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SOU art center nearly ready Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Painter Mike Wilkerson, of Medford, paints the third-floor lobby of Southern Oregon University�s new Art Building. The lobby and gallery look over the Alumni Plaza. The $11.2 million complex, called the Center for the Visual Arts, will officially open Oct. 20, but a few fall classes are starting today in the Marion Ady Building. Classes start today, some in new Ady Building By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � Fall classes begin this morning at Southern Oregon University � including three in the new and not-quite-finished visual arts complex. Work on the $11.2 million Center for the Visual Arts will wrap up within a month, but SOU got the go-ahead Friday to start some classes today in the new Marion Ady Building. "We�re thrilled," said Judith Ginsburg, art department chair. "This is a dream come true. "It�s something we�ve waited for for over 25 years and it�s going to make such a big difference for our students." New enrollment dips ASHLAND � Southern Oregon University�s early enrollment numbers are down slightly, but school officials expect about 1,257 new students on campus this fall. Sara Hopkins-Powell, interim SOU president, said fewer students had enrolled than expected as of Friday, but pre-registration figures can be unreliable. "Around here, we get a lot of late registrations," Hopkins-Powell said. Counts won�t be official for about a month. SOU�s total enrollment is expected to be around 5,800, about the same as last year. Recent registration figures show 766 new freshmen, compared with 881 last year. The school lists 344 new transfer students, down from last year�s 521, and 147 graduate students. "This year we�re seeing transfer numbers down a little bit," Hopkins-Powell said. "I don�t know why." If the numbers hold true after the official tally next month, Hopkins-Powell said the university will look into what�s causing fewer students to attend. Meanwhile, she said the school�s excited about plans to open the Center for the Visual Arts in October. SOU is also offering two new minors this year: Shakespeare studies and film studies. New students attending SOU this fall come from 43 U.S. states and Canadian provinces. Some 45 new international students have registered. This year�s freshman class is 56 percent female. Women also account for 61 percent of new transfer students. The average age of freshmen entering SOU�s fall term is 19; the average age for transfer students is 25. Among SOU�s new freshmen, the average high school grade point average is 3.21. The highest verbal SAT score among new freshmen was 790 of a possible 800; the highest math SAT score was 730 out of 800. Without a building to call home, the art department last year was split among seven campus buildings and also rented space at Ashland Middle School, Ginsburg said. Most classes � including ceramics, photography and art education � won�t move to the new complex until later this fall, once construction is complete. A few painting, drawing and printmaking classes, however, will get started today in the Marion Ady Building, which replaced the old art "commons." "We know there are still a few things to go, but I�m excited we get to start in the new building," said acting President Sara Hopkins-Powell. Marion Ady was the first and only art instructor at Ashland College and Normal School, the forerunner of SOU that was established in 1869. The second new building is being called the Art Building. A large plaza in front of the Schneider Museum of Art features bricks bearing the names of alumni who gave donations to the project. A second plaza will highlight community donors. Construction was scheduled to wrap up July 15, but unforeseen circumstances caused delays, said Physical Plant Director Bruce Moats. He expects the buildings to be ready for the center�s grand opening on Oct. 20. "We�re disappointed that we�re not poised and ready to go for Monday," Moats said. "Given where we�re at, we have to look at it philosophically: When you wait 20 years, what�s a few more weeks?" The project was first delayed, Moats said, when the contractor was forced to find a new steel supplier. Then work took longer than planned, in part because of the building�s design, which calls for exposed construction features. "It�s not that they would do sloppy work otherwise, but it has to be more finely detailed, more precise," Moats said. From inside, the buildings have a rough, somewhat industrial look. Steel beams and ducts are exposed, the floors are black-stained concrete and block pillars line the walls. "This is a very industrial space; it was designed to be very hard-working," Ginsburg said. "It�s not too precious. "A building for the arts should not be too precious; it should be a place where students feel like they can spread out, work and make a mess if they need to." Ginsburg believes the art center will help SOU attract professors and students to Ashland. In the past three years, she�s seen the number of art majors grow from 125 to nearly 250. "We had no idea that we would grow so fast," Ginsburg said. "I think a lot of it has to do with the Center for the Visual Arts, just knowing that it would be here." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA