UAFS provides update on expansion of Windgate building
by December 2, 2025 3:53 pm 386 views
Work is ongoing on expansion of the Windgate Art & Design Building on the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith campus.
A new entrance to the Windgate Art & Design Building on the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS) campus has opened and is part of an ongoing almost 19,000-square-foot expansion of the building first opened in 2015.
Work on the original 58,000-square-foot building was funded primarily by a $15.5 million gift from the Siloam Springs-based Windgate Charitable Foundation.
The original building, located at the intersection of Kincaid Avenue and Waldron Road, was the first building to be constructed as part of what was then the university’s master plan and it brought all art department programs under one roof. The facility had several gallery spaces, a 120-seat theater, a letterpress and printmaking operation, graphic design laboratories, spaces for photography, painting, sculpture, art history, and a sound booth.
The new entrance for the expanded building opened Nov. 28, and university officials say the expansion will be complete by the summer of 2026. The expansion has a budget of around $13.681 million, with $8.845 million provided by the Windgate Foundation, according to the UAFS.
The new space will include a book arts facility, art collection study and art handling spaces, a woodshop, ceramics studio, digital fabrication studios, faculty studios, an outdoor terrace and classroom, and a public café, according to a UAFS press release.
“This new entrance and signage space signals our commitment to build a supportive and welcoming creative community centered in the Windgate Art & Design Building,” said Katie Waugh, Art & Design department head. “It’s fitting that the first completed stages of this project are a new entrance and enhanced facilities for public exhibitions; we are visually announcing our invitation to join us in learning, looking and making.”
A new art collection study room will allow students and visitors to view and study objects from the collection. The facility will also support hands-on training in art handling, framing, and preparation, according to the UAFS information.
“Additional storage will accommodate the continued growth of the university’s collection, strengthening the UAFS Gallery of Art & Design’s position as a stand-alone art gallery,” the UAFS noted in the press release. “The centerpiece of the expansion is the upcoming Book Arts Center, a purpose-built space dedicated to letterpress printing, papermaking and bookbinding. These tactile disciplines will help establish UAFS’s national leadership in the field and reflect a broader educational philosophy that values both process and craft.”