About the Fine and Performing Arts Center
The
natural wonders of the North Carolina mountains, like the arts themselves,
evoke powerful feelings and uplift the human spirit. And it is here in
the mountains that a vision of the fine and performing arts as a central
force in the cultural, social, educational, and economic life of an entire
region is taking shape. Western Carolina University’s Fine and Performing
Arts Center is the focal point where all of the disciplines of the arts
can come together to inspire, to engage, and to excite audiences and artists
alike with the highest caliber of performances and programming. Arts to
match our mountains.
Outreach
Along with the traditional academic activities of our university students and faculty, the new Fine and Performing Arts Center offers a host of opportunities for participation by artists, musicians, theatre groups, creative writers, folk artists, and craft persons from near and far. As a mountain setting that has attracted artists and artisans for decades, we are reaching out to collaborate with the established, thriving arts communities in Asheville, Atlanta, Greenville/Spartanburg, Knoxville, Charlotte, Birmingham, and beyond.
The Center will enhance appreciation of the Appalachian region’s rich and diverse cultural history—woven from the experiences of Native Americans, Scotch Irish, African Americans, and a growing Hispanic community. We will reach out to surrounding communities of a mountain region that has traditionally been underserved but is alive with artistic dreams as vital and vibrant as those found anywhere.
Cherokee Influence
As
significant is the architect’s profound experience of Western North
Carolina’s complex history, diverse mountain cultures, and Native
American heritage. Situated in the lush and temperate Cullowhee Valley,
the site of several early Cherokee settlements, the Fine and Performing
Arts Center features numerous Cherokee-inspired design elements. In the
main atrium, the tile floor design of a seven-pointed star represents
the seven Cherokee clans. Bilingual signage throughout the facility uses English
and the Cherokee syllabary, developed in 1809 by Sequoyah to give his
people their first written language.
Award-Winning Architects
The Fine and Performing Arts Center was designed by the Gund Partnership, award-winning architectural firm from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Inspired by Gund’s bold interpretation of the Great Smoky Mountains, the new 122,000-square-foot facility’s design provokes a powerful impression of the ridges and valleys, the stately pines, the curving hillsides and flowing rivers, the rich earth and open skies of the Southern Appalachian region.
read more about the architects
Concert Hall
The elegant 1,000-seat concert hall, with its fine-tuned acoustics, is designed for world-class music, theatre, dance, literary and Broadway-caliber performances. A full season of main stage productions will showcase regional, national, and international guest artists, as well as exceptionally talented faculty, students, and guest artists.
Academic Wing
The fine arts academic wing includes state-of-the-art teaching and learning laboratories along with lecture, critique, and studio spaces for undergraduate and graduate degree programs, including Western’s new Master of Fine Arts program.
The Fine Art Museum
The Fine Art Museum includes nearly 10,000 feet of exhibit space, featuring a growing permanent collection, an exciting schedule of contemporary art and fine craft, and related interdisciplinary education programs. The new galleries will continue the former Belk Gallery’s strong focus on contemporary art while strengthening the university’s role as a catalyst for collaboration, celebration, and preservation of the artistic legacy of the region in order to develop a new focus on collecting, interpreting, and showcasing cross-cultural innovation in contemporary art.
With a full spectrum of wide-ranging forms of expression in the visual arts, the university’s new galleries will serve the campus, the community, and the region as a teaching resource with scholarly research, interactive art education, curriculum support, enrichment, and life-long learning for children and adults of all ages and backgrounds.
Education and Enrichment
Developed and administered by the university’s Department of Art, the comprehensive academic degree curriculum in the visual arts includes painting and drawing, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking and book arts, photography, art history, art education, graphic design, and experimental work in new media and digital technologies. A season of prominent guest artists-in-residence, an outdoor sculpture program, and campus-wide innovative art events enhance the academic experience and serve as opportunities to involve artists and audiences throughout the surrounding region.
Artistic Diversity
As a focal point for interdisciplinary activities in the arts and humanities, the Fine and Performing Arts Center embraces an inclusive vision for artistic diversity. The Center will nurture the highest standards of academic excellence among the university’s faculty and students and encourage critical thinking. It will reach out to bring the arts of the world to the region and the arts of the region to the world.