525 Old Main
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
United States
The landscape is changing once again in Fayetteville Arkansas at the University of Arkansas (U of A) School of Art as preparations are made to further expand its Windgate Art and Design District.
The Windgate Art and Design district is an extension of the U of A School of Art campus and is already well on its way to become a central hub for students, faculty, artists, designers and the community. Currently the district holds a 33,000-square-foot Sculpture Building, housing wood and metal workshops, 3D lab, classrooms, gallery and studios, and a 154,600-square-foot art and design center under construction opening in fall 2022.
The Windgate Art and Design Center, will bring students and faculty together from across seven different current campus locations. The center will anchor the district and house the studio art program areas in ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and their MFA and BFA studios, as well as the graphic design program and their new graduate M.DES. degree. In addition, the building will feature a design clinic that will collaborate with community partners, a 2-d advanced technologies lab and a coffee bar to serve the students, faculty and community.
Expansion plans continue with a new 58,000-square-foot building that will complete the Windgate Art and Design district and will house the school’s public galleries, the Foundation program, Idea Fabrication Lab, Arts & Entrepreneurship Workshop, a 250-seat auditorium and faculty and visiting artist studios.
This incredible investment in the arts at the University of Arkansas is possible thanks to the generosity of the Windgate Charitable Support Foundation. In 2017, the School of Art received a transformational USD 40 million gift from the Windgate Foundation creating the new art and design district and has recently provided an additional USD 30 million gift to complete the district.
The Windgate Foundation has a long history of supporting art not only in Arkansas, but in academia and the art community across the nation.
U of A School of Art leaders, faculty, and community recognize this rarity and treasure the opportunities created by the Windgate Foundation. Ideas that might not be possible elsewhere are possible at the University of Arkansas School of Art.
