Crowds gathered to celebrate the newly opened Visual Arts Building on Oct 18, 1975. Source: CSU Libraries Digital and Archive Services.
By KAILEEN GRUBER
The Ramspondents
The Visual Arts building at Colorado State University is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, with the Hatton Gallery featuring a capsule exhibition. This special exhibition was curated by director of exhibitions and community engagement, Xinran Yuan, and director of the Stanley G. Wold resource center, Anna Bernhard. The exhibition will open to the public on Oct. 17 2025.
The Visual Arts building and Hatton Gallery have had a long history since its opening date on Oct. 18 1975. Named after the founder of the art department, Clara Hatton, the department brought a new wave of creativity to CSU.
“We as a department didn't have a home for decades, and I think having a home for the visual arts is a really special thing” Yuan said. “A lot of people today perhaps take for granted having a home for the arts”
The unification of the arts departments and the rest of the university came in 1966, when Dr. Perry Ragouiz was hired as the department chair for the visual arts building. Dr. Ragouiz created a citizens committee, which was composed of CSU students and parents to push for a facility dedicated to the arts.
Newspaper clipping from 1970 displays Dr. Ragouiz organizing tours to show the severity of health and safety threats of the temporary spaces that arts students were using. Source: reproduced pages from the Rocky Mountain Collegian, CSU Libraries.
Newspaper clipping from 1970 displays Dr. Ragouiz organizing tours to show the severity of health and safety threats of the temporary spaces that arts students were using. Source: reproduced pages from the Rocky Mountain Collegian, CSU Libraries.
“It’s a necessary presence on campus," Bernhard said.
Ground broke in 1973, on land that was previously a turkey farm, to open up the Visual Arts building. Previously, the arts students had been taking their classes in many temporary places across campus like the Spruce Hall annex and the Old Main basement.
However ,through the efforts put forth by several CSU community members and Ragouiz, the arts had finally made their place in the university known and formally recognized in the form of a new building for students to create and explore all the arts has to offer.
“Doing this exhibition really allowed me to see throughout the generations in the department,” Yuan said. “There were a lot of hopes and dreams that's related to a more collaborative and unified culture across campus.”
Yuan, Bernhard, and the entire CSU visual arts building welcome all generations of CSU alumni, faculty, students, and families to the 50th Anniversary Celebration and Exhibition from 4:30-7:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the Hatton Gallery at 551 W. Pitkin St. This opening celebration coincides with the beginning of CSU’s annual homecoming and family weekend.
More information and instructions on how to RSVP for this exhibition opening and celebration can.be found on the event website.
Kaileen Gruber is majoring in Journalism and Media Communication as well as minoring in Music Business at CSU. She is the vice president of the Music Business Collective.