It’s been three years since most of the UNC Asheville campus community has walked through Owen Hall, where the hallways were filled with art projects, entrepreneurial endeavors from management and accountancy, and numerous staff activities from advancement to community leadership throughout the years.
Closed in fall 2018 for a renovation project funded substantially by the Connect NC Bond, the now 40+ year-old building is ready to welcome the next class of artists and visionaries in fall 2021 with state-of-the-art classrooms and studios.
“Renovation projects are always a challenge because a building’s secrets are hidden behind drywall, under carpet, or above ceilings,” said UNC Asheville Facilities Mechanical Engineer and Energy Manager Dan Croisant.
According to Croisant, that structural strategy is most apparent when standing in the first floor lobby and looking up through the second floor out of the third floor skylight. The open structure ties all three floors together. It was a blend of engineering and art project in itself, and UNC Asheville worked with architects at Clark Nexsen to reimagine the building.
While many of the changes to Owen Hall are very visible, including the new roof and new windows, other elements are often unnoticed but always at work. The building envelope was designed for air tightness and thermal bridging. The building’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems have been replaced with energy and water efficient systems. Stormwater capture and treatment has been improved and made a visible feature of the building’s exterior. Building wayfinding and connectivity have been improved, and gender neutral restrooms are located on each floor. Exterior and interior pedestrian access has been dramatically improved and is ADA compliant.
On the interior, the walls now offer increased opportunities for displaying and interacting with works of art, many of which will be made in the renovated classrooms.
“The biggest improvement is that our square footage has approximately doubled and the individual studios for area concentrations are now housed together. The S. Tucker Cooke Gallery will now have a north and south wing with a drive-up delivery door for larger works to be displayed. Both of these will allow us to increase the quality and quantity of exhibitions. The Department of Art & Art History is also excited to share the building with the New Media department and looking forward to potential future collaborations that can occur,” said UNC Asheville Professor of Art and Department Chair Tamie Beldue.
Owen Hall was not originally designed to house the Department of Art, and while classrooms and studios had been cobbled together throughout the years, according to Beldue, the space and equipment quickly reached capacity as majors in art and art history gained popularity.
With the renovation on the docket, the Department of Art & Art History collaborated on many aspects of the project, from planning meetings two years prior to construction, to the details of design and functionality as renovations were made. They worked from makeshift classrooms at 838 Riverside Drive during the renovations and remotely during the pandemic.
“Looking back, as each year progressed, our departmental majors actually began to decline. Prospective families could not see the value of the education past the visual experience they witnessed during campus tours of our department,” recalled Beldue.
Enrollment growth also propelled the Department of New Media into the renovated Owen Hall.
“In the past six years, the number of students majoring and minoring in new media has more than doubled, making it one of the fastest growing departments on campus. This rapid expansion resulted in New Media outgrowing its home on the second floor of Zeis Hall,” said New Media Associate Professor and Department Chair Christopher Oakley. “With the move to the newly renovated third floor of Owen Hall, faculty and students in New Media will finally have the physical space needed to bring the existing and emerging curriculum fully to life.”
Their new spaces include two large computer labs and classrooms, outfitted with the latest technology, as well as a dedicated animation studio for traditional and stop-motion animation. There is also a fully-equipped video/virtual reality/motion capture studio that will offer students the ability to light and shoot videos, experiment with virtual reality, or digitally record realistic motion on 3D models through the use of newly-acquired motion capture suits and software. The new Fabrication Lab offers a makerspace where students can use high tech equipment like 3D printers, computerized sewing machines and laser cutters, or low-tech equipment like hammers and nails and drills to create prototypes of their designs. A project room, student lounge and audio/editing suite are available too, and to showcase all this creative work, there’s a gallery space dedicated to new media.
“For the first time in our history, New Media classes will take place in labs and studios designed for them. New Media faculty carefully thought through every possible advance in technology and future proofed the space to allow for changes in technology, offerings from new faculty, and our overall curriculum,” said Oakley.
The project has brought new energy to a building with a visionary history of its own. Named for the late Charles D. Owen, a local textiles mogul and founder of Owen Manufacturing Company, who then contributed 835 shares of company stock to UNC Asheville’s Management & Accountancy Department, it’s long included the S. Tucker Cooke Art Gallery on the first floor, in honor of the Department of Art’s department chair for more than 30 years who retired in 2007.
“Philanthropic support has provided the margin of excellence for this renovation,” said Vice Chancellor of University Advancement Kirk Swenson. “Without the support of our friends this building would be very different — we would have needed to scale back our aspirations significantly. We’re enormously grateful to the Windgate Foundation, which provided the lead gift for this project, which got us going. Several university trustees stepped up for this project as well as former faculty like Tucker Cooke and Arnold Wengrow. Members of the community who value the arts made gifts and commitments too. It’s been an important show of support for the arts at UNC Asheville!”
Owen Hall will be open for classes in Fall 2021. The Department of Art & Art History will be opening with an exhibit by Professor Emeritus Robert Tynes. Immediately following will be the Faculty Exhibition, planned to open along with an open house by both the Department of Art & Art History and Department of New Media planned for Sept. 17, 2021.
Visit UNC Asheville’s website for additional info and photos.
Written by UNC Asheville.