LEWISTON, Maine 鈥� In recent memory, many a public high school art department was under existential threat of permanent closure. Though that still might be the case in some of the country, the school committee of Lewiston Public Schools in Lewiston, , has taken a decidedly different tack 鈥� they鈥檙e in the midst of conceptualizing a new arts wing at the 1,328-student Lewiston High School.
Though only in the proposal stage, the committee hopes to ascertain the cost and the procedural necessities of bringing its vision of a clean, well-lighted place for art in a collaborative context, versus its current solution of sequestering teenage Picassos in the basement. Though, once upon a time, this might have held appeal to the black trenchcoat-clad, clove cigarette-smoking aspiring artists of yore, issues of ventilation and light as well as noise from delivery trucks have proven incongruent with the program鈥檚 purpose.
At the recommendation of the district鈥檚 facilities committee, which received formal presentations from six companies, the school committee unanimously voted to hire New Hampshire-based architectural firm Lavellee Brensinger to oversee the discovery process. The firm has an office in Portland, Maine, and is also the architect-of-record for Sanford High School, which is about an hour southwest of the Lewiston campus and currently under construction.
Among those on the interview team was Lewiston High School music teacher Darren Avery who was keen on the firm鈥檚 proposed vision of the prospective arts wing. 鈥淭hey had a lot of open concept designs, which is really exciting,鈥� Avery said to the , a local news service.
The firm also brought a civil engineer who explored parking-lot solutions as well as a theater expert who had suggestions as to the kind of performance space the future art wing could have. 鈥淭hese guys brought it all,鈥� Avery told the Sun Journal.
In December, the public is invited to meet in the high school鈥檚 multipurpose room to share its input and identify stakeholders who can contribute to the conceptualization of the project with an eye to having a design concept and possible budget in hand by Spring 2018. For more information, visit .