State of the Arts

State of the Art(s)

The Renovation of Cannon’s Arts Spaces

Let's paint a picture...

An Upper School artist works on a large-scale sculpture and longs to have a bit more space to stretch out and create. A trumpet player practices in the band room and wishes her instrument sounded as spectacular as it does when she’s giving a concert in the CPAC. A Middle School student creating in the ThinkTank thinks about how great it would be to have a mentor who could help him with his current project.

Although none of these issues are dire, they did call for a re-evaluation of our current arts spaces, including the band and strings rooms and Upper School art studio. Thanks to a foundation grant and an anonymous donation, Cannon School underwent a renovation to update these spaces for optimal performance. Construction was completed over the summer and will be ready to greet students when doors reopen this August.

“We really needed to do something to showcase our programs and better meet our needs,” said Mr. Nate Rogers, director of visual art and Upper School academic dean. “So, we looked at what each department needs. Band and strings need better air control and sound attenuation. We’d done some in-house sound paneling to the current cinder block walls, but they needed something conducive to better sound. Also, their exterior wall shared the outside patio workspace with the ThinkTank, so they needed something quieter.”

“As far as the art space, we have bigger and more varied programs in which we have multiple students doing a wide variety of different things all at the same time. We just needed more space,” Rogers continued.

The best way to accomplish these goals was to flip-flop the art studio with the band room, allowing band to move further away from the noise of saws and drills in the ThinkTank. As part of the project, the patio workspace between the ThinkTank and the current band room was enclosed with a roof and garage doors, to serve as a collaborative area for both Middle and Upper School students. This makes it a three-season space with weather protection. “We’ve been trying really hard to get our Upper School visual art students to work with our Middle School tech students. So, something we’re really excited about is the building of this cross-divisional space in which they can work together,” said Rogers. Right now, talk is of the students teaming up to design and build furniture for the space.

“I think this is good news for a school of our size because we’re really interested in relationships and being connected,” said Rogers. “It's important that our kids are interacting outside of their divisional or programmatic bubble. What’s great for the older students is the opportunity to be a mentor. You see how that creates a lot of energy, and it's awesome to see when they sort of light up and realize that the younger kids are learning from them.”

“It’s so exciting for our programs, because it really shows how the school is committed to learn and create in spaces that better fit their needs,” Rogers finished.