The $9 million, three-phase
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts is scheduled to open May 2003.
Hank T. Foreman, director/chief curator of the Turchin Center, said
the building is currently in the second phase of renovation.
The currently renovated Turchin Center space includes the 3,800
square foot Martin and Doris Rosen Galleries, conference room and
administrative offices, exhibition preparation and Permanent Collection
storage areas and an elevator.
Foreman said the new gallery spaces are 1,756 percent larger than
the existing Catherine Smith Gallery.
The next construction phase, slated to begin in 2004, will provide
a new wing with a downtown pedestrian entrance, additional gallery
spaces, a Community Gateway Sculpture Park, a 135-seat lecture hall,
space for house studios, classroom space and a gift shop.
At 40,000 square feet, the new visual arts center is touted as the
largest visual arts center in northwestern North Carolina, eastern
Tennessee and southwest Virginia.
The Turchin Center, located on West King Street, was the former
home of the Boone United Methodist Church.
Foreman said the existing church facility provided shape for the
Turchin Center.
Foreman said the ceiling of the main Martin and Doris Rosen Gallery
gives shape to the cupola space.
“It’s nice to have this space animated by the shape of
[the ceiling],” Foreman said. “It’s a very active
space to enter.”
Foreman said the new center will be a gathering place in Boone.
He hopes the center’s central location on King Street will
help draw more touring and shopping to downtown Boone.
“The center gives the community more ownership so more people
can participate in the arts,” Foreman said.
In addition to a gathering space, Foreman said the Turchin Center
will also become the community’s largest classroom.
Once complete, the center will include a 135-seat lecture hall with
movable seats to accommodate performance art, space for studio art
critiques and space for the visiting artists series.
Brook Greene, assistant director for the Turchin Center, said the
educational facilities will be open to programs such as the art
education program and the expressive arts therapy program.
“It’s really going to benefit the art department,”
Greene said.
Foreman said the Turchin Center’s educational facilities will
profit the Boone community as well.
“Lunch & Learn,” “Art About” and “Second
Saturday” are among the programs to be offered in the Turchin
Center. Tours, workshops, at-risk youth programs and classes for
everyone from children to seniors are planned for the Turchin Center.
Denise R. Ringler, director of marketing and public relations for
the Office of Cultural Affairs, said the grand opening to the public
will be a “big splash with everyone involved.” The opening
will be held Saturday, May 3, 2003 at 4 p.m. The opening will debut
a commissioned performance by artist Joyce Scott.
Ringler said several smaller events will be held prior to the opening,
some of which will involve Appalachian State University students.
The opening exhibit, “Go Figure! Manifestations of the Human
Form in Contemporary Art,” will be on display from the grand
opening through Aug. 30, 2003. |
