The University of Arkansas School of Art announced the reopening of its Fine Arts Center on April 16 following a $38 million restoration.
The 1951 modernist landmark, designed by Arkansan and noted architect Edward Durell Stone, once brought works by major artists such as Pablo Picasso and Edward Hopper to the U of A campus and now reopens to mark its 75th anniversary.
The reopening celebration will take place on April 16 at the Fine Arts Center and will include art-making activities and workshops throughout the day, followed by a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the center’s lobby. The public is invited, and attendees can enjoy food and beverages and contributions from the Department of Music and the Department of Theatre. Parking will be available in the Stadium Parking Garage and Harmon Parking Garage.
Conceived as a “Bauhaus composition,” the Fine Arts Center translated international modernism to the Ozarks, uniting art, architecture, music and theatre through a transparent gallery spine and modular teaching spaces — decades before interdisciplinary arts centers became common on university campuses.
When the building celebrated its opening in 1951, artwork for the inaugural exhibition was secured through loans from the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art — an improbable cultural convergence that drew national headlines and prompted the press to describe an emerging “Arkansas avant-garde.”
At a time when many midcentury buildings have faced demolition or drastic alteration, the U of A chose preservation over replacement.
The restoration, led by New York-based TenBerke in collaboration with Arkansas firm Miller Boskus Lack, removed decades of interior alterations, reopened Stone’s original sightlines and restored the building’s defining modernist transparency while upgrading it for contemporary use.
“Fulbright College is proud to champion all forms of creative expression. We strive to build bridges across cultures, disciplines, and generations, turning understanding into connection and curiosity into transformation,” said Lia Uribe, Fulbright College associate dean for the arts and humanities. “None of this would be possible without the generous support of the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. We’re forever grateful for their continued investment to expand access to fine arts education.”
In 2017, the U of A transformed its Department of Art into the School of Art following a landmark $120 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation — the largest gift ever made to a school of art in the United States. The investment expanded faculty, facilities and national visibility.
Photo by Novo Studio
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