A
wide array of specialized facilities have been developed
to enhance the education, performances, exhibitions
and research of the students and faculty in the
College of Fine Arts.
The primary facilities of the college include:
The Fine Arts Complex which consists
of four buildings situated along 13th Street on
the east side of the UF campus. The complex houses
the Dean’s Office, the college’s main
administrative unit; the majority of the Art and
Art History and Music Schools’ classrooms,
studios and administrative offices; two of the college’s
six affiliated libraries; and two of college’s
three galleries, the University Gallery and the
Focus Gallery. The Grinter Gallery is located a
few steps from the complex, in the lobby of Grinter
Hall.
The Music Building is located just
a few steps from the Fine Arts Complex. It houses
offices, classrooms and studios for its classical
and popular music programs, choral and band programs.
It is home to all of the university’s symphonies,
orchestras, choral groups, and bands, including
its marching, pep, concert and jazz bands. A four-phase
plan to renovate and expand the 30-year-old School
of Music building is now underway. Groundbreaking
for Phase I is projected for this spring with building
construction starting in late summer.
The Nadine McGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion,
a new 46,000-square foot facility, is the home of
the college’s School of Theatre and Dance,
the renovated 415-seat Constans Theatre and a new
200-seat Black Box Theatre. The exquisitely beautiful
building features a soaring glass atrium at its
center which is surrounded by classrooms; three
dance and four acting studios; large scene and costume
shops with natural lighting; computer, design and
lighting labs; physical therapy and dressings rooms;
and offices for faculty and staff.
The 1,800-seat Curtis M. Phillips Center
for the Performing Arts attracts the kind
of performing arts usually only available in much
larger metropolitan areas. It is home to the University
of Florida Performing Arts (UFPA) program, which
brings world-class performers, touring companies,
artists and artists-in-residence to its mainstage
and its Black Box theatre, as well as the University
Auditorium and the Baughman Center, which are described
below. More than 125,000 people enjoy the concerts,
shows and performances brought to Gainesville each
year by the UFPA.
No other building on the University of Florida campus
evokes as many memories for alumni as the University
Memorial Auditorium and the adjacent Century
Tower. Its Gothic interior features a majestic
vaulted wooden ceiling in which gargoyles adorn
a series of beautifully curved beams. Located at
the heart of the UF campus near the Plaza of the
Americas, the auditorium houses additional faculty
offices and serves as a concert hall for the School
of Music. The beautiful 900-seat auditorium, which
is on the National Register of Historic Places,
houses the Anderson Memorial Organ, one of the largest
and most sophisticated of its kind in the Southeast,
and a unique resource for performance and instruction. Century Tower, a 157-foot-tall tower constructed in memory of students killed in World War I and World War II, houses a 61-bell carillon.
The Baughman Center consists of
two separate buildings: a 1,500 square feet pavilion
and a 1,000 square feet administrative building.
The pavilion has fixed bench seating that accommodates
96 people. The exterior walls are made of natural
Florida cypress stained to reflect its natural surroundings
and grooved vertically to represent individual tree
trunks. Reminiscent of a small Medieval chapel,
it is frequently used for performances, weddings
and other spiritual gatherings.
Founded in 2001, the Digital Worlds Institute
is an interdisciplinary partnership between the
Colleges of Fine Arts and Engineering. The Institute
includes three leading-edge research and teaching
visualization laboratories on the UF campus: the
NAVE Lab in the Computer Science building; the MAV
Lab in Aerospace Engineering; and the REVE in fully
renovated historic Norman Gym. The 6,000-square-foot
Research, Education and Visualization Environment
(REVE) lab includes a Polymodal Immersive Theatre,
a Virtual Production Studio, A Digital Media Suite,
and the Big REVE Image Generator.
The School of Art and Art History’s Workshop
for Art Research and Practice (WARP) is housed in
WARPhaus, a 6,000-square-foot renovated
warehouse on West University Avenue, within walking
distance of the College of Fine Arts complex. This
facility provides additional space for classrooms,
gallery space for students, and faculty offices.
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