to create a real identity within the School of Art,” Andresen said. “This building will create a central hub for students and faculty alike, a place where that creative spark will be shared with each other.”
Andresen also expressed excitement about the new facilities and how they will impact the school.
“Also, from a logistical standpoint, the newly renovated facilities will be a game-changer for many areas in the school: new fabrication facilities, a foundry and welding facilities, a kiln yard for ceramics, painting studios, gallery spaces and large open workspaces for incoming students,” Andresen said.
The added space from the renovations will provide students with the opportunity to work on their projects with ample room. Prior to the renovations, students could only work in the building if it was below capacity, Andresen said.
“I oversee the freshman art program, and students have had to work on art projects in their dorms or at mom and dad’s house,” Andresen said. “The new spaces for incoming students are enormous, can house 100 students, and will be open all the time. This change will help create a real studio culture from the first semester, a place where students work side by side at all hours of the day.”
Andresen says the most important aspect of the new Studio Arts Building is that it will be a place for students, staff and faculty to bond and share their love and passion for art.
“More than anything, the new Studio Arts Building provides a home for the School of Art,” Andresen said. “It is a strange feeling to know other art students but never actually see what they do because the facilities are dispersed all around campus. To be able to share one roof is the most basic but the most important change that could happen for the School of Art.”
Matthew Jones, a graduate student in the ceramics department, will be one of the first graduate students to graduate from the newly renovated Studio Arts Building.
“It feels strangely opportunistic to be amongst the first MFA [Major in Fine Arts] students who will graduate from the new studio arts building,” Jones said. “It is mighty rare to have the chance to find yourself creating in such an untainted space.”
A steel structure goes up on Sunday, March 20, 2022, at the LSU Studio Arts Buildings on South Campus Drive in Baton Rouge, La.
