Former church to become home for Visual Arts building at Penn State Altoona

The University Board of Trustees Jan. 18 approved the purchase of a new building in Altoona to be used for the Penn State Altoona Visual Art Studies Program (VAST).

Originally a church, the 15,000-square-foot property on West Chestnut Avenue includes a former sanctuary, basement, garage and adjoining house. The majority of the space was converted to a fully functioning woodworking, sculptural and material-working space by former owner Geo Trusty. Trusty is donating all of the industrial, high-quality equipment in the building to Penn State Altoona.

The campus will use the building for instruction of most of its Visual Art Studies courses, a gallery, studio space and faculty studios.  The VAST program is a new baccalaureate degree program first offered by Penn State Altoona in fall 2007.

"Upon touring the facility, we came to realize how dynamic and complete this wood shop is," said Lori J. Bechtel, Penn State Altoona chancellor. "The state-of-the-art equipment adds exponentially to our Visual Art Studies program, which offers the most complete conceptual, technical and professional frameworks needed to nurture productive, confident artists."

Requiring students to leave campus for their art courses will support Penn State Altoona’s mission of providing opportunities for students to learn in non-traditional classroom settings and demonstrate a real-world model of the working artist who often rents or works in a studio outside the home.

A fall 2008 dedication is planned.