Art Gallery Relocates, Offices to Follow

EAST PEORIA — The East Peoria art gallery will soon be moving across the Academic Building as part of a larger reorganization project designed to give better office access to students at Illinois Central College.

The art gallery is moving from the open space in room 305A to a space in 336B that has been in use as a classroom until now. The existing 305A space had a front wall made entirely of windows that made the artwork visible from the hallway, but the new location in 336B has no such windows. For that and other reasons, 336A is undergoing remodeling in preparation for the move.

At their November board meeting, the ICC board of trustees approved a budget line of $48,958.00 for this remodeling of 336A, and the construction contract was awarded to Morton- based Core Construction.

According to Troy Hattermann, ICC’s director of facilities planning and design, once the remodeling is complete, the new gallery space will have a glass wall and door that will allow viewing and access from Cafe Breve. Where there used to be a door to access 336A from the hallway, there will instead be a slender window to allow passersby to see into the gallery. Hence, all gallery access will be from inside Cafe Breve.

While the gallery has been in 305A for a number of years, Christopher Gray, dean of arts and communication at ICC, said that this is not the first time that the gallery has moved. Gray said that he is glad to see this change occurring after having been discussed for about a year.

“I think that this new location will be seen by a lot more students than the old one, and that’s really what we care about – traffic,” said Gray.

The relocation of the gallery will be the first step in the total reorganization of the spaces in the 300- 306 hallway. According to Hattermann, the offices and classrooms in that area will be reorganized in a way that places all of the offices related to student services and activities, such as the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement, the Transfer Center, Emerging Leaders and Veteran Affairs, down to the spaces closest to the Student Lounge.

During this shuffling, a new office will also be created. Room 304A, which is now a classroom, will become an international center. Currently, International Studies and the Chinese Language Institute occupy two small offices in the 302-303 area.

Another part of the relocation plans is to convert the old computer lab in 308B, one of the Academic Building’s largest spaces, into a “student media center,” where the Harbinger and the ICC-based WAZU radio station could share a common operating space.

Hattermann said that the art gallery’s relocation should be completed by the end of this calendar year, and then the other relocations will occur as the new year progresses, with the international center being the priority so it can be ready for a visitor coming from China in May.