Arkansas State University held a ribbon cutting for its new Windgate Hall of Art and Innovation where art + design majors and computer science majors will work and collaborate. 

Although A-State’s campus already houses a Windgate building and the Fine Arts Center, the Windgate Hall of Art and Innovation focuses more on the technology side of art and provides additional tools the artists can use.

“I’d say it just has a lot of opportunities for well, the name of the building, innovation,” said Nathan Scarborough, a graphic design senior from Jonesboro.

With the second Windgate building, the Windgate Foundation becomes A-State’s largest single benefactor in its 117-year history, with more than $40 million in endowments. 

Rachel Boillot, assistant professor of photography at A-State, said she thinks the hall truly shows the university’s commitment to the arts.

“I think that’s something that the students see, and that’s really meaningful because I think art can be treated like it’s a luxury or a hobby,” Boillot said. “I think it’s such a beautiful thing that the arts are being taken seriously and honored on this campus.”

Students in the arts were displaced before the new Windgate Hall opened. Graphic design students’ classes were on the third floor of the library and photography students were in the Fine Arts Center after the arts annex was demolished.

Now, students have dedicated spaces for multiple art disciplines under one roof. 

Emmi Briones, a senior graphic design major from Bryant, Arkansas, said she loves the hall’s location on campus in relation to the other art-related buildings. 

“I love that graphic design is finally not isolated from the studios because we used to be in the library, and now I get to actually be around other people outside of my major,” Briones said. 

The three-story building features specialized spaces for photography, graphic design, fashion design and other areas of art. Computer science majors also use space in the building with virtual-reality equipment and 3D printers in the project studio. 

The hall, however, is designed to encourage students from the two colleges to collaborate. 

“An engineer or programmer can benefit from understanding design, and an artist or designer can benefit from understanding technology,” said Will McLean, interim university provost and executive vice chancellor. “All of our students benefit when they learn how to communicate, collaborate and create alongside people who approach a problem differently than they do,” 

The project studio on the first floor is where the computer science majors’ technology lives but also where the collaboration between them and the art + design majors will take place

From the 3D printers to the virtual-reality sets, computer science department chair Jake Qualls said the room gives students the resources they need to turn an idea into a prototype.

“Oftentimes, the key to solving the problem at hand is viewing it through a different lens, and that is exactly what this open lab space is designed to promote,” Qualls said.

With the Department of Art + Design being in the College of Liberal Arts and Communication and the Department of Computer Science being in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Windgate building was designed to foster a sense of collaboration and helpfulness between all areas of A-State.

Scarborough said he can see instances where the students in each major will be able to collaborate and help each other out. 

“I do not have experience with 3D printers, so I think it’ll be nice to be able to share expertise where if they’re needing help with some sort of design aspect of something they’re building versus us needing help using the technology in that room,” Scarborough said. 

With floor-to-ceiling windows, glass walls around the classrooms and a balcony overlooking campus, the architectural design of the building fosters the feeling of collaboration as well. 

Katherine Baker, chair of the Department of Art + Design, gave the credit to WER Architects for the design.

“As you look across the spaces, you can see different classrooms’ activity, and so inherent in the structure is the idea of crossing, crossing the ways, and that echoes in the interdisciplinary,” Baker said. 

Although the ribbon cutting took place Sept. 11, students within the art + design and computer science disciplines have already been using that space-both for classes and for their own projects-since the start of the semester.

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