South Kohrman Hall

Classes and studios for the Gwen Frostic School of Art met for the first time in the newly renovated south wing of Western Michigan University's Kohrman Hall in January 2008. The 88,000-square-foot, two-story space is home to faculty offices and upgraded warehouse-sized studio spaces for art education, painting, photography and intermedia, printmaking, sculpture, metals and jewelry, art education, and foundation art coursework.

Designed by SmithGroup Inc. of Detroit, the same group of architects who designed the adjoining Richmond Center for Visual Art, the renovation also includes flexible, multimedia classrooms and critique spaces, open studios for students, and sophisticated mechanical systems for maintaining a healthy environment and providing safe disposal of art wastes.

Four critique spaces provide space for impromptu discussions of student projects. All critique areas are designed to facilitate digital projection, installations, and performance art, while providing flexible spaces for interdisciplinary collaborations.