April 3, 2008
Construction on the $2 million Friesen Center for the Visual Arts is nearing completion on the Hesston College campus.
According to Jim Mason, director of Campus Facilities, construction should be essentially complete by late April. Use of the facility will begin during the Fall 2008 semester, when classes begin Monday, August 25. Dedication is planned during Homecoming Weekend 2008 September 26-28.
Construction on the facility began in mid-June 2007 by the general contractor, Walz Harman & Huffman Construction of Kechi, Kan. The architect for the one-story, 9,500 square foot building is Terry Wiggers of Shaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture of Wichita.
The facility is named in honor of Paul and Wilma Friesen, Hesston, Kan. Paul Friesen began the visual arts department at the college more than 50 years ago, starting with his first classroom in the basement of Green Gables in the spring term of 1957. Friesen officially retired from Hesston College in 1978, but was invited to teach the second-year ceramics class at the college during the spring semester 2001-2005. He graduated from Hesston Academy in 1942 and from Hesston College in 1944.
Located between Northlawn (music and theatre) and Charles Hall (the sciences), the new building will provide teaching space for ceramics, painting, print-making, and drawing studios; a computer lab for graphic design and digital photography; an art gallery; and faculty offices.
"We at Hesston College have received strong support from our constituency for the Friesen Center for the Visual Arts, reflecting the great respect held for Paul Friesen," said Yvonne Sieber, the college's vice president of Development. "The college continues to raise funds for the equipment and endowment for the ongoing support of the new facility."
Hesston College Visual Art Department
A photo tour of Friesen Center under construction