After more than two years of construction, installation and preparation, the University of Colorado at Boulder’s $63.5 million Visual Arts Complex is complete, and the school is ready to celebrate.
The public is invited to a day-long grand opening today, with festivities beginning with an open house at noon and concluding with a dedication and subsequent reception from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
“We really tried to make it a celebratory and very creative day — a very festive salute to the cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural way we engage with the arts here,” said Lisa Tamiris Becker, director of the CU Art Museum.
She expects museum supporters from across the country to be on hand for the event, as well as members of the visual arts community in Denver and Boulder and interested members of the public.
The 178,000-square-foot complex is located just north of the Euclid Avenue AutoPark near the center of campus on the site of the Sibell Wolle Fine Arts Building, which was razed to make way for the project.
The larger of the new structure’s two linked sections, a four-story building on the west side, houses the school’s art and art history department, with academic studios, offices and classrooms. Classes began there in January.
The other section, a three-story structure on the east side, provides the first free-standing home for the CU Art Museum, which was previously often overlooked in the Sibell Wolle Building.
Its new quarters include 8,000 square feet of exhibition space, including two galleries that will always be dedicated to the permanent collection, as well as a study center, classroom and greatly expanded storage area.
The grand opening will give visitors their first chance to see the museum’s inaugural exhibitions, which include “archiTECHtonica,” an international multimedia look at the intersection of art and architecture.
cu-boulder visual arts complex grand opening
Art. CU-Boulder campus, Visual Arts Complex, 1085 18th St. The University of Colorado at Boulder unveils its new 178,000-square-foot visual arts complex with a day-long grand opening. Festivities begin at noon with tours of the facility and end with a dedication ceremony at 3:30 p.m., followed by a 4:30-6:30 p.m. reception. Also featured will be inaugural exhibitions at the CU Art Museum, including “archiTECHtonica,” and a range of performances, lectures and other events. Free and open to the public. For a complete schedule of events or other information: 303-492-8300 or .
