Hancock College celebrates opening of new state-of-the art Fine Arts Complex

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- A dream decades in the making has become reality at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.

The long-planned new Fine Arts Complex recently opened for instruction, completing a goal of the community college to consolidate all of its fine arts and performing arts programs under one roof.

"It's overwhelming and much-needed," said Hancock College Fine Arts Chair John Hood. "We're excited to be in a space that's been a two-dimensional drawing for many, many years and to be able to actually walk inside the blue prints now and experience these spaces that were so abstract to us is just a dream come true."

The gleaming two-story building represents a revolutionary step forward for the school, providing classroom and office space for its visual arts, multimedia and applied design, photography, film and video, dance and music programs.

"The building is 88,000-square-feet of brand-new technology, cutting-edge technology, sustainability, environmental management, energy management, and opening inviting spaces for our students to learn in," said Steve Marshall, Hancock College Facilities Director. "We're not only providing performing spaces for our fine arts program, music, dance, graphics, painting, each space is also has multiple educational elements and capabilities from learning, so our students come here to learn the book, but they also learn the application, and how to translate the book knowledge into real working knowledge."

Other amenities located in the modern, sleek facility includes a 400-seat music venue, dance and music rehearsal space, art and pottery studios, student lounge areas and a film screen room.

"The Fine Arts Complex is one of the largest projects our college has taken on and we are incredibly excited to invite the community to come experience it," said Allan Hancock College Superintendent/President, Kevin Walthers, Ph.D. "This complex is not the hub for fine arts learning and collaboration at Hancock and a tremendous asset to the community."

Funding for the approximately $48.4 million facilty was paid through the local voter-approved Bond Measure I.

"This is a shining star, not only for Allan Hancock, but also for Santa Maria and our community has a whole," said Marshall. "It is an incredible learning environment that I think is rare to find on a community college. It is a university level and university caliber building and educational opportunity for our community."

A groundbreaking was held in September 2020 and the building officially opened to students at the start of the spring semester in January 2023.

"We feel like this building is a reflection of what we already had, which were strong programs, strong faculty, passionate students, but now, with the quality of this building, it's kind of the epicenter for the Central Coast fine arts," said Hood.

A grand opening celebration is scheduled on Friday, Feb. 24 from 4-6 p.m. The free event is open to the public and will include a ribbon cutting ceremony, self-guided tours and live demonstrations by Hancock students and instructors.