The latest addition to the University of Colorado at Boulder campus - a Visual Arts Complex located near the University Memorial Center - will reach a major milestone on March 5 with a topping-off ceremony celebrating the completion of the skeletal structure of the 170,000-square-foot, $63.5 million arts complex.
At the topping-off ceremony, which will take place on the site of the Visual Arts Complex from 3 to 4:30 p.m., attendees can sign the final steel beam and enjoy hot chocolate at a "topping-off" station equipped with whipped cream and candy sprinkles. The ceremony will include remarks from university officials, student leaders and a representative from Mortenson Construction.
"The topping-off ceremony is a great way to welcome a great new part of our campus, and at the same time recognize the men and women who are building it and making the dream of a true visual arts complex at CU-Boulder a reality," said Todd Gleeson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The new facility will include studios, galleries, classrooms, lecture halls, wood and metal shops and storage for CU's permanent art collection, one of the most significant art collections in the American West.
"Our mission for our collection is comprehensive, so we have a wide range of media and time periods," said Lisa Tamiris Becker, director of the CU Art Museum. "We go all the way to the very contemporary in terms of medium."
Gleeson said the addition of the Visual Arts Complex to the CU-Boulder campus will benefit the entire community, not just students studying art.
"The complex will be an arts destination in the Rocky Mountain West," said Gleeson. "These facilities will enable the university to bring in traveling exhibits the likes of which Boulder has never had. It really will open up the region to a higher level of culture."
In addition, Gleeson said, the facility will provide a safe, world-class environment for teaching not just art majors but also the thousands of other students at CU-Boulder who take art classes.
"Since 1999 we've gone from 200 majors to 900," said Garrison Roots, professor and chair of the art and art history department at CU-Boulder. "That's one of the biggest needs. You don't just need space to put all the bodies, you also need somewhere to put all their projects."
The topping-off festivities will be moved to the UMC Glenn Miller Ballroom if inclement weather arises. Attendees should wear long pants and closed-toe shoes.