An Influx of Art

The Inlander
When Terry Gieber taught ceramics at Gonzaga University 12 years ago, his classroom was in an abandoned tin laundromat with almost no insulation. Students glazed their pottery in the women’s bathroom. In the winter, it was so cold that the glazes froze on the floor. Gieber, now the art department chairman, wore moon boots to keep from shivering while he taught.

At the same time, Gonzaga’s other art classes peppered the campus. Professors taught in nooks and crannies, wherever there was an empty space. Drawing, painting, and printmaking classes were held in an oversized shack that had been a lumberyard office. Designers worked in the old swimming pool area in the basement of the administration building.

When the university put up a pre-fab steel building two years later, replacing Gieber’s makeshift ceramics studio, it warmed his feet.

But now, the construction of a new fine arts complex on Gonzaga’s campus does even more. The Jundt Art Center and Museum, an impressive structure that will house modern studios for all the department’s classes, store Gonzaga’s art collections, and include a gallery as large as a small bar, “warms his heart.”

“I’m so excited about this,” said Gieber about the new building, slated to open in a month. It really means taking away the limitations.”

For the university, the new $6.7 million complex means aspiring artists can desert the lumberyard and swimming pool for spacious north-lit studio spaces. Instead of turning away 50 to 80 students each semester, the program has room to double.

For the Inland Northwest, it means a stunning new outlet for art. Instead of descending the stairs to the AD Gallery, a tiny room in a basement, visitors can cross under Roman arches and stroll between massive columns to view artwork from classical to contemporary.

It’s just a short walk from downtown Spokane. Next to the Centennial Trail, the new art complex is a blend of old and new — a semi-modern link to the traditional buildings on campus. Architect Ronald Tan (who also designed the recently finished STA Plaza) based the architecture on St. Aloysius Church and the university’s administration building.

Copper-roofed towers and a steeple rise from intricate stone and brickwork, reflected in the calm waters of Lake Arthur. When the sun strikes the steeple just right, a golden aura interrupts the sky. Windows in the observation tower overlook the Spokane River. And unfinished landscape will someday be a sculpture garden.

But inside, the traditional fades into modern. To the left of the main entrance and gallery, there are a student theater, several classrooms, studios, and lounges. The the right, there is a sprawling, state-of-the-art, environmentally controlled gallery with a deluxe security system. More than four times larger than the old AD Gallery, the space will feature exhibitions of local, regional, and international artists.

“It’s a wonderful resource for the community,” said J. Scott Patnode, director and curator of the new museum. “This is a whole new era for Gonzaga in the visual arts.”

A full version of this story was published in The Inlander.