West Bank Arts Quarter to Open at University of Minnesota

The West Bank Arts Quarter, which opens in September at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis, is the first and only arts district in the nation where all the education and performance/exhibition facilities are located together on a campus. The 10-acre West Bank Arts Quarter includes five arts buildings: Rarig Center (theater); Ferguson Hall (music); Ted Mann Concert Hall; Barbara Barker Center for Dance; and the new Art Teaching and Research Facility.

The completion of the Arts Teaching and Research Facility is the key element of the West Banks Arts Quarter. The new $44 million, two-building art facility includes a west building for two-dimensional art (photography, painting and drawing, printmaking and electronic art) and an east building for three-dimensional work (metalwork, ceramics and sculpture). The two buildings are connected by a skyway . The buidlings have state-of-the-art ventilation, safety and lighting systems, as well as several environmentally-friendly features. The 145,000-square foot facility also includes a large number of art studios and teaching spaces, a foundry, several kilns, a digital lab, lots of impromptu exhibition spaces for students, and anexhibition gallery (Katherine Nash Gallery).

The West Bank Arts Quarter is expected to attract more than 160,000 audience members each year for the expected 230 events. There are 2,600 seats and 826 parking spaces to accommodate them. In addition, more than 10,000 students are expected to use the five facilities each year. More information is available at http://www.cla.umn.edu/wbaq.