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Application Postmark deadline:  August 10, 2007 How To Apply Digital Image Guidelines 05L1D Application Misc PDF Help

UW-Superior,
Rothwell Student Center Replacement
Project Number # 05L1D

Art Budget: $55,800 (Expected to cover all design and fabrication expenses associated with the project.)
Application/Image Deadline: August 10, 2007
Eligibility Criteria: All artists from Arts Midwest region are eligible to apply (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin)
Art Schedule
Design Due: September 2007
Installation: To be negotiated
Building Completion: August 2009
Architects: Workshop Architects, Milwaukee, WI

The Campus

UW-Superior is designated Wisconsin’s Public Liberal Arts College by the UW System’s Board of Regents. UW-Superior specializes in providing a liberal arts education with solid professional training. Because of our small size, students get more opportunities to take part in campus activities, use equipment and facilities, and work one-on-one with professors. The University is known for its outstanding teacher education programs, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition, it has built a reputation for academic excellence through such programs as business, biology, computers, psychology, social work, communications, transportation and logistics, music, health and other fields. UW-Superior’s enrollment currently is about 2,900 students. Most come from cities throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota, but also includes students from many other states as well as countries around the world. Students enjoy a student-to-faculty ratio of approximately 17:1. The campus is located in Superior, Wisconsin overlooking the western tip of Lake Superior. The city combines with neighboring Duluth, Minnesota to provide a rich metro setting as well as the year-round recreation opportunities such as fishing, hiking, skiing, and other outdoor activities of the Northland.

Rothwell Student Center

The student center carries the dual purpose of serving the campus (students, staff and faculty) and the local community. Rothwell Student Center is situated between the historical campus identity, Old Main, and a primary public thoroughfare, Catlin Avenue.

The new student center is the center of campus community life. It will house campus dining facilities, meeting rooms, a multi-purpose ballroom, lounges, study areas, bookstore, information desk, student organization offices, computer labs, residence life offices and mail complex, art gallery and a campus safety office. The new student center is expected to reinforce campus intimacy, create a "lantern of student life" consisting of flexible, interwoven spaces, provide robust, fun environments that are light, warm and open. It is expected to greet campus and community visitors with inviting faces and welcoming entrances and embrace technology in all aspects of service delivery and security. Sustainable design practices were incorporated into the overall design.

The exterior envelope material selections aesthetically connect the new student center with other campus buildings and blend into the surrounding campus community. Aluminum-framed glazing systems were strategically used to enhance the visual connections with Old Main (campus community) and Catlin Avenue (local community). A green roof with a generous roof overhang and fritted glass were designed to minimize solar heat gain and reduce interior glare on bright sunny days without compromising the visual connection to Old Main. The facility’s shape is a combined response to the circular master-plan and the orthogonal grid of the community. The building’s exterior wall surfaces are composed of red / brown brick, warm gray metal panels, and champagne colored glass curtain-wall. \The northeast and southern elevations utilize more glazing to maximize daylight penetration into the building and allow visual connections between interior and exterior activities. Fritted glass and a generous roof overhang at the southern elevation help control and reduce solar heat gain. A central feature of the building is a sloping “green roof” system, comprised of sedum and wild flowers in a 4” soil bed over a heavy timber roof structure. The green roof together with the exposed heavy timber overhangs establishes an organic texture to the architecture.

The South Entry draws pedestrians from the existing east-west sidewalk connecting the residence halls across Catlin Avenue with Old Main. Adjacent to this entry and directly under the sloping roof edge will be a rain garden designed to intercept overflow storm-water not absorbed by the green roof. Several different species of plant materials will make this area an aesthetically pleasing space while functioning as an intermittent storm-water detention facility.

The North Entry has been identified the “front door” to the campus and will open into a 40 ft tall atrium with a variable width ranging between 35-50 ft wide. A cable railing surrounds the atrium area on the second floor. The north entry area is a focal point for the new drop off and parking area, and will serve as a main interface between the campus and the local community. Although building users and patrons will be able to utilize the building’s drop off area, the emphasis will be on a pedestrian access and approach to the facility.

The Southwest Entry connects to the existing walkway to Old Main. The open outdoor commons area between the new student center and Old Main will be redeveloped by a future project into a major gathering area and serve as the main axis connecting the two buildings. Thus this area is not an appropriate location for artwork at this time.

Inside the facility, the student organization and administrative office suites are situated in close proximity to each other on the main floor to encourage interaction between students and staff. Both suites are in close proximity to the concourse and dining areas to promote greater student involvement in campus life and events. On the main floor an absence of hallways in the public areas exists to encourage student interaction and social connections. The coffee shop is strategically placed near the building’s main (south) entry, a grand staircase with visibility to the fireplace lounge, bookstore, and several food service areas are all located on the main floor. The new art gallery is located on the Upper Level, which is a quieter area, yet is very visible and easily reached via the grand staircase. The new art gallery will house Emile Mathison’s extensive teaching collection of prints, paintings and African art. Floor finishes in the public areas throughout the new student center will include honed concrete, carpet, linoleum, and a variety of accent finishes such as bamboo. A main design feature is the exposed steel and wood structural framing with wood roof deck throughout the main concourse area.

Specifications

A “green” approach was a high priority in designing and building this facility. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards have been addressed throughout this facility. The selection committee is interested in artwork that also supports “green” concepts.

Potential Locations

The selection committee has identified several locations on the interior and exterior of the facility and is also open to additional sites that may be identified by the artists.

Exterior sites may include:

1. The rain garden area under the sloping roof on the east side. This may include plantings. [ image ]
2. The exterior wall to the second floor gallery area facing Caitlin Avenue. [ image ]

Interior sites may include:

3. A treatment of the railing surrounding the second floor in the atrium area.
   [ image ]
4. The grand staircase. [ image ] [ image ]
5. A fireplace treatment in the Fireplace lounge of the Sun Garden. [ image ]
6. An aerial artwork in the triangular shaped two story atrium at the north entrance. [ image ]
7. A floor pattern/treatment on the main floor. [ image ]

Conceptual Considerations

The selection committee is interested in artwork that supports the green focus of this facility and/or that would utilize the interplay of light as the sun tracks across the building. The selection committee is interested in artwork that may be visible from both the interior and the exterior. The primary audience for interior artwork will be students, faculty, and community members. Exterior artwork will be viewed by the larger University and community audience. Imagery with multiple layers of metaphoric meaning would be viewed as strength. The committee welcomes innovation and is interested in artwork that:

• Addresses or references the industrial history of the area.
• Addresses or references the resource based economy of the region: where the “rail meets sail.”
• Addresses or references why students are attending this college.
• Reveals a sense of this place and its unique history.
• Encourages the community to access the resources within the facility.
• Has a strong intellectual and poetic dimension.
• Is timeless and bears repeated viewing over time.
• May be nonrepresentational, but not so abstract as to be unrecognizable by faculty & students.
• Serves as an ambassador—the artwork needs to be appealing and accessible to non-arts people.
• Is complex enough to allow viewers to learn from it over time and provides a sense of discovery.

Materials

The selection committee is interested in permanent materials that support the artist’s concept; are with the architecture and require minimal maintenance. Regionally derived materials and/or materials that support the “green” focus of the facility construction project would be very appropriate for this project. Mosaics will be considered for interior spaces and artwork may be integrated with the landscape, especially in the water garden area. The selection committee is also interested in the innovative use of color and light.
 

Updated: September 12, 2007