The Record Online

Spring/Summer 2001

A New Home For Art

The old Coast to Coast building on Beaumont Avenue may not look like an art gallery right now, but it could someday soon. Not surprisingly, the folks in the Greenville College Art Department can see the inner beauty in this building. If all goes according to plan, this former hardware store will be the future home of the growing Art Department and all its classrooms, studios, offices, and public art gallery.

When the local Coast to Coast went out of business last year, art professor Guy Chase was one of the first to see the possibilities in the vacant building. The college purchased the building and pro-perty last December. The purchase agree-ment calls for the college to pay $180,000 plus interest over the next two years.

The 12,000-square-foot facility (including a full basement) offers the college the opportunity to bring all the various components of the Art Department together under one roof. Currently the art facilities are divided between Archer Hall and the Kelsey Building, nine blocks apart.

The increasing need for studio space was also a factor in the decision to purchase the Coast to Coast building. The Art Department has been growing in recent years. There are currently 26 art majors at the college, which represents a 62 percent increase over the past five years. More than 80 students have been using Archer Hall this year. The current studios are being used at or beyond their capacity.

Renovations of the Coast to Coast building are planned, as funds become available, to configure space for art faculty offices, classrooms, computer lab, public gallery, and studios for drawing, painting, sculpting, and ceramics.

In addition to being larger than the current combined facilities, the Coast to Coast building also has the advantage of being much closer to campus than the Kelsey Building, which is a half mile from the main campus.

Following the initial down payment of $20,000 made in December, the college will make interest payments each month over the next two years, followed by a final balloon payment of $160,000. A small group of major donors has already pledged $75,000 toward the purchase. Additional contributions are being sought for the remaining payments and the renovations that will be required before the Art Department can relocate to its new home.

“This is going to be one of the first elements of our new Capital Campaign,” says David Hoag, Vice President for College Advancement. “We anticipate that it will take at least a year to raise the funds and do the work before the Art Department would be able to move in.”

Total cost of the project, including purchase and renovation, will be around $350,000.

The college’s new Capital Campaign is currently in the feasibility study phase. This feasibility study, or “silent campaign,” as it is sometimes called, involves the quiet solicitation of potential major donors to plumb the depths of support as well as establish priorities and goals before launching the public phase of the Capital Campaign.

Hoag says the focus of the campaign would be primarily the Annual Fund, capital improvement projects, selected academic programs, and the Endowment Fund.

Naming opportunities are available for the various components of the new Art Department facility, as well as a few remaining sections on the upper level of the Dietzman Center, the new home of the Communication Department. Interested donors should contact Renae Patton, Director of Advancement, at (618) 664-6502 or rpatton@greenville.edu to receive up-to-date information on naming opportunities available.

Related Links:
Greenville College Art Department
giving@greenville.edu

Last updated: July 17, 2001