Tag Archives: South Campus

Fresh Food Round the Clock at South Campus

Micro markets are now open and serving food 24/7 in the 950 and 870 buildings at South Campus. There are plenty of food options at the 950 micro market, located on the mezzanine. You can choose from sandwiches, salads and other fresh food that is prepared daily and stocked twice a day. There are also a number of frozen food options, including entrée items, White Castle burgers, breakfast sandwiches and frozen burritos. There are two coffee machines, one offering regular coffee and one offering espresso-style drinks. The espresso machine uses Peet’s Coffee that is fresh ground for each drink and it makes a mighty tasty cappuccino. There is also a wide candy selection, plenty of snack options and a number of ice cream choices. The micro market is a grab-and-go operation, where you select your choices and pay at a self-serve machine, similar to a grocery line self-pay. You can use your credit card or load cash onto a special micro market card.

The micro market at the 870 Building is smaller, almost a mini-micro market, but still offers fresh food items, cold beverage selections and a coffee machine. You will need to use a credit card to obtain your items, with payment based on a system of weights and measures.

Both micro markets are accessible 24/7 so you can choose your favorite midnight snack to get you through your latest project. But don’t grab and walk off without paying because the micro markets are monitored round the clock with video surveillance.

These micro markets are welcome additions to our South Campus, where the food offerings were slim for students studying into and through the night. Sodexo is maintaining the markets and is open to suggestions for items to be included.

Please send your thoughts to catering@artcenter.edu and make sure to note that the suggestion is for items to be carried in the South Campus micro markets.

Classing up 1111 South Arroyo Parkway: Goodbye ’80s corporate office. Hello 21st-century atelier.

Faculty Deni Wohlgenuth teaches on the first day of class. Photo: Chuck Spangler

Take the 110 Freeway all the way to Pasadena and just try not to notice ArtCenter College of Design.

The College’s recently purchased six-story building at 1111 South Arroyo Parkway has undergone a makeover—its stucco exterior has been painted black and large “ArtCenter” logos adorn each side of its wraparound mirrored curtain wall—arguably giving the College its greatest public visibility in history.

But it’s what’s going on inside that structure that’s really impressive.

The beginning of the Fall term last week brought with it the arrival of hundreds of students to the building, all of whom are taking courses in the recently reimagined sixth floor of the building.

And what a reimagining it is. Continue reading →

Carol Johnson’s WWII illustrations on view at Art Center’s Hutto-Patterson Exhibition Hall

The following Pasadena Now article adds a concise bit of context to Art Center’s new show of work by illustrator Carol Johnson. The exhibit opens today in the College’s newest gallery space, the Hutto-Patterson Exhibition Hall, located within South Campus’ Illustration and Fine Art hub at 870 South Raymond Avenue. This show offers a rare glimpse at both Johnson’s uniquely evocative illustrated narrative about WWII and, ultimately, our evolving relationship with war and how its atrocities and triumphs are conveyed and covered. And for those who have yet to visit Art Center’s newest building, this ongoing exhibition also represents the perfect opportunity to pay a visit to the meticulously renovated former US Post Office warehouse.

Art Center College of Design presents Drawing Fire, an exhibition curated by alumnus Brody Albert, bringing attention to the work of his grandfather, illustrator Carol Johnson. As a World War II correspondent, Johnson helped translate the immediate experience of war into raw observational sketches for nationally syndicated newspapers, conveying a first hand experience of the war into the households of thousands of Americans.

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Ike Morgan’s portraits of cultural icons inaugurate Art Center’s newest exhibition space

Ike Morgan’s paintings are the first to grace the walls of South Campus’ Hutto-Patterson Exhibition Hall

In 2014 Art Center College of Design opened a new home for two of its dynamic visual arts programs—Fine Art and Illustration—at the College’s South Campus in Pasadena. Renovation of the former post office was made possible in part due to the generosity of the Hutto-Patterson Charitable Foundation, providing a dramatic atrium space in the center of the building to showcase the work of Art Center students and visiting artists through a rotating series of exhibitions.

On Thursday, September 11, the Hutto-Patterson will unveil its inaugural show: California’s first solo exhibition of self-taught, Texas-based artist Ike Morgan, which will remain on view through December 5, 2014. “U.S. Presidents and the Mona Lisa” features 16 unframed paintings on paper and two larger works on canvas, reflecting Morgan’s enduring interest in making pictures of George Washington and Mona Lisa.

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View from the Bridge: A renovation designed for creation, innovation and collaboration

The 870 building at sunrise. Photo: Darin Johnstone Architects

The 870 building at sunrise. Photo: ©Lawrence Anderson/Esto

As a teacher, I understand well the difference a space can make in the quality of the educational experience. Space affects learning. It makes a difference in how people teach. It makes a difference in how people create.

