Windgate Grand Opening

Windgate Grand Opening »
By Jeff Young, Professor of Art, Art Education »

SealSmashing – UCA President Houston Davis breaking the seal created by Bryan Massey. Photo by Seth Foley

The University of Central Arkansas and the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences held a grand opening for the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts on September 21st. University representatives, community members, students, and faculty attended the event. With displays, demonstrations, music, and theatrical performances, the Departments of Art & Design, Music, and Film, Theatre, and Creative Writing were each able to showcase why the new facilities are so important to UCA students, the university, and to central Arkansas. Instead of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the event began with the smashing of a university seal created by Art and Design Chair Bryan Massey.

MainHall – Visitors in the Windgate building’s Mail Hall at the grand opening. Photo by Seth Foley

For the Department of Art and Design, the evening included:

making steamroller prints in the parking lot;
a bronze pour in the sculpture courtyard;
ceramic students demonstrating different building processes;
photography students taking visitors’ portraits in the lighting studio;
art education students guiding visitors in a yarn installation in which participants strung yarn pointing to their favorite art work;
a display of in-process work by painting classes, with a demonstration by a senior painting student; and
a student and community drawing process mosaic in the illustration area.

BronzePour – Bryan Massey leading a bronze pour. Photo by Seth Foley

Attendees could wander through the buildings on their own or take tours of the James M. Bridges Black Box Theatre, the concert hall, the recital hall, the percussion suite, and each studio and classroom.

If you would like to tour the Department of Art & Design’s new facilities, feel free to contact Nakeya Palmer at nethredge1@uca.edu.”

The creation of the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts was generously supported by the following:

Windgate Foundation
The Bridges-Larson Foundation
Linda and Rush Harding
Katherine Scott
The Sunderland Foundation
Win and Carmen Thompson
The Alice L. Walton Foundation
The Whisenhunt Family
The Hearst Foundations
William and Julie Adkisson
Charlie and Susan DeBoard
Baldwin and Shell Construction Company
Terry and Joyce Fiddler
Gini Ingram and Susan Higgins
Bryan W. Massey, Sr. and Delphine Massey
Lavon Morton, Brenda Yelvington, and Kameron Morton
Patsy Minton Newton
Muriel and Gail Robertson
Barbara Satterfield
Marilú and Pablo Seminario
Becky Thornton
Terry and Cindy Wright