Art Center plans 10,000-square-foot Learning Center
By Lynn Zerschling lzerschling@siouxcityjournal.com | Posted: Wednesday, November 05, 2008
SIOUX CITY -- A planned addition next door to the Sioux City Art Center will not only allow people to take more art classes, it will also be environmentally friendly.
The new 10,000-square-foot building, to be called the Learning Center, will house studios, including one for an artist-in-residence, and be devoted to art education, Jeana Goosmann, Art Center Association of Sioux City board president, said Tuesday.
The Learning Center will be built on the southeast corner of Third and Pierce streets, where the former bus transfer building now sits. The association bought that building four years ago because it's adjacent to the art center, at 225 Nebraska St.
The existing art center will be reconfigured to improve collection storage space and create more exhibition spaces for the permanent collection.
"We've always had a problem that our educational programs are limited to the same hours as our building," Al Harris-Fernandez, art center director, said. "We can increase the hours of operation in the Learning Center and not have to worry about security and the utility bill costs."
The art center is limited to offering programs after school and one night a week.
"You can't let people roam around" in the main building, Nathan Kalaher, an architect with M+ Architecture in Sioux City, said. "There is a demand for more use for educational programs here."
A key component of the new building will be to build a "green" structure. Goosmann said the association retained Kalaher and Rod Kruse, of BNIM Architects' Des Moines office, who have worked together on other projects, according to Kalaher.
Kalaher has LEED AP, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional, certification and was the primary designer for the energy-efficient Iowa State University Design Studio West on Historic Fourth Street. Kruse has won numerous awards for his design work, according to BNIM's Web site.
"We will be looking at how we design the space," Kalaher explained. "In Iowa, we're cold in the winter and have hot, humid summers. Do we orient the building east and west, or if we do it north and south, we need to take into account different technologies."
Those factors would include using solar panels, natural ventilation, geothermal system, roof water for toilets, recycled materials and capturing run-off for rain gardens.
"We want to make a 'green zone' (outside) where the John Henry sculpture will go and where we might place other structures in the future," Harris-Fernandez said of the sculpture now in storage that used to stand outside the Clarion Hotel. "It will be on the corner there. ... This will become another front entrance."
The project's cost has not been determined. However, Goosmann emphasized, no city tax dollars will be used. The art center association plans to raise the money privately and through grants. According to an agreement the association has with the city, the land must be used by 2011.
"The property is owned by the association, and we will deed it over to the city like we did with this building 10 years ago," she said.
Share your ideas
The public is invited to participate in the first meeting to gather ideas on the Sioux City Art Center's proposed Learning Center from noon to 1:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the art center, 225 Nebraska St. Additional meeting dates will be announced.
The new 10,000-square-foot building, to be called the Learning Center, will house studios, including one for an artist-in-residence, and be devoted to art education, Jeana Goosmann, Art Center Association of Sioux City board president, said Tuesday.
The Learning Center will be built on the southeast corner of Third and Pierce streets, where the former bus transfer building now sits. The association bought that building four years ago because it's adjacent to the art center, at 225 Nebraska St.
The existing art center will be reconfigured to improve collection storage space and create more exhibition spaces for the permanent collection.
"We've always had a problem that our educational programs are limited to the same hours as our building," Al Harris-Fernandez, art center director, said. "We can increase the hours of operation in the Learning Center and not have to worry about security and the utility bill costs."
The art center is limited to offering programs after school and one night a week.
"You can't let people roam around" in the main building, Nathan Kalaher, an architect with M+ Architecture in Sioux City, said. "There is a demand for more use for educational programs here."
A key component of the new building will be to build a "green" structure. Goosmann said the association retained Kalaher and Rod Kruse, of BNIM Architects' Des Moines office, who have worked together on other projects, according to Kalaher.
Kalaher has LEED AP, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional, certification and was the primary designer for the energy-efficient Iowa State University Design Studio West on Historic Fourth Street. Kruse has won numerous awards for his design work, according to BNIM's Web site.
"We will be looking at how we design the space," Kalaher explained. "In Iowa, we're cold in the winter and have hot, humid summers. Do we orient the building east and west, or if we do it north and south, we need to take into account different technologies."
Those factors would include using solar panels, natural ventilation, geothermal system, roof water for toilets, recycled materials and capturing run-off for rain gardens.
"We want to make a 'green zone' (outside) where the John Henry sculpture will go and where we might place other structures in the future," Harris-Fernandez said of the sculpture now in storage that used to stand outside the Clarion Hotel. "It will be on the corner there. ... This will become another front entrance."
The project's cost has not been determined. However, Goosmann emphasized, no city tax dollars will be used. The art center association plans to raise the money privately and through grants. According to an agreement the association has with the city, the land must be used by 2011.
"The property is owned by the association, and we will deed it over to the city like we did with this building 10 years ago," she said.
Share your ideas
The public is invited to participate in the first meeting to gather ideas on the Sioux City Art Center's proposed Learning Center from noon to 1:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the art center, 225 Nebraska St. Additional meeting dates will be announced.
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