With an established reputation as a leading public institution for arts education, the School of Visual and Performing Arts at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT needed a performance and instructional facility that reflected the quality and talent of its academic programs, students and faculty in Music, Theater and Visual Arts. Serving as the overall Architect of Record, Amenta Emma teamed with the renowned performing arts design firm of Holzman Moss Bottino, to create an iconic new 135,000 sf academic arts building on the University’s Westside Campus.

The project unifies the arts into one structure, addresses the University’s goal of providing a distinct identity to each academic department and anchors future implementation of the University’s Campus Master Plan. Scheduled for occupancy in the summer of 2014, the facility features a 350 seat proscenium theater, 350 seat concert hall, recording studio, art gallery and related state-of-the-art music, theater and visual arts instructional spaces.