fine arts gallery _ university of arkansas

Fine Arts Gallery: The Fine Arts Gallery project was designed for the 50th year anniversary of the University of Arkansas, Fine Arts Department in Fayetteville. The project was especially significant given the fact that the Fine Arts Building was designed and built by Edward Durrell Stone, a canonic modern American architect. The assignment was to build a series of wall panels and design exhibition elements that would organize the art show and also re-organize the landscape in front of the gallery. Our concept was developed around the sculptures of Alexander Calder which were a primary part of the gallery collection. A matrix of folded panels was generated from the analysis and projection of a Calder piece on to the gallery floor as a diagrammatic plan. This matrix then were given multiple functions of separating gallery space for different zones of exhibition while allowing for free circulation and connecting the gallery space with the garden space by visual penetration of folded panels through the fenestration of the gallery. The created visual impact was both shocking and sensational. It created extraordinary publicity for the gallery as well as providing an aesthetic environment for the gallery viewers.