The Building On Dana project activates a year of interdisciplinary focus on architect John Portman’s Charles A. Dana Fine Arts Building (1965), designed for art and theatre. The work begins in fall 2024 with curricular strategies and display practices that engage the building’s architecture. Dalton Gallery–the literal and metaphorical center through which students pass to reach all classrooms–will act as a workspace and design lab for creative and critical explorations. The preliminary work will culminate in a spring exhibition documenting the history of the building and envisioning the future for Agnes Scott’s new Department of Creative Arts.
The project seizes opportunities to restore and re-envision aspects of the architect’s plans and the building’s original functions. We will reestablish the public reading room on the first floor (including Portman’s signature blue highlight wall!), refurbish the original Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chairs, benches, and table and also recultivate the courtyards and garden with native plants and regenerative practices. We will be updating parts of the building, while respecting its heritage and preserving its legacy, to achieve an accessible, inclusive, sustainable environment that meets today’s standards
