Stanford University Invests Millions in Developing Arts District

PALO ALTO, Calif. — After already pumping millions into its burgeoning Arts District, Stanford University is planning to add another arts facility to its growing campus. Stanford students struggling to find performance and rehearsal space are applauding the school’s decision to construct a new “arts gym.” This drop-in studio and performance space will increase arts resources at the school where students have been forced to practice in parking lots and dorm lounges.

According to an interview with The Stanford Daily, Executive Director of Arts Programs Matthew Tiews, overwhelming student interest inspired the school to begin planning new and improved practice spaces. Tiews said, “There was a real desire for a drop-in creative space where students could come, just swipe their ID, get in and have a space to make work, rehearse and perform in.”

In the fall of 2012, the university newspaper ran a story highlighting the many difficulties students encountered in finding viable practice space. At the time, Scott Kepley, technical services director for the university’s music department, said, “[We have] so many different groups that want to use our spaces that we have to give [music department] students the first crack. Then, we try to open it up to the broader student group on campus.”

Paula Salazar is the Stanford Arts Institute’s arts in student life coordinator, and recognizes that many students who aren’t necessarily affiliated with the school’s various arts programs often encounter the most difficulty in accessing rehearsal space. “We definitely understand that there is a lack of arts spaces on campus, and it’s one of our biggest priorities,” Salazar said. “Art will still be a part of their lives and will continue to enrich their experience.”

Though the project is still in the design phase, and is not scheduled for completion until the fall of 2015, it will be the fourth project dedicated to the arts in recent years. The $30.5 million Anderson Collection, which is being billed as one of the world’s most impressive private assemblies of modern and contemporary modern American art, will open in 2014. Meanwhile the $85 million McMurtry Building, which also aims for a 2015 opening, will soon be home to the university’s Department of Art and Art History. They will join the equally impressive Bing Concert Hall, which has been hosting concerts and special events since January 2013. These investments in the school’s arts program have helped diversify the university, which is widely recognized as a leader in the sciences.