The $40 million Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts is scheduled to be substantially completed on time. It is slated to open in January.
On Nov. 30, the building will obtain a "certificate of occupancy," according to Michael Guglielmo, assistant director of project management.
After the building is completed, Guglielmo said, final preparations will be made in time for the start of classes in January. Between Dec. 1 and Dec. 22, staff will focus heavily on deliveries of furniture and equipment to furnish the new building, he said. On Dec. 20, the "staff moves in and training period begins," he said. The purpose of this training period will be to teach the staff the nuances of the building before they "go live" in January, he added.
The building will include an auditorium, four production studios, a gallery, a recording studio, a multimedia lab, a physical media lab, five living rooms, an outdoor amphitheater, five project studios, a smart classroom and a seminar room.
With all these facilities, the center plans to bring in artists to interact with students for longer periods of time, said Richard Fishman, professor of visual art and director of the Creative Arts Council.
The building was created "to advance innovative directions for research, teaching and production across the boundaries of individual art disciplines," Guglielmo said.
Fishman described the building as a place to "bring all arts together," incorporating "trans-disciplinary ideas," with attention to sciences and humanities as well.
"In the past, engineers, physicists and cognitive scientists have taught with artists," Fishman said. He said these collaborations leave those involved "encouraged to reimagine their fields."
Some courses taught in the center will be led by two faculty members from different disciplines, highlighting the duality of courses, Fishman said.
Departments will have to apply to teach in the building, which will house different courses each semester, he said. "No department has a permanent spot in the building," he added.
