 "Photo: Thomas Robinson/Whitworthian")
Note: This story contains a correction.
On Nov. 4, 1966, an article published in The Whitworthian documented the beginnings of what Whitworth students today know as the Fine Arts Building.
“Whitworth’s cramped art department is planning to move from four rooms in the library basement to the more spacious old science building,” the article states. “The old structure, now to be called the Fine Arts Building (FAB), is being remodeled to fulfill its new functions.”
Today, 43 years later, the demolition process of the FAB is nearly complete in order to make room for a new science center.
Gordon Wilson, chair of the art department, taught his first class in the FAB in 1976 and continued teaching there until moving into the new Lied Center for the Visual Arts in 2008.
“It was one of the older buildings on campus, but we made it work for us,” Wilson said. “Students learned to be creative in making art work in a space that wasn’t designed for art.”
Wilson liked that the students had access to the building 24 hours a day and were able to create their pieces without being overly concerned about making a mess or spilling paint, he said.
“Once we knew about the new building, students started to use chunks of the old building to create art,” Wilson said. “Students could do pretty much any art process without worrying too much about damage to the old building.”
Students crafted three-dimensional designs on the lower floor, painted murals on several walls and ripped off cupboard doors to turn them into artwork, Wilson said.
Wilson also likes to reminisce about coming to class in the morning and finding students who had fallen asleep amongst empty pizza boxes while working on a piece late at night, he said.
“There was a certain hominess about the building,” Wilson said.
Over the years, students and faculty had to share the building with mice and squirrels that had made the FAB their home as well.
“Eventually, there were squirrels in the offices,” Wilson said. “One even jumped against me and bounced off my chest.”
Professor of English Vic Bobb only taught in the FAB for one semester but takes great interest in the history of the building and Whitworth in general, he said.
“My connection [to the FAB] is that it’s a building I value very much,” Bobb said.
The building was one of several purchased by President Warren for $1 after World War II, Bobb said.
According to an edition of The Whitworthian from 1947, the FAB was “the last of 16 new buildings built in a 1-year period on the Whitworth campus … The total cost of the 16 new buildings is estimated at over $200,000. The addition of the 16 buildings raises the total building count on campus to 22.”
Much has changed since then. Former professor of zoology Homer Alder called the building “a clean, airy and wholesome building,” according to a 1948 edition of The Whitworthian.
After years of being the home of the science and art departments, the building was in different shape once the English department moved in temporarily during the fall semester in 2008.
“It was a tacky, beat-up and hideous old building,” Bobb said. “[But] it didn’t interfere with our teaching.”
One of the problems with the building concerned the unhealthy fumes that came from various materials used in art classes and a bad ventilation system.
“The building itself had dust and chemicals in the air that caused some health problems for some of my colleagues,” said professor of English Laura Bloxham, who also moved to the building during the fall of 2008.
The new art center is much safer, Wilson said.
“We also have better light, an excellent gallery, and just more advantages for students and faculty,” he said. “The working atmosphere of the new Lied Center for the Visual Arts has a positive effect on all we do.”
Contact Asmara Anyan at asmara.anyan@whitworthian.com.
*In the original story, the date the old Fine Arts Building opened was incorrectly listed. The building opened in 1966, 43 years ago.
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