Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts
Prior to the grand opening of the University of Central Arkansas Windgate Center for the Fine and Performing Arts on Sept. 21, students and faculty were taking advantage of the enhanced spaces designed for acoustics, creativity, lighting and performance. Made possible by private support, including a $20 million gift from the Windgate Foundation along with a bond initiative approved by the UCA Board of Trustees, this innovative space’s impact places central Arkansas on the map as a thriving cultural arts center and as an innovative educational center that will inspire future students and the community.
As a venue supporting the Conway Symphony Orchestra in addition to UCA’s music students, the Windgate Center offers generous rehearsal and performance spaces. The new concert hall is not only aesthetically pleasing, it also offers amazing acoustics to enhance sound quality and added seating to accommodate a larger audience while providing an intimate feel for smaller performances such as recitals.
Music and Physics/Engineering Double Major, Member of the Conway Symphony Orchestra
Simon Podsiadlik, a full-time UCA student double-majoring in music and physics/engineering and a member of the Conway Symphony Orchestra, has experienced the move to Windgate and immediately felt the difference the new facility made. “I’m just very excited to make music in a really nice, new rehearsal space, and I think the new concert hall has so much potential for guest artists or clinicians or things of that sort that can go in that new space,” Podsiadlik said.
Windgate Scholar and fine arts student Anna Sharp agreed that Windgate provides more space for students and faculty to work, “The biggest way that the new facility has affected me personally, and a few of my peers as well, is the studio space. We get 24-hour studio spaces that we can go in anytime so we can make art. We have more space for our kilns and it’s easier for the professors to navigate. So that’s been a huge game changer.”
Fine Arts Major, Windgate Scholar
Both students see the impact this center of the arts will have on future students and the community. “One of the big things is inspiration for students who come here and maybe that will make more students want to be a part of the music program. If you get to go see a concert in a super nice concert hall, it’ll make you want to be a part of that. It’s going to be something that is really special for years to come,” Podsiadlik said.
Sharp is also looking ahead to the possibilities for the community. “We’re hoping in the future to do more community activities. Specifically with the ceramics club. We’re planning on having a lot more community-building activities, and we’ll be able to do that more now because we have a much bigger space,” Sharp said.
This cutting-edge facility benefits and stimulates current students, faculty and artists of today and will continue to inspire students of tomorrow while building community and connection at UCA’s Windgate Center for the Fine and Performing Arts.