New Chaffey College Center for the Arts building encourages art and education
RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- The new Center for the Arts complex at Chaffey College is no mere brick and mortar building.
The three-story, 32,641- square-foot building has full-size outdoor retractable glass windows that open to an outdoor seating space for performances; a photography studio with a darkroom, studio and processing laboratory; a student artwork showcase in the lobby; and multiple fully furnished study alcoves.
"You can look outside the window that's in the elevator. That's pretty impressive," said Ivette Ramirez, a nursing student and Rancho Cucamonga resident.
Jennifer Cappuccio Maher Staff Photographer
A man climbs the staircase to the third floor at the new Center for the Arts on Tuesday at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga.
The campus on Tuesday held a dedication ceremony for the $22.1 million complex.
The center includes 13 classrooms/labs/studios and 35 faculty and staff offices. It is visually open to the campus, allowing passers-by to glimpse at activities inside through expansive windows and glass bi-fold doors that also allow for natural lighting.
"This building really reminds me of a university campus," said Nikki Cantoria, a psychology major and Rancho Cucamonga resident.
Cantoria and Ramirez were taking a break from their day in one of the alcoves that resembles a living room.
The mini-room -- with multiple lime green, orange and slate blue chairs as well as two wooden coffee tables that look like conga drums -- overlooks the college campus.
"It's the most comfortable building on campus," Cantoria said.
The Center for the Arts project is comprised of four structures -- two new buildings and two that have been renovated.
The Center for the Arts complex includes a 5,500- square-foot music and choral building. The classrooms in the building are designed with acoustics in mind and complement choral and instrumental instruction, officials said.
Two existing buildings -- the studio art and three-dimensional art buildings -- were rehabilitated to enhance the ceramics and art disciplines, they said. Construction began in February 2008 and was completed in December.
The work was paid for with Measure L bond funds. The measure was passed in March 2002 by voters in the college district.
"It is so different from what we have on campus, ... Students have been coming in and out of it all day," said Chelsea Hogan, a general education major. "Most buildings are small and are made of red bricks. This building has a lot of glass."
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