Knox College celebrated the official start of construction on the new Whitcomb Art Building at a groundbreaking ceremony held at the start of Homecoming 2015 weekend. Construction is projected to last 12 to 18 months, with the building opening in fall 2016 or winter 2017.

"It's an interesting location for this," said President Teresa Amott, referring to the site of the art building, which will be constructed where Alexander Lumber once stood and is next to Aluminum Castings and other warehouses. "This is a place where people made things and continue to make things. This is a fitting place for us to honor the history of Galesburg -- the history of the making of things."

Since 1964, studio art and art history have shared space with Knox's theatre and music programs in the Ford Center for the Fine Arts. The new 29,950-square-foot facility will feature seven teaching studios for everything from painting and printmaking to digital art, as well as separate metalworking and woodworking shops. A two-story critique hall will offer space for students to create and share large-scale works of art. In addition to seminar space and faculty offices, the building will also offer private studio space for senior students working on capstone projects. View renderings of the building.

The building also represents the next step in the College's commitment to sustainable construction. Like the recently renovated Alumni Hall, the Whitcomb Art Building is designed for LEED certification, with native prairie plantings that reuse storm runoff. The design architect is Lake|Flato, specialists in environmentally sensitive buildings. Construction of the building is being led by P.J. Hoerr of Peoria. The project architect is Klingner Architectural Group of Galesburg and landscape architect is Hoerr Schaudt of Chicago. The project manager is Project Management Advisors of Chicago.

Dick '57 and Joan Whitcomb '56 donated $5 million to support the construction of the new building. Their gift is the single largest from living donors in College history.

"The Whitcombs have launched us on this project that will create a state-of-the-art, 21st century space for the people standing here -- Knox faculty and students -- to go about the remarkable work of visioning and making and studying art," said Amott.

In addition to the Whitcomb gift, Knox has raised more than $1 million in support for the building, which is projected to cost $8.9 million when it is complete.

Pictured above: Participating in the groundbreaking were, from left, Kirk Anderson, Vice President, P.J. Hoerr, Inc.; John Pritchard '78, Mayor, City of Galesburg; Teresa Amott, President of Knox College; Richard Riddell '72, Chair of the Knox College Board of Trustees; Lewis McNeel, AIA, Lake|Flato; and Mark Holmes, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Art & Art History.