Which is why when you embark on creating a new space, you want to get it right. You need to talk to the right people and to ask the right questions if you wish to build that place where students can thrive and where faculty will love teaching. You want the space to elevate the whole.

A lot of careful thought went into making sure the new Fine Art and Illustration building at South Campus, 870 S. Raymond Ave. would engender the highest quality teaching and learning possible. I have no doubt that the building will do exactly that. Move through the new space, and you can feel it. It’s buoyant. It’s alive. You feel open to experience, to learning, to discovery—all thanks to the environment itself.

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$1 Million Parsons Foundation Grant Supports Art Center’s South Campus Expansion

“Helping to create the best possible Los Angeles”

People gather at South Campus for an evening exhibition.

The planned expansion of Art Center College of Design’s South Campus recently received a significant endorsement when the College was awarded a grant of $1 million from The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation.

The grant, which will be used to defray the cost of the 2012 purchase of a former U.S. Postal Service property at 950 South Raymond in Pasadena, will enable the College to extend its educational reach and resources while invigorating art and design education. The expanded South Campus is expected to be ready for use by students and faculty by September, in time for the beginning of the 2013–2014 academic year.

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Art Center Announces Acquisition of New Property and Partnership With Michael Maltzan Architecture

Art Center College of Design will expand its educational reach and resources with the acquisition of a former U.S. Postal Service property in Pasadena, Art Center President Dr. Lorne M. Buchman announced today. The purchase of the vacant property was made possible through gifts from alumni. President Buchman further announced that the College has selected award-winning firm Michael Maltzan Architecture as its partner in fulfilling and expanding its academic plan through the re-imagining of existing spaces, and the forward-looking design of new ones, at both of the College’s campuses.

Dr. Buchman said, “This is a pivotal moment not only in Art Center’s history, but in art and design education, given the growing impact of the creative professions on the economy and on our world. This new property enables expansion and development of our programs and infrastructure and enhances our capacity for teaching, learning, creating and collaborating to ensure that we are able to fulfill our mission to educate students, now and into the future.

“The overwhelming support of alumni for this acquisition signals their commitment to future generations of Art Center students. They want these students to have access to the same opportunities they had—opportunities afforded by rigorous, professional instruction in a supportive, creative, cutting-edge environment,” Dr. Buchman continued.

Art Center Board of Trustees Chair Robert C. Davidson, Jr., added, “The availability of the property adjacent to the College’s South Campus was serendipitous, and it came on the market just as we finalized our strategic plan. The Board and I are exceedingly proud to be part of setting the vision for Art Center and its leadership at this time of transformation. Thanks to thoughtful planning and the generosity of our alumni, the College now renews its commitment to providing the finest education for our students. Further, we are poised to expand to meet future challenges and even higher standards of excellence.”

Existing South Campus property at 950 S. Raymond, outlined in blue, and new property at 870-888 S. Raymond, outlined in red.

George Falardeau, Sr. Vice President of Real Estate and Operations for Art Center, stated that the new property is at 870-888 S. Raymond Avenue in Pasadena, immediately adjacent to the College’s existing South Campus at 950 S. Raymond. The acquisition will allow the College to create three centers of learning—an expanded South Campus, a renovated Hillside Campus (1700 Lida Street, Pasadena) and a virtual campus—each optimized for the particular needs of promising artists and designers, while at the same time fostering new collaborations among disciplines. This expansion also includes opportunities to strengthen engagement with and connection to diverse communities because of the proximity of South Campus to public transportation and the continued presence of Art Center’s Public Programs at that location.

Commenting on the selection of Michael Maltzan Architecture for the project, Dr. Buchman said, “Following an intensive, year-long process, Michael emerged as the best partner for Art Center as voiced by our students, faculty and alumni, especially given his deep understanding of the way artists and designers learn, think and make. We couldn’t be more enthusiastic to have him on board to fulfill our vision for tomorrow’s classrooms and studio spaces.”

Michael Maltzan added, “Art Center’s continued leadership in art and design education comes from the culture of innovation and inspiration that thrives there. An important part of that legacy is the innovative and useful architecture that the school has built over the years to help foster and sustain that culture. It is enormously exciting to be able to participate with Art Center in developing buildings and spaces that will continue to capture the spirit of the school, provide for changing and emerging programs and help imagine its future.”

Art Center alumni responded to the possible expansion in an unprecedented manner, donating $5 million for the acquisition of the new property. Significant gifts include three, seven-figure irrevocable bequests, one made by Art Center alumnus and award-winning environmental designer Richard Law (Graduate Industrial Design ’58). Another gift was from Art Center alumnus and kinetic sculptor Steven Rieman (Product Design ‘74) and his wife, Ruth, and a third was from Art Center alumnus Bruce Heavin (Illustration ’93) and his wife, former Art Center faculty member Lynda Weinman, owners of the innovative online learning company, lynda.com.

