U of A Fine Arts Center Set to Reopen After $38 Million Restoration

The U of A School of Art will officially reopen its historic Fine Arts Center on April 16 following a $38 million restoration.

The 1951 modernist landmark, designed by Arkansan and noted architect Edward Durell Stone, once brought works by major artists such as Pablo Picasso and Edward Hopper to the U of A campus and now reopens to mark its 75^th anniversary.

The reopening celebration will take place on April 16 at the Fine Arts Center and will include artmaking activities and workshops throughout the day, followed by a reception from 5-7 p.m. in the center’s lobby. The public is invited, and attendees can enjoy food and beverages and contributions from the Department of Music and Department of Theatre. Parking will be available in the Stadium Parking Garage and Harmon Parking Garage.

Conceived as a “Bauhaus composition,” the Fine Arts Center translated international modernism to the Ozarks, uniting art, architecture, music and theatre through a transparent gallery spine and modular teaching spaces — decades before interdisciplinary arts centers became common on university campuses. 

When the building celebrated its opening in 1951, artwork for the inaugural exhibition was secured through loans from the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art — an improbable cultural convergence that drew national headlines and prompted the press to describe an emerging “Arkansas avant-garde.” 

At a time when many midcentury buildings have faced demolition or drastic alteration, the U of A chose preservation over replacement.

The restoration, led by New York-based TenBerke in collaboration with Arkansas firm Miller Boskus Lack, removed decades of interior alterations, reopened Stone’s original sightlines and restored the building’s defining modernist transparency while upgrading it for contemporary use. 

"Fulbright College is proud to champion all forms of creative expression. We strive to build bridges across cultures, disciplines and generations, turning understanding into connection and curiosity into transformation," said Lia Uribe, Fulbright College associate dean for the arts and humanities. "None of this would be possible without the generous support of the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. We're forever grateful for their continued investment to expand access to fine arts education." 

The restoration of the Fine Arts Center marks a milestone in the School of Art’s expansion over the past decade.

In 2017, the U of A transformed its Department of Art into the School of Art following a landmark $120 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation — the largest gift ever made to a school of art in the United States. The investment expanded faculty, facilities and national visibility. The Fine Arts Center’s restoration — with support from the foundation — now anchors that growth in the building that first defined the university’s arts vision.

“The Fine Arts Center was conceived as a place where the fine arts converge under one roof, and that exchange remains central to how we educate today,” said Rachel Debuque, director of the School of Art. “Our students collaborate across disciplines — from public art mural projects and research in the Arkansas prairies to arts and wellness initiatives across the state and immersive technologies developed alongside colleagues in the sciences. The School of Art lives out the belief that the arts enhance students’ academic journeys and Arkansas’ cultural life.” 

One of the key elements on the grand reopening is a physical exhibition titled The Fine Arts Center: The First Years, which is accompanied by a digital exhibition on the U of A Libraries site by the same name. Organized in collaboration with the U of A Libraries Special Collections Division by curator Catherine Wallack, both revisit the spirit of the inaugural show. The exhibition will be open for viewing April 8 to July 10 in the center’s teaching gallery.

Objects on view include the building’s original ticket booth, designed by Stone; a midcentury modern chaise longue designed by Stone and manufactured by Fulbright Industries; materials documenting the 1951 inaugural exhibition; rarely seen paintings and sculpture by early U of A art faculty; and original correspondence and wonders from the period.

John Blakinger, endowed associate professor and program director of art history in the School of Art, explored that original moment in his essay, “Making Arkansas Modern: An Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Edward Durell Stone’s Fine Arts Center,” written for the digital exhibition accompanying the reopening.

He describes the inaugural show — which featured works such as Hopper’s Nighthawks alongside international examples of cubism, surrealism and expressionism — as a deliberate effort to introduce midcentury modernism to a state rarely included in standard accounts of modern art and design.

The restoration was made possible through the support of the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and the U of A. 

About the University of Arkansas Libraries: Located in the heart of campus, the David W. Mullins Library is the university’s main research library. Branch libraries include the Chemistry and Biochemistry Library, the Fine Arts Library, the Physics Library, and the Robert A. and Vivian Young Law Library. The Libraries provide access to more than 3.5 million volumes and more than 290,000 journals and offer research assistance, study spaces, printing and scanning, interlibrary loan and delivery services, and cultural exhibits and events. The Libraries’ Special Collections division acquires, preserves, and provides access to materials on Arkansas and the region, its customs and people, and its cultural, physical, and political climate. Visit the Libraries’ website at libraries.uark.edu to learn more about services and collections.

The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is the academic heart and soul of the University of Arkansas — where discovery, creativity, and curiosity meet to create a transformational education. Encompassing three schools, 16 departments, and numerous programs and research centers, Fulbright College connects the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences to advance knowledge, discovery, and serve Arkansas and the world. Discover more at fulbright.uark.edu. 

Housed in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the University of Arkansas School of Art offers undergraduate degrees and tuition-free graduate programs in art education, art history, graphic design and studio art, including ceramics, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. Formerly the Department of Art, the School of Art was established in 2017 following a transformative $120 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. With additional support from the Windgate Foundation, the School of Art developed the Windgate Art and Design District, providing state-of-the-art facilities and strong partnerships with regional arts institutions. Learn more at art.uark.edu. 

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $3 billion to Arkansas’ economy  through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.