The VAC Art Attack 1

17 April 2012Annie B & Cherrie K

The VAC Art Attack

The graceful curve of support beams evokes the wooden tines of a splayed fork or the spokes from the wheel of a bicycle. The myriad of windows suggest something almost similar to Piet Mondrian’s lattice of black lines and bold primary squares of colour, just as the three staggered towers of the Campanile look almost as if they belong in a Renaissance painting. Indeed, the new Centre for Visual Arts and Global Studies is just as much a work of art as the building which will house the instructors and students of the arts.

Currently tucked away at the back corner of the Old Academic Building, Art aficionado Mr. John Luna, instructor of Studio Art AP and Art History, loves the prospect of the new Visual Arts building. The transition from this provisional space to the bright and airy studios with expansive windows overlooking the sparkling sea will evoke a different institutional feel— one which he feels is more permanent, and authentic, allowing the budding artists of Brentwood more “permission” to hone their artistic sensibilities. An expanse of images, sculptures, paintings, photographs, and ceramics will not only be displayed in the many halls of the Centre, but also create a stimulating visual environment, thus inspiring creative thought. This majestic building, which caters especially to the varied tastes of each artistic department, collects Brentwood’s previously scattered Arts departments into a single, dynamic centre. The increased intimacy of all of the art departments converging together also allows for the opportunity of energetic dialogue between departments to occur – something to which Mr. Luna, as well as all of the Arts Faculty, is very much looking forward.

Ms. Mannion, who currently teaches drawing and painting during the afternoon art blocks and collaborates with Mr Luna to prepare the work of budding portfolio artists, will move into the new building when it opens its doors next school year. Involved personally in many aspects of visual and performing arts, Ms. Mannion can appreciate the splendour and function of the building. The state-of-the-art facilities will be a notable step up from the current drawing and painting classroom, situated in the renovated kitchens of the old cafeteria, tucked even farther behind the Old Academic Building than Mr Luna’s classroom. The second hand space, comfortable as it is, proves crowded and messy after the fourth class of the day. The industrial-sized, stainless steel kitchen sinks collect dirty paintbrushes and pallets; easels with drying artwork crowd around tables and stools, and the bookshelves stacked high with old National Geographics and Art magazines threaten to overflow. Moving into the spacious and modern classrooms specifically designed for the demands of four rounds of hour long classes will allow for a fresher, less cluttered atmosphere in which to learn and create.

The current photography studios are also stirring in the back corner of the Old Academic Building – a location which, as the teacher of Photography Mr. Fletcher mentioned wryly, purportedly used to be the boys’ shower room. Well – Mr. Fletcher shall dwell no more with the ghosts of showering boys in the new building! Having designed part of the studio himself, the character of Mr. Fletcher permeates the walls of the Photography wing: a single, straightforward corridor will neatly funnel the students through, and then systematically branch out into several separate rooms for dark room production. The vast rooms, some of which intentionally have different textures on each wall to act as a studio space, will allow for Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Minckler who teaches Modern Video to take advantage of a “black box”, and new gallery spaces will allow more “light and volume” for the students to display their gripping photographs for all the world to see.

Yet another department presently shrouded in the Old Academic Building is Sculpture. Located below Mr. Luna’s current art studios, Mr. Boehme and Mr. Robson are both excited about the spacious new 3D workshop or atelier. Improved ventilation will allow for dust to be cleared more efficiently, and the space will liberate Brentwood’s 3D designers and sculptors to manufacture on a larger scale as well as a higher quality. The design of the Visual Arts Centre itself is a distinctive nod to the spirit of sculpture, for the semi-deconstructive architectural style reveals the striking bones of its own structure: the dynamic wooden beams, the steel cables and the glass panels supporting the repeating arcs of the roof, the fluid organic motifs placed here and there to contrast the external geometry, a delicious collection of textures, tones, and surfaces composed by a diverse array of industrial materials, the simple but decorative forms hanging from above. The building itself is – like a sculpture – very firm (it’s made to with stand earthquakes!) and exudes a sense of eternal permanence.

An unexpected face amongst the art teachers, Mr Doehler is another who will find a new academic and creative home in the Center for Visual Arts and Global Studies. An expert on earthquakes, Mr Doehler is a Geology and Science teacher during the academic school day, and plans to problem solving and design to afternoon programmes in Creative Science and Engineering. The Environmental Design Lab will feature a staircase inside the room that leads up to a workshop which will serve as a desperately needed space for budding young engineers to experiment and learn the craft of robotics. Other features permit experimentation with pendulums, pulleys and drop tests. The room will also serve as a host to Brentwood’s impressive geological and biological specimen collections, and a hub for the real-time feeds from Brentwood’s underwater observatory, solar observatories in orbit, earthquake/seismic monitoring stations, and “anything else from the living, breathing Earth that would be of interest to casual observers”. The new Centre proves time and again the old adage “form follows function”, though its form is just as impressive as the new facilities for both arts and sciences.

Look at those wide windows, the lights, the vast space, the dynamic architecture just waiting for all of that artistic energy to move and thrive and blossom. The new Centre for Visual Arts and Global Studies his may just be the most gorgeous structure to ever grace our oceanfront campus.

Let the Art Attack begin!

Annie B & Cherrie K

Where Students Choose To Be