The new Theatre, Film and Media Arts Building opened for classes and events this semester, featuring five floors of performing arts spaces as part of a $165.3 million project.
Located on College Road near Annie and John Glenn Avenue, the building replaced the previous Drake Performing Arts Center located on West Campus, which housed the university’s theater program since 1972, according to the school’s website.
Brad Steinmetz, associate professor of theatre, film and media arts, said the new building’s proximity to other arts majors and the Wexner Center for the Arts will allow for collaboration between various students and the Ohio State community with the department moving from their previously isolated location.
“Because we’re all together, those collaborations with our colleagues and with students across different programs is what I’m most excited about,” Steinmetz said.
In addition to classrooms and offices, Steinmetz said the new building also features studios and performance spaces such as the black box theater.
Canter Barnes, a second-year in moving image production, said being in the center of the Arts District will give them the opportunity to use art students’ talents in their films.
“Since we’re in the same building as actors, we can just ask them to be in our projects,” Barnes said.
The $165.3 million project fund included building both the Timashev Family Music Building and the Theatre, Film and Media Arts Building, according to the department website.
Though music students have already been using the Timashev space, the newest building provides more resources for various arts majors to take advantage of.
Brynne Mosteller, a fourth-year in music and English, said she’s particularly excited to see building features like sound technology, which will allow performers to adjust their sound to replicate various performance settings.
“That’s a feature that music students don’t have in the Timashev,” Mosteller said. “I could see a lot of us going over to use that because it’s really helpful.”
