Renovations are underway in the School of Moving Image Arts’s new location.
The film school grew out of its old location and recently began revamping its new home in Dawson-Loeffler Science and Mathematics Center. The program was housed in the Children’s Theater. The film school will continue to use the Children’s Theater for storage and to teach technical classes on lighting and sound.
“When the program first began 10 years ago my first office was a janitor’s office in Walker Hall,” said Fritz Kiersch, chairman of moving image arts. “We were in the Children’s Theater for almost eight years and the program just has outgrown the space. This is going to be a good thing, and it will help us grow.”
Officials applied for a grant in May from the Kirkpatrick Foundation to begin renovating Loeffler to better suit the department.
“The Kirkpatricks have always been our friends and very helpful to the arts,” Kiersch said.
The Kirkpatrick foundation gave a grant of $30,000 to build a 48-track mixing room with a for sound. The room will resemble a rock and roll recording studio, Kiersch said.
The rest of the renovations are being paid for by the university and the department.
Renovations began the week of Oct. 19 and include a screening room for film viewings with a 75-inch television, a 24-hour editing suite for students and an individual room students can reserve 24 hours a day to work on their capstones, a community room for film viewing and a conference room. Eventually, the faculty in the department want to build a self-standing stage for classes outside behind Loeffler.
The renovations are projected to be finished in December, and the equipment for the sound room is scheduled to be purchased within the next month.
Almost all of the work has been completed by students and faculty, Kiersch said.
Some students’ reactions to the changes are positive.
“I wish this had been installed when I was a freshman so I could get to use it more,” said Alexander Knight, film production senior. “It’s a great program, the professors are very knowledgeable and have great first-hand experience in the film industry.”
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