FRESNO (KMJ) — What’s being described as a state of the art facility that is set to revitalize Downtown Fresno has opened.
Fresno State’s College of Arts and Humanities has officially cut the ribbon on the CSU’s first satellite campus – The M Street Arts Complex.
“It provides a safe space, a clean professional environment for artists to create art and really somewhere all Fresnans can come appreciate and enjoy art”, says Interim Associate Dean Saul Jimenez-Sandoval.
“It’s in Downtown because it’s a great opportunity for us. We don’t have the space at Fresno State, so in doing this then we get it both ways. We get to have students being Downtown and we expand our presence in Downtown”.
The project will be housed in the 6,000-square-foot building on the corner of M Street and Tuolumne Street, and includes 15 private working studios for Fresno State graduate art students, as well as galleries and a conference room. It’s hoped students will work with both faculty and professional artists, with the studios offering further professional development.
“Having an individual space allows me to truly work productively on my own time and is an ideal breeding ground for creativity,” said Emily Kenyon, a graduate student studying drawing and painting in the Art and Design Department. “These studios are giving me that space to work alone, and yet to simultaneously have my peers around me if I ever want to pop in to see what they’re doing or seek help, ideas or criticism from them. It gives me the best of both worlds.”
“The M Street Arts Complex project demonstrates the College of Arts and Humanities’ commitment to the arts, education and the community,” said Interim Dean José A. Díaz. “We are so excited to have this satellite campus in downtown Fresno, an area that is already so rich in art, culture and history. We look forward to the great work our students and faculty will contribute to it.”
But it won’t just be to display student’s work, but the work of others too.
“There’s great art here at Fresno State”, continues Interim Associate Dean Saul Jimenez-Sandoval. “This really provides us a key space where the public can go and see what’s going on. But it also provides us a space in which visiting artists can come and showcase their work as well”.
