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Art Department Moves Into Art Barn
By Eugenia Hannon '10
STAFF WRITER

Students driving to and from the barn this semester may have noticed a new building on Sweet Briar’s campus. This fall, a renovated dairy barn, known as the “Art Barn,” opened for use by the Studio Art department. The old studios have been taken over by the Dance department to make way for renovations in the gym.

In addition to the much improved space and functionality for both students and professors, the Barn is also aesthetically beautiful, in Sweet Briar tradition. Large windows allow light to flow freely through the building, and the large classrooms are less stifling and more conducive to open thought.

The studio art faculty, Paige Critcher, Joe Monk, Laura Pharis and John Morgan, had complete control over the design of the building. Studio art professor John Morgan is happy with the new facilities. He says that he is “very pleased,” and that “...any errors are minor and correctable.” Wood from the old barn was used to put in hardwood flooring in some of the professors’ offices, in a move that both saved materials and also honored the past.

Alyson Napier ‘08, an Art major, thinks that “the Art Barn is a great improvement” Alyson, like other art students, had previously taken classes at the studios in Babcock. The art department is expanding, and the old studios were not able to provide for the needs of all of the art students. “We have so much more room to paint,” says Alyson, “It has a really good atmosphere.”

Even the students in Intro to Studio Art benefit from the new space: the class is held in an extremely large room on the second floor. Every student has plenty of space to do whatever she needs, including sprawl out on the cool tile floor.

In the painting classroom, each student has her own mini-studio, a vast improvement over the days when many students had to share. A huge pirate flag adorns the back wall and countless other images are pinned up to provide inspiration. The walls are specifically designed for pushpins; artists can put up and take down their creations freely.

Carol Anne Bonanno ’09, another art major, also speaks highly of the new building. “It’s fantastic,” she raves, “There is so much more room!” However, there is one thing she would like to change: “If they could pave the roads, it would make walking and driving up there much easier and safer.”

Bonanno is not alone in her concerns. The narrow gravel road can be dangerous when driven by speeding cars, and students who walk to their classes have a much harder time than they would were the road to be paved. Cars that drive quickly past pedestrians also cast large clouds of dust. Were the road to be paved, dust and dirt would no longer be an issue, and speed bumps could be installed.

But most students feel that these inconveniences are a small price to pay for the new space. “It’s a great addition to the campus,” says Napier, “it’s a much better facility for us.”