Saturday Afternoon – Optional Tour of Spelman College and the Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation & the Arts

Join members and guests for this optional tour of the historic Spelman Campus including the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building and the Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation and the Arts, June 13th 2:00pm-3:30pm EDT. The group will meet at 2pm EDT at the Lobby of the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building at Spelman College. Please note that Atlanta is in the Eastern Time Zone, while Auburn is in the Central Time Zone. The tour will begin at 2:00 PM Eastern Time (1:00 PM Central Time).

Using GPS Navigation to the campus entrance: 440 Westview Dr. S.W., Atlanta, GA 30310 Directions

Parking Location: Fine Arts/Cosby lot to the left of the campus entry

Meeting Location: Lobby of the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building adjacent to the parking lot

Distance from Atlanta Airport: 11 miles (20-30 minutes)

Entry Fee: Free for members and guests.

Campus Map: Map

Tour Highlights

AUA colleague and Director of Facilities Management and Services for Spelman College, Arthur Frazier III, AIA will lead a tour of the recently renovated Rockefeller Fine Arts Building, the Historic Campus Oval, and the Mary Schmidt Campbell Center for Innovation and the Arts.

About Spelman College (from Spelman website)

Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, the school became Spelman College in 1924. Now a global leader in the education of women of African descent, Spelman is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), and is a proud member of the Atlanta University Center Consortium.

Today, Spelman’s student body comprises more than 2,100 students from 43 states and 10 foreign countries. Spelman empowers women to engage the many cultures of the world and inspires a commitment to positive social change through service. Spelman is dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical and leadership development of our students.

About the Rockefeller Fine Arts Building (from Art’s interview and Spelman website)

The John D. Rockefeller Fine Arts Building (RFA) opened in 1964 as the first Modernist building on Spelman’s campus. In 1961, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund gifted $1 million to Spelman in memory of John D. Rockefeller Jr. $750,000 of the gift was specifically earmarked for a new fine arts building allowing the art, drama, and music departments to be housed in one location for the first time. Although contemporary in appearance, the red brick building’s facade replicates the tripartite design of the college's 19th-century buildings. The building has been in continuous use since its opening and has recently undergone a major rehabilitation completed in 2024. It is now home to the Theatre and Performance Department and the Glee Club. The renovation features the LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Samuel L. Jackson Performing Arts Center

Project Team:

Menefee Architecture Managers

Turner Construction

Read Art Frazier’s interview with the National Trust for Historic Preservation

About the Mary Schmidt Campbell Center of Innovation & the Arts (from Spelman website)

Purposefully designed to unite artistic expression and cutting-edge technology, this vibrant new home is already enriching the student experience and advancing Spelman’s legacy of excellence and innovation. Named in honor of Spelman’s 10th president, who led the College for seven years (2015 to 2022), this state-of-the-art building embodies the vision of creating a dynamic space where Spelman’s students in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) can engage, collaborate, and innovate.

Defining a new “front porch” to the campus, the Center strengthens Spelman’s connection to the surrounding community by facing out towards the neighborhood and enlivening the streetscape. The building’s color palette pulls from Georgia’s red clay soil and masonry buildings on campus.

Project Team:

Studio Gang Architects along with Goode VanSlyke Architecture

BDR Program Managers

Turner Construction

Learn about the building’s grand opening