The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 93

INSIDE American Idol in Indy Fantasia Rarrinn will nprfnrm at thp I Fantasia Barrino will perform at the Murat Theatre on June 12. 16 FESTIVAL: Early music schedule. 12 SECTION I THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2005 INDYSTAR.COMENTERTAINMENT THE NEW HERRON SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN I ii 11 1 1 i r7 I I I U. I- rTMMtwar-r' i iHiin. 1 Ji A new home: At left is one of the second-floor classrooms at the new Herron School of Art and Design on the IUPUI campus, the main entrance of which is in the center photo.

At right is the school's 240-seat auditorium. The $26.5 million building was designed by Jonathan Hess, a partner in local architectural firm Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf. A WORK OF ART New Herron building offers more amenities and a presence in campus life. By S.L Berry s.l.berryindystar.com m9 I 1 3 I I I V'- A ty If I Bm ike some vast stretch of open land, the new Herron School of Art and Design building is sprawling. And that's what Valerie Eickmeier likes about it.

As Herron's dean, Eickmeier has led the effort to turn a long-held dream into this state-of-the-art facility on the IUPUI campus. It contains three times the amount of space the art school had available in its longtime home I at 16th and Pennsylvania streets. EMnlr Ccnih Tho Ctar Designed by Jonathan Hess, a partner in local architectural firm Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf, the $26.5 million building features expanded studio and classroom space, as well as a 240-seat tiered auditorium, 5,000 square feet of studio space for graduate students, four galleries, an library and a grand hall for public receptions and Known formally as Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hall, in honor of the local couple who made a large donation toward its construction, the new facility is designed to meet the needs of the painters, printmakers, photographers, furniture-makers, art historians and art educators who will use it. There are north-facing clerestory windows, high ceilings, wide doorways and hallways, and a loading dock so artworks can be easily moved in and out of the building. There are state-of-the-art ventilation, water and electrical systems, and walls covered with replaceable panels so students can display their work.

"This place exceeds our expectations," said Eickmeier. That's saying a lot, since expectations for a new Herron facility began mounting almost from the day Relocation: On the school's first floor, Herron Gallery curator David Russick moves a newly arrived sculpture by New York artist Judith Shea. Dedication of the new Herron School of Art and Design Where: Herron School of Art and Design, 735 W. New York St. When: 3 to 4 p.m.

Friday. Open house follows from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Information: (317) 920-2413. new building, the art school's administration and faculty looked at how they could make it work. It wasn't a perfect fit.

The law school building's ceilings were too low, walls would have to be removed and spaces reconfigured, and a new wing would have to be built to accommodate the school's space requirements. See Herron, Page 14 the art school became part of Indiana University in 1967. Housed in a trio of buildings at 1701 N. Pennsylvania plus other leased properties, Herron was strapped for space and the space it had no longer met the needs of its 850 students and 68 faculty members. So a few years ago, when IUPUI officials offered Herron the IU School of Law building, which was going to be vacated when the law school moved into a pre wtwjwji Faust's Herron sculpture is campus and career landmark I be interested in creating a full-scale piece for installation in front of the art school's new facility on the IUPUI campus.

"Arch," which cost $45,000 for fabrication and installation, is being paid for through private contributions. It also is one of 15 works that comprise the 18-month Heron Public Sculpture Invitational. Works in the invitational, placed around the Herron grounds, include sculptures from local, national and international artists, including Herron faculty members Greg Hull, Eric Nordgulen and Katrin Asbury, as well as such renowned figures as Tom Otter-ness, Don Gummer, Judith Shea and Wim Delvoye. But when the show ends, Faust's work will remain as a visual landmark for Herron and the IUPUI campus, Eickmeier said. "I hope I get the chance to do more sculpture," Faust said.

"I have a lot more ideas." S.L. Berry "3 or James Wille Faust, the payoff came when a young girl leaned out of a passing car and yelled, "Hey, I that's cool!" She was referring to "Arch," a 20-foot-tall brightly- 1 colored aluminum sculpture that Faust and a work crew had just spent eight hours installing on a cold, windy day. The sculpture, which stands outside the new Herron School of Art and Design (at Blackford and New York streets), is Faust's first permanent piece of public sculpture. "That's the kind of reaction I hope other people will have when they see it," said the 1971 Herron graduate. Faust, a nationally known painter who has works in the collections of the National Air and Space Administration and actor Robert Redford, has been creating maquettes (models) of sculptures he'd like to build for several years.

When Valerie Eickmeier, Herron's dean, saw some of them in an exhibition, she asked if he'd Third dimension: James Wille Faust, best known as a painter, stands near "Arch," his colorful aluminum sculpture, recently installed outside the new Herron School of Art and Design on the IUPUI campus. INSIDE: HERRON GALLERY UPGRADES, HISTORY AND NOTABLE ALUMNI, PAGES 14-5. Spoleto USA to present operas in unconventional ways lows five people growing up in South Africa during the final days of apartheid. Taiwan's Contemporary Legend Theatre will perform "Kingdom of Desire," a short version of "Macbeth," in Mandarin Chinese with projected English titles. The dance program includes a production by Italian choreographer Emio Greco and Tony Award-winning dancer-choreographer Savion Glover, while Grammy award-winning vocalist Shirley Horn headlines the jazz lineup.

Spoleto was founded in 1977 by composer Gian Carlo Menotti as the U.S. counterpart to the festival he staged annually in Spoleto, Italy. The $7J million festival ends June 12 with fireworks and an orchestral concert of film music. On the Net: www.spoletousa.org. his family as the Nazis rose to power.

The third opera, "Sleeping Beauty in the Woods," will feature marionettes and a cast of seven singers with an orchestra and chorus. There will be other marionettes at Spoleto as well. The Colla Marionettes from Italy will perform two programs during the festival. Among the other offerings is the drama "Ma-bou Mines DollHouse," directed by Lee Breuer, who adapted this version from Henrik Ibsen's classic play. In Breuer's production, all the male actors are 4'A feet tall or less, while the female players tower over them.

The festival also will present "Amajuba Like Doves We Rise," produced by the Oxford Playhouse and The Farber Foundry. The play fol two walls while the opera is performed and the orchestra plays in the center of the space amid small ponds, a stream and cherry trees. "It's an opera that will make people feel they are part of the production," Redden said over whining saws and pounding hammers as the stage crew worked to finish the set. The festival also features the American premiere of the opera "Die Vogel" by German composer Walter Braunfels and based on Aristophanes' satirical play. The work, to be sung in German with English titles, opened in 1920 in Munich; later, the Nazis banned it.

"It's a wonderful piece, philosophical, but very colorful," said conductor Julius Rudel, who as a teenager came to this country from Austria with By Bruce Smith Associated Press CHARLESTON, S.C. Even at a cultural event with a reputation for opera, this season's Spoleto Festival USA could be considered the year of the opera. The 17-day festival, which began Friday, features three new operatic productions. "These are more extravagant operas than we have done in the past," said Nigel Redden, Spole-to's general director. Mozart's well-known "Don Giovanni" will be staged in a novel way: The seats have been repositioned, and a sloping wooden floor has been built from atop the stage to the back of the Mem-minger Auditorium.

The audience will sit along.