<p>The Weitz Family just committed $15 million to making the Arts Union a reality (Wallace Weitz ('70) runs the $2 billion Weitz Funds). For those not following the history of the project, Carleton bought the former Northfield Middle School sitting at the edge of campus planning to transform this huge space into a center for the arts. </p>
<p>“The new design, projected to cost $42 million, will house the departments of Theater and Dance, and Cinema and Media Studies. The Carleton Art Gallery, conceived as a teaching museum and gallery, will also be part of the facility. The Arts Union will also include a dramatic theater, a cinema theater, dance studios, an audio recording studio, a number of faculty offices, many classrooms that can be used by any of the College’s disciplines, art studios, a large meeting and conference room, and a coffee shop and gathering space. The building will also be home to the Presentation Events and Production Support (PEPS) office and the Idea Lab, a shared, interdisciplinary laboratory for exploring and learning with digital resources and technologies, especially those that involve imagery, video and audio.”</p>
<p>^Don’t kill me for asking, because I have never taken an art class, but…doesn’t the art department already have its own building in Boliou?</p>
<p>Theater and Dance, for one, could really use its own space. Right now, the whole department is spread out in the bizarre basement labyrinth underneath the Arena Theater. I still get lost down there and I’ve worked in the theater since September. Some classes are held in the Green Room and there are several offices that have their only entrances through the actual stage/seating area, which is rather weird.</p>
<p>I just wish the site were closer to campus…I hope the distance doesn’t deter students from taking those classes in the future, especially come wintertime.</p>
<p>Yes the Art Department does have its own building. The Arts Union was going to provide a space space for all arts. Here is information from Carleton’s website</p>
<p>The renovated Northfield Middle School building will house the following programs and facilities:</p>
<p>classrooms for use by faculty members in all disciplines
Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching
Digital Asset Resource Center
Presentation, Events, and Production Support
a teaching museum
a dramatic theater
a black box theater
dance studios
art studios
a cinema theater
KRLX, the student radio station
cinema and media studies
studio art and art history
theater and dance
English</p>
<p>Of economic necessity, it’s a scaled down plan vs. the early vision for the Arts Union. But I think they’ve worked hard to preserve the initial dream of creative & performing space, collaboration space, New Media resources, and openness to the community. </p>
<p>The distance is about 2 blocks. From the Bald Spot (the heart of campus), it’s about the same distance to the Arts Union as it is to the Recreation Center.</p>