How is the Studio Arts Building "Green"?

12/10/08

           The Studio Arts Building is ecologically “green” in many ways. It is important for institutions such as universities to use green technologies in their buildings and practices because they house and support a large number of people and require a lot of energy. They also provide an example of environmentally conscious living for students to continue in the future.

            When constructing the Studio Arts Building, UMass could have bought new pavers for less money than cleaning and reusing the old bricks to pave the surrounding area. However they chose the greener option of recycling, which reduced both waste and use of raw materials to make and transport new bricks. The plant materials used on the grounds are drought resistant and low maintenance. The builders strove to minimize the amount of dust and fumes released while they were working, and to reduce and recycle waste at all times.

            Underneath the building is a 3000 gallon tank for temporary containment of storm water run-off from roofs and walkways. This keeps the water from running down into the campus pond or otherwise spreading pollution during floods. The building is made partly of concrete mixed with fly ash, which is a recycled material that reduces the amount of water needed by increasing the workability of the concrete. Hard concrete floors allow for easy cleaning without harmful chemical cleaners, and have no cracks or crevices to collect dirt. In the darkroom and photo lab, the floor is made of partially recycled sheet rubber which cannot be penetrated by photo chemicals.

            The building employs strict regulation of chemicals and other toxic substances. Such substances can only be kept in small amounts and are recycled as much as possible. This practice meets the standards of the EH&S Reuse and Exchange program, which means these chemicals are provided free of charge.  Another method to protect building occupants is an extensive ventilation and exhaust system to eliminate harmful fumes that artists are exposed to during their work. The energy involved in this system is reused through an Energy Recovery Unit. Besides this, the campus Energy Management System ensures that all of the mechanical and electrical systems are closely monitored as to whether they are running smoothly and energy is being used efficiently.

              The facilities in the Studio Arts Building also use green technologies. Restrooms have automatic sinks and automatic, low flow flushers, to avoid superfluous overuse. The building has as many windows as possible, to encourage use of daylight instead of electric lights, and to provide extra ventilation in good weather. Windows that face south include devices to shade sun in the summer and magnify sun energy in the winter. Occupancy sensors automatically turn off lights in empty rooms, and carbon dioxide sensors regulate how much air is sent through each room.

              As UMass continues to construct and renovate buildings, the campus as a whole will become more and more ecologically sound.

By Sierra Simmons

Info provided by: Burt Ewart

Capital Project Manager
University of Massachusetts
Facilities & Campus Planning Division

Digital Output Lab and Print Center

12/3/08

               One of the Studio Art Building’s many facilities is the digital output lab. This lab is used by well-known artists and students alike. Over the last year, New York artist Tom Friedman used this facility to work on a project with art professor and chief undergraduate advisor Rosanne Retz and a few graduate students. This project, a 44’’ by 54’’ mounted, multilayered image combining all of his recent works, culminated in June 2008 and was presented at the Basel Art Fair (http://www.artbasel.com/go/id/ss/). “That’s one of the main functions of the digital print center,” says Michael Coblyn, a UMass professor of painting, drawing, and digital video, “these kind of collaborative projects with artists. There’s a glass piece up in the main commons area by Shan Shan Sheng, a Chinese artist who’s actually one of our alums from our graduate program. She’s going to be working on a print project, dealing with Chinese history.”

              These projects are produced in the form of archival pigment prints. This means they use artist inks that will not fade. They are printed on one of the two huge, high-powered printers: a 24 inch Epson 7600 and a 44 inch Epson 9880. The images are usually created digitally, using Adobe Photoshop or FinalCut Pro, although the artists may also incorporate drawings and photographs.

               This is not the only purpose of the digital output lab. Coblyn explains, “The other thing that happens here is that this is a place where students work. We have here an image that a student is working on for a digital media skill class. This one is a very heavily manipulated tableau project… a creation of a staged event. She set up the lighting and took the shot, and then through a series of manipulations sort of enhanced what was happening here. There was another student who did one that had 20 different figures in it, and all the figures are her, but you’d never know it.”

              Students and faculty from the Five Colleges are welcome to use this print center, and arrangements can be made for members of the general public as well. For more information and prices, see http://www.umass.edu/art/facilities/dpc/. The print shop can be used in conjunction with the darkroom, a couple doors down, to make transparencies. Coblyn describes how this works: “ Students can create a digital file, and then print it on this transparent film and then in the dark room transfer it onto a photo-sensitive intaglio plate.” They can also make silk screens or lithographs.

