September 15, 2025

University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors has approved the schematic design for the campus’s proposed Center for the Arts, a 220,000-square-foot facility set to become an academic, cultural, and research hub that will enrich both the university and the broader community.

The Center for the Arts was envisioned by the design team of Diamond Schmitt (design and executive architect), Selldorf Architects (museum architect), and VMDO Architects (local architect), together with UVA’s Office of the Architect.

Located along the 14.5-acre Emmet-Ivy Corridor—a significant entry point to the historic campus—the center will be home to the Tessa and Richard Ader Performing Arts Center, the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, the Kluge-Ruhe Gallery, and the College of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Music.

Central to the project’s design is connectivity across the arts, with multiple creative disciplines represented in a unified space. The Center for the Arts will complement an ensemble of buildings that collectively will establish a sense of community, while creating a strong civic presence.

The center’s façade draws inspiration from nearby landmarks such as the Karsh Institute of Democracy and the Virginia Guesthouse. Its brick mass steps down toward Emmet Street, while the large window of the Performing Arts Center showcases the activity and life within the Center, all centered around the pond and open landscape.

“All the buildings on the Emmet-Ivy Corridor have been designed with a transparent, welcoming ground floor to connect interior public spaces with the exterior pedestrian promenade to create a ground floor to connect interior public spaces with the exterior pedestrian promenade to create a safe, active district,” said Alice Raucher, architect for the University.

Read the full announcement here.