New, interdisciplinary arts center aims to nurture creativity
“We’re trying to break the paradigm of these different, separate pursuits, ways of making art, and make a new place that encourages a complete dissolution of these boundaries.—Billie Tsien, architect of the new Reva and David Logan Arts Center for Creative and Performing Arts
Cropping up spontaneously all over, like blades of spring grass, art is happening in every cranny and corner of the University of Chicago. The creative energy on campus is so prodigious that art finds a place to happen, whether it’s a stairwell with a makeshift theater or a single practice room packed elbow to elbow with an entire a cappella singing group.
And the end result is apparent: on any given day or evening, the campus hosts a multitude of student performances, recitals, exhibits, and readings—from comedy improv by Off-Off Campus to a screening by Fire Escape Films—in addition to the plays and exhibits at such professional venues on campus as Court Theatre and the Smart Museum of Art.
Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts
Now, a beautiful new arts center, slated to open in 2011, promises to become the heart and hub for this ubiquitous creativity, which will continue to thrive throughout campus, as well as a destination for art-loving Chicagoans and visitors. An anchor for a newly enlivened south campus, the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts will provide a home base for the visual arts, theater and performance, music, and cinema and media studies.
The state-of-the-art facility will be devoted to classrooms, studios, practice rooms, theaters and performance space, exhibition space, a film screening hall, a film vault—and more. Thanks to leadership gifts from Reva Logan, EX’43, and David Logan, AB’39, JD’41, and their family, as well as other donors, the University has reached 40 percent of its $100-million goal to complete the facility.
Converging Theory and Practice
The David Logan Arts Center will be a physical manifestation of a series of convergences—not only of discipline and discipline, but also of theory and practice, of University and community, and of scholarly and professional. For example, in autumn 2006 the Middle East Music Ensemble collaborated in a concert with Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. Third-year undergraduate Alyssa Mathias recalls it as a thrilling experience that will always stay with her.
“There are just so many fantastic arts opportunities here,” she says. And the opportunities are not just plentiful but also of world-class quality: Chicago’s music program was ranked first in teaching and second for faculty quality by the National Research Council, the nation’s most highly regarded assessment of doctoral programs.
The idea for the David Logan Arts Center has been gestating since the release of a 2001 report by faculty and arts professionals on the state of the arts at the University. They found that art production was dispersed across campus and that a new space could help nurture a sense of artistic community. “We do over 35 productions a year,” says Heidi Coleman, Director of University Theater. “There is such a hunger and a demand to produce work.”
A group of faculty, administrators, students, and consultants studied programming needs and drafted a plan. “It was very, very exciting,” says Larry Norman, Associate Professor in Romance Languages & Literatures, Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, and the College, who has taken on the new position of Deputy Provost for the Arts. “Just bringing everyone to the table to talk about the building led to even more creative collaborations.”
World-Class Architects
Plans for the David Logan Arts Center are full speed ahead. An architectural competition last spring yielded a clear winner—Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects—world-class architects who understand the University’s imperative to create a space that is truly interdisciplinary.
“We’re trying to break the paradigm of these different, separate pursuits, ways of making art,” Tsien explains, “and make a new place that encourages a complete dissolution of these boundaries.”
