Art Barn

The Art Barn - Project Information

The Need:

Responding to Changes in the County and at the College

Over the past 50 years, Montgomery County's population has more than doubled, and employment has tripled. Montgomery County leads the state in manufacturing and high tech jobs. The County is projected to add over 100,000 residents between 2000 and 2025, including a cohort of residents over 65 that will grow from 14.9% to 21.8% of County residents.

Montgomery County Community College is positioning itself to respond to projected changes in the community, which have been reflected in demands for our programs. The Courage to Create Campaign was developed out of the College Strategic Planning Process and the comprehensive facilities master plan that followed. To meet expanding enrollment and academic program needs of the College's Central (Blue Bell) and West (Pottstown) Campuses, the facilities master plan encompasses three phases of projects representing more than $80 million in facilities improvements through 2010. These campus improvements are progressing. We've broken ground on a 60,000 square foot Advanced Technology Center, the first new classroom facility on the Blue Bell campus since 1972. An additional 50,000 square feet of space is being added to meet unprecedented demand on the West Campus in Pottstown with the opening of the 16 High Street facility (the old Kiwi Shoe Polish factory) in spring 2006. These projects are funded through a combination of federal, state, local, public and private contributions.Of similar importance, The Courage to Create Campaign focuses on meeting demands for art programs. Phase One will renovate and expand the art facility on the Central Campus.This facility is the Art Barn, named because it developed around the creative reuse of the barn and silos of the farm that provided the acreage for Montgomery County Community College. The demand for courses in the visual arts has increased to the point of outstripping the availability of space there. These are the reasons facility expansion is needed now:

Enrollment increases.

Enrollment growth in the fine art degree program has exceeded 35% over the last five years –becoming the second most subscribed transfer degree program offered at the College.

Studio Demand.

Demand for open studio time has now exceeded the facility capacity, forcing us to deny access to students and residents who want to study at the College.More than 3,500 students and community members learn in this facility each year.

Aging Facilities.

The original barn and silos remain the most visible part of the property that became Montgomery County Community College’s campus in 1972. A wing was added in 1977 but aging facilities and accelerated deterioration require extraordinary renovation to preserve the Art Barn and expansion through new construction.

New Media Integration.

To prepare our students for tomorrow’s careers, new media must be integrated with traditional art techniques. Limitations on current facilities prevent the offering of requested courses including woodworking, jewelry, metals and other three-dimensional media.

Lifelong Learning.

The Lifelong Learning division now has to turn people away for the special interest courses highly popular with intergenerational students of the arts who are part of the County’s new residents.