Facilities
The College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences spans several buildings and venues, from historic to state-of-the art.
Administration Building
The Administration Building, or Admin Building is named for former president Mother Columkille Colbert, CCVI, and is UIW’s most iconic building. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the building's cornerstone was laid in 1921. In December 2021, its historic façade will celebrate its 100th anniversary. A hub for many offices, programs and activities, it is home to CHASS' humanities and social science departments and concentrations. It is also home to Our Lady’s Chapel, Mission and Ministry offices, Academic Advising and Financial Aid, among other student services offices.
Music
Luella Bennack Music Center
The UIW Department of Music is housed in the Luella Bennack Music Center, which includes a state-of-the-art recording studio, choir and band rehearsal halls, a music therapy suite, a piano lab with Clavinova digital pianos, a computer lab, modular practice rooms, teaching studios, a percussion studio and listening library. The Luella Bennack Music Center also houses several exciting work and performance spaces.
The 500-seat concert hall opened in early 2015 and regularly features performances by UIW ensembles, guest artists, and performers from the civic community. The hall boasts an adjustable acoustic system, and nine foot Steinway D concert grand.
This 101-seat venue is designed for optimal acoustics for student and chamber music recitals, and features a Steinway B grand piano.
The Russ Berger-designed studio features a Solid-State Logic AWS – 924 analog mixing console, Pro Tools HDX, Yamaha C-7 Disklavier grand piano, 2-inch 24-track Sony/MCI tape recorder, and a large selection of microphones and outboard gear. The choir room, band hall, concert hall and recital hall are wired to the recording studio, allowing for remote recording of rehearsals and performances throughout the building.
Art
Kelso Art Center
The Fine Arts complex includes designated studios for drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and art history as well as galleries, including a student gallery. The facility offers students updated technologies and resources including a computer lab for digital photography, two darkroom labs for photo classes, and a designated lighting studio for photography students as well as an exposure unit for photographic screen-printing processes.
The Condos Student Gallery and Semmes Galleries are located on the first floor of the Kelso Art Center and host both student and visiting artist exhibitions.
Opened in 2013, the Ruth Eilene Sullivan Ceramic and Sculpture Studios includes a gas kiln, studio space with pottery wheels, spray booth for glazing, and electric kilns. The Sculpture Studio features metal welding stations, including two portable stations, a ban saw, chop saw and sandblaster.
Theatre
Elizabeth Huth Coates Theatre Building
The Coates Theatre Building is home to both principal theatre performance spaces, the Coates Theatre and the Cheever Theatre. This building also houses the scene shop, a design studio, props storage, a department library, the Theatre Arts Box Office and a spacious lobby. Most Theatre Arts performances and directing classes take place in the theatre spaces.
The Coates Theatre is a surprisingly intimate 270-seat proscenium theatre that serves as a performance space and as an exciting place to creatively apply techniques and principles learned in department courses.
The Cheever Theatre is a studio black box that seats 75-100 patrons depending on the stage/audience configuration chosen for the production. The Cheever Theatre provides students an intimate and flexible performance space that is ideal for student designers and performer experimentation and exploration.
Fully equipped property, costume and scene shops support both theatres. Students gain a wide range of skills in these shops and learn to use both basic equipment and high-tech computer-assisted design software.
For more information about the Scene Shop, contact the Production Manager, Justin Bennett.
For more information about the Costume Shop, contact the Costume Shop Supervisor, Yesi Grancharoff, or Costume Designer Margaret Mitchell.
Our Box Office serves both theatres and utilizes the same sophisticated software program used by many professional theatres in the United States and abroad.
Just off the Coates Theatre is the Halligan-Ibbs Theatre/Dance Center, which houses the Theatre Arts offices, costume shop, a traditional classroom, the green room, a dance studio and dressing rooms.