UCR will open an arts building complex at the entrance to the UCR campus this spring, and has plans to create a new center for the arts in downtown Riverside.

The new 55,000-square-foot arts complex at UCR replaces space lost because of seismic upgrade work at Olmsted Hall, where much of the arts offices, classrooms and performance spaces are currently located. The arts complex building will offer room for growth in arts programs at the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

The proposed downtown center, which is backed by a $5 million pledge from longtime arts supporter Anthony Culver, would accommodate future growth of UCR's arts programs and could serve as a center for collaborative efforts with Riverside Community College and the Riverside School of the Arts. The center would also support outreach efforts to the community, including two UCR programs, ArtsBridge and The Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts, which take the arts to local schools and other community groups.

Plans for the arts center call for a performance auditorium, gallery space, dance and art studios, a reading room and library, arts faculty and graduate student offices, a film and video viewing room, and storage space for the UCR/California Museum of Photography.

For more information, contact Amy Smith, director of development for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at (909) 787-2443.