California State University Fullerton - Visual Arts Complex

A Campus Platform for Creation and Creativity

At California State University – Fullerton, HGA and the Department of Visual Arts are collaborating to renovate and expand the Visual Arts Complex. When completed, the project will house a constellation of specialized facilities supporting the full range of visual arts programs including the traditional visual arts, crafts, graphic design, new media, curation, and arts education. The project elevates the whole campus experience and is comprised of the adaptive reuse of two existing buildings, seismic strengthening, social landscapes, and creation of two new structures.

Over the past 50 years, Fullerton’s student population has changed. Representative of the region’s increasingly diverse population, it is now predominantly Latinx and non-traditional students, including adults returning to school, part-time students, transfer students, and online students. In addition, the pandemic has challenged educators to ask even broader questions about the interrelationship of technology and the arts. The goal is to make the arts education process more accessible, physically and visually, by creating connections throughout the campus in ways that Fullerton’s students can best experience the arts in formal and informal ways. Focused areas have been created for interdisciplinary engagement so all disciplines can come together in novel ways to create more opportunities for understanding and inspiration.

The new gallery building will become the new front door for the complex, emphasized through a cantilevered front porch with outdoor galleries that invite curiosity and engagement. Adjacent to the University’s Performing Arts Center, this pair of cultural spaces define the Arts Mall as a primary campus gateway. Its interiors are designed as a creative learning lab and will elevate the presentation of work through contemporary galleries, curatorial education, and research spaces, becoming a symbol for student achievement and serving as a cultural hub for Orange County and the region. The new Digital Arts and New Media building is seamlessly integrated with the campus through ample transparency at ground level. The interior studios, maker spaces, green screen stage, and computer labs are modular and technologically integrated to provide flexibility for new education pathways while promoting cross disciplinary collaboration.

The project unifies the internal campus experience for the community through a sequence of landscapes, upgrading the overall identity of the complex. Fully embracing the Southern California environment, the design of the outdoor spaces throughout the complex expands programmatic and informal academic activities beyond the prescriptive needs of the required programs to create zones for production and presentation, fostering engagement and visibility with the greater community.