              This lab is also armed with a quad-core Intel Mac Pro—a high-powered computer with four internal hard drives and 8 gigabits of memory. “Eventually these prints are sold and some of the proceeds come back to the department,” says Coblyn. “And eventually there will be four of these computers in here. This computer was brought to UMass during the Tom Freidman project this past summer. And then Tom Friedman bought and donated this 9880 to the digital print center.” The Studio Arts Building’s digital output lab hopes to both aid and benefit from artists, faculty, and students.

Sierra Simmons

New Studio Arts Building

11/21/08

          This September, UMass Amherst opened a new Studio Arts Building on North Pleasant Street. This building has been long awaited by the department, because all of the studio arts disciplines were previously scattered throughout the campus. Art Department Chair, William Oedel, explains: “It’s hard to have an integrated program when photography is over in the basement of Bartlett, for example, and printmaking is upstairs here in the Fine Arts Center. Ceramics and clay were over in Munsen Annex, and wood and metals was over in the agriculture and engineering area-- They were just all over the place. Without the building, in a sense, studio arts didn’t really have a home. They didn’t have an opportunity for students to interact with one another as they’re working in different disciplines. This building is really a life saver for the program because now they’re under one roof. With all the shops in the same place, like if you were a printmaker and you wanted to make a frame or do something with wood, you don’t have to walk all the way across campus. Now you can just walk upstairs.”

           The Studio Arts Building provides excellent facilities for ceramics, wood, metals, painting, drawing, print-making, and photography. The lower level features the photography darkroom and chemical lab, the print shop, and the digital output lab.

On the ground floor are classrooms for painting and drawing, as well as plenty of wall space for critiques and displays. The walls are made of sheet rock over a layer of thick plywood, so hanging artwork with nails and screws will not cause any irreparable damage.

            There are also classrooms and assembly rooms for wood and metal projects, and the building is outfitted with a dust collector to keep the air clear and healthy. “A certain portion of the budget was set aside for equipment, and we bought quite a bit because our old equipment was fading fast,” says Oedel. “For the wood shop we just bought all new stuff because there are so many new rules and safety features-- It would have been sort of like driving a car without an airbag when there’s an option to have an airbag. These shops have their own technicians who supervise the use of the equipment, so people can’t just come in here and go crazy. Painters may come in and make stretchers or frames, and wood technicians will make furniture for us if we need it, but it’s primarily used for art projects, like wood sculpture. The 3D sculpture shops all have access to the terrace, so on a nice day people can take their projects outdoors to work on.” One end of the ground floor is devoted entirely to ceramics. There are two electric kilns and one gas, a room with wheels for throwing, and a lot of shelf space. 

            There are nine faculty studios and 17 studios for graduate students throughout the building. These are either single or shared, and they provide students and faculty with their own work area as well as wall space. Upstairs, there are 34 undergraduate studios. These are open but they are partitioned like large cubicles, so while students can interact freely, they also have privacy and can individualize their space. Students are given studios on the basis of seniority.  The upper level also has a large common space where students can eat, relax, and conversate in a comfortable environment.

              The Studio Arts Building meets all requirements for accessibility. There are elevators, ramps, and automatic doors, and the furniture is designed to accommodate wheelchairs: Tables and stools are set at specific heights, and work units, such as the stations in the darkroom, are adjustable and can roll away from the others to provide extra space and mobility. The university treats this building as if it were a chemistry lab because studio arts require the use of certain chemicals. There are emergency eye-wash sinks, brush washes, flammable waste disposals, and contained storage for flammable supplies such as aerosol cans. 

              This building is a much needed addition to the UMass Studio Arts Program.  Oedel concluded, “It’s early yet, it’s our first semester there, but I think already as you walk through you can feel that there’s a lot of activity, and a good sense of community—undergrads can see what other students are doing, they can talk shop right across the hallway. And then they’re in the same environment with faculty and graduate students, so there’s all this communication going around. Without the building, studio arts would still have this really scattered personality. With the building it has coalesced into a very nice community of students.”

By Sierra Simmons