The Ringling College of Art and Design’s Selby Gallery will soon close, according to Ringling College President Dr. Larry Thompson, and the building will be demolished to make way for a new visual arts center in the heart of campus. The gallery’s final show, an exhibition of Cuban art from the Jorge Reynardus Collection, closes Dec. 9, after which the building will be vacated to make way for the new construction. The plan for a new visual arts center has been on the table for a while, according to Thompson—at least since the Brandenburg Studio was torn down amidst the construction of the new library—and a recent generous gift from regular Ringling patrons Richard and Barbara Basch provided the initial funding to get the ball rolling.

Ambitious in scope, the new Basch Visual Arts Center is planned to house facilities for students working in near any medium of their choice, whether it be glass, wood, ceramics, printmaking, photography or digital fabrication, and will be made available for the benefit of all of the school’s students. There will still be gallery space within the new center, said Thompson, but there will also be a significant focus on actual creation, not only display, including the addition of six multi-purpose classrooms within the space. “It will be grounded in the mission of making art and design,” said Thompson, continuing to say that because of this focus, “we felt it would be symbolically appropriate to be located in the center of campus,” leading to the decision to demolish Selby Gallery. “That building is long past its useful life,” said Thompson, “and therefore will come down to make room for this exciting new facility.”

Thompson reports construction is expected to be completed by late 2016, with the gallery and the glass and ceramic studios open by early 2017. The classrooms and remaining facilities, he expects to see “occupied and in full use” in time for the Fall 2017 semester.

But fans of the Selby Gallery need not despair. Though Thompson can’t say at this point whether the gallery in the new space will retain the Selby Gallery name, he said it will likely provide a similar function and display the same style and quality work that Selby visitors have come to expect and enjoy.

“The new buildings support the vision of Ringling College—for us to become the preeminent art and design college worldwide,” said Thompson, referencing the torrent of campus growth in the past years, including not only the Basch Visual Arts Center, but the announced soundstage and incoming Sarasota Museum of Art, as well as new academic programs such as a bachelor of arts program in Critical and Visual Studies and a bachelor of fine arts program in Creative Writing to be introduced in Fall 2016. “As a result, our graduates become even more competitive in the employment marketplace and able to begin successful careers as artists and designers.”