“This is exactly what Art Center should be doing,” Mr. Law said. “The property, in an urban environment on the edge of Old Pasadena where all the action is, as well as public transit, is a great example of renewing older areas, creating a vital, energetic place. In today’s culture, this is exactly how a campus should be.”

“We aren’t as interested in a new building as we are in the education inside that building, and in recognizing the excellence of Art Center students and the critical importance and impact of what they do,” the Riemans said of their bequest. “The type of work that could happen there, such as full-scale prototyping, is just one way students would benefit. It’s clear to us that Art Center is serious about broadening students’ opportunities and experience by embracing new technologies and new ways of collaborating and creating in new spaces.”

Mr. Heavin said, “When I first visited the property, I immediately saw a great natural extension of the South Campus that would accommodate students’ educational needs.”

Ms. Weinman added, “As a former faculty member, it has been great to reconnect with Art Center’s high standard of excellence and quality and to commit to upholding it through thoughtful expansion.”

The College’s expansion plans are in direct response to Create Change, a five-year strategic plan that reflects the collective vision of the entire Art Center community in shaping the College’s core values into a new model for art and design education in the 21st century. The plan identifies Art Center’s “conservatory” approach to education, wherein students undergo intense and practical career preparation guided by expert faculty, and the role that rich intercultural and transdisciplinary collaborations play in providing students a contextual understanding of the world around them. The plan identifies the need to enhance and improve its physical spaces and educational technologies in order to foster and extend such collaboration.

Looking Back on a Year of Change

Art Center President Lorne M. Buchman.

Earlier this year, Art Center College of Design launched Create Change, our strategic plan for becoming the preeminent college of art and design in the 21st century.

With Fall graduation events set for tomorrow and the winter break nearly upon us, we felt it was the perfect time to sit down with Art Center College of Design President Lorne M. Buchman to hear his thoughts on the past year, get an update on the strategic plan and find out what’s in store for the coming year.

Dotted Line: Looking back at the past year, what are your first thoughts?

Lorne M. Buchman: I’d like to begin by expressing how deeply gratified I am by all that we’ve accomplished. This has been a banner year for Art Center. We’ve seen record enrollment of talented and gifted students, we launched our strategic plan and we are set to begin new degree programs in Fall 2012. We’re closing in on the purchase of the post office property adjacent to South Campus, a facility for which we’ve raised significant funds to purchase. We’ve built the Board and we’ve recruited some dynamic new faculty. We are connecting with alumni the world over. We’ve offered some fabulous new courses and we’ve made significant strides in acquiring new technology and equipment for our students. I could go on and on. It’s been remarkable. And all of this doesn’t happen by accident. The driving force of our success is the focused and diligent work of our trustees, faculty and staff. We should recognize with much gratitude the quality of this extraordinary community.

More questions with President Lorne M. Buchman after the jump.

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Reflecting Back at 80: Alumni Faculty Look Back on 80 Years

Eighty years ago, Edward “Tink” Adams had a revolutionary idea for a school that would teach real-world skills to artists and designers. Even more radical: classes would be taught by working professionals, at the top of their respective fields.

Third Street campus, 1950

In 1930 the Art Center School opened its doors at West Seventh Street in Los Angeles, with just 12 instructors and eight students. Adams, a former advertising executive from Chicago, served as director. Since then, Art Center has changed its name, moved twice (to Third Street in 1947 and to Pasadena in 1976), maintained a satellite campus in Switzerland for 10 years and opened a second campus in downtown Pasadena in 2004. Today, the College boasts a student body of 1,500 and nearly 600 full- and part-time faculty members.

Over the decades, Art Center has been home to world-renown faculty including automotive designer Strother MacMinn TRAN ’35, illustrator Phil Hays ILLU ’55, lettering and logo designer Doyald Young ADVT ’55 and illustrator Barron Storey ILLU ’61.

As we celebrate our 80th anniversary, who better to ask about Art Center’s history than our faculty—in particular those who were students here before becoming instructors? What are their favorite memories of the College?

Read more: Looking Back on 80 Years

Looking Back at the Old Wind Tunnel

We all know that Art Center’s South Campus was originally a supersonic wind tunnel. But did you know that the tunnel was made of thick, reinforced steel, and could operate from below atmospheric pressure to four times that pressure?

From a 1945 Pasadena Star-News article: “Jet propulsion has raised new problems. This tunnel built for high speed pressurized research has been completed none too quickly as what we thought were problems of the future are with us now.”

Read more in today’s Pasadena Star-News: Southern California Cooperative Wind Tunnel and check out some interesting photos and floor plans of the old Wind Tunnel at the gardenLAb experiment.