Artists at work in PenArt’s new Tourtelot Studio in 2023. Photo by xoMe studio.
A look inside Peninsula School of Art’s ongoing renovations
When Peninsula School of Art launched its Door to Creativity (DTC) capital campaign in 2018, the plan was to raise $6.5 million for major campus renovations.
The pandemic had other plans. When COVID-19 shut down the county and country in 2020, it forced the Fish Creek art school to pause fundraising and reassess its goals, board member Mynn Lamphier said.
“It was really scary because we didn’t know if we would ever have classes again,” Lamphier said. “Nobody knew when things would reopen, how life would continue. We had kind of a major existential debate about who we are.”
That debate concluded with the understanding that PenArt is, primarily, a place where artists can connect via hands-on teaching and face-to-face classes. So switching to online-only art classes was off the table. Making the school a better fit for in-person students – whenever they came back – would remain a priority.
The pandemic wasn’t the first time the school considered its own identity. PenArt faculty had similarly existential discussions when deciding what potential projects outlined in its 20-year master plan should be pursued during the DTC capital campaign, former PenArt director Cathy Hoke said. The master plan was a long-range blueprint that held many ideas for future projects, so PenArt had to prioritize.
“Everything was really driven, at that time, by what we saw ourselves doing and the role we have in the community,” Hoke said.
Other factors PenArt considered were its growing number of students since its inception in 1965, as well as those students’ changing expectations.
“When I started, we would put 16 students in one classroom and they would share tables,” Hoke said. “Student needs changed and expectations changed, and they didn’t want to share a table. They wanted more room to spread out.”
With these considerations in mind, PenArt decided on a list of projects the capital campaign would cover, then launched it. By the time the pandemic started, the school had raised about half of its goal – so the board decided in December 2020 to complete about half of the projects it initially set out to do.
That half included a youth art wing, made up of four studio rooms that can be converted to one large room for events; Tourtelot Studio, an adult painting/drawing studio; and upgrades to the school’s existing facilities, including improved siding, roofing, doors and windows.
After the board’s decision in late 2020 to go ahead with part of the planned construction, things moved fast, said Hoke, who described the school’s atmosphere as “frenetic” at the time. By January, the Boldt Company was onsite for construction; by June, the new and updated spaces were open to the public.
“We got our occupancy permit on a Friday, and then we held the first kids’ classes on a Monday,” Hoke said.
But the stress of finishing up the project was outshined by the pride that accompanied its completion.
“To complete that sort of project in six months was really something,” Hoke said.
Seeing the results of their work was similarly satisfying. To Lamphier, the youth art wing was a particular triumph. Its studios’ furniture and bathrooms are all kid-sized, and a gallery space in the wing allows children to display their work.
“For the first time, I think the kids really felt like they’re real artists as well,” Lamphier said.
In 2022, the year after these initial projects were completed, Hoke decided to leave PenArt. She announced her departure officially that August, and the following May, her replacement, Adam Erickson, joined as executive director.
In summer 2024, under Erickson’s leadership, PenArt completed two more construction projects that were part of the initial DTC plan: administrative offices to accommodate the school’s growing staff and internship program, and a multi-purpose space to house the archives and library.
Located in the underutilized space above the metal and ceramics studios, the new office space includes four private staff offices, two workstations and an executive office.
The new multipurpose space, which had a soft opening Sept. 18, was once an old conference room. It’s now a renovated flex space where classes, lectures, film screenings, meetings and performances will be held. It’s also a new home for the school’s art library and historical archives, which had previously been in storage for over three years.
An upgraded reception/information area between the Guenzel Gallery and youth wing was also recently finished.
With these indoor projects done, PenArt will shift its focus to an outdoor project. Architect Jim Shields’ original master plan for the campus included two paths across the lawn, one heading from the main gallery towards the nearby YMCA building, the other going in the direction of Gibraltar School. PenArt is in the process of making Shields’ vision a reality.
The organization has also added to the sculpture garden around which the new paths wind. The lawn is now home to 20 outdoor sculptures, with five joining the collection this summer.
Construction projects aren’t the only examples of PenArt’s growth. It has also partnered with nonprofit consulting firm DeVos Institute of Arts Management to define the organizational values that will guide its work.
So the discussion about PenArt’s identity, brought into sharper focus by the pandemic, is still ongoing. The school’s working definition of its place in the community is encapsulated in a mission statement on its website, which states that PenArt aims to “inspire creativity and build community” through art education for all ages.
Going forward, one of Erickson’s many roles will be to help determine, first and foremost, how to maximize use of PenArt’s current spaces. When that is done and the school has demonstrated a need for more space, a feasibility study will be conducted before any new buildings are constructed.
A few of the projects PenArt deferred from its original DTC plan to its future wishlist were a student drop-off and school bus turnaround outside the main campus; a digital-arts and photography teaching studio; a second adult painting and mixed-media studio; and additional parking and lighting.
In the face of all this change, PenArt is standing stronger than ever, according to Erickson.
“We had a record-setting year for our Plein Air Festival in terms of attendance as well as art sales,” Erickson said of 2023.
The same was true of 2024, too.
“We also had a record-setting year for our tuition, so we were able to offer more classes and fill more seats last year than we ever have before,” he said.
