Windgate Center of Art + Design
The Windgate Center of Art + Design (WCAD) boasts 15+ studios, classrooms, and labs with ample student work area in a 65,500 square foot facility. The WCAD received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certification for its commitment to sustainability, energy and water efficiency, atmosphere and indoor environmental quality, and its focus on reusable and recyclable materials and resources.
To schedule a tour or to visit the Windgate Center of Art + Design, please email the Administrative Analyst, Kristi Pruett at kncrow@ualr.edu.
The Woodworking and Furniture Design emphasis area studio includes a fully-equipped instructional wood shop. The woodworking studio includes a machine room with state of the art dust collection, a bench room, an advanced student studio, spray booth, and a grinding/sanding room. Our woodworking equipment includes:
- 2 Sawstop safety-equipped table saws
- Miter saw
- Radial arm saw
- 20” band saw
- 14” band saw
- 2 lathes
- Thickness sander
- 20” planer
- 12” jointer
- Square mortiser
- Spindle, belt, and disc sanders
- Router table and multi-router
- Woodmizer saw mill
The WCAD woodworking studio is equipped with a 4′ x 8′ ShopBot CNC router and 24″ x 36″ BOSS laser cutter. Our digital fabrication studio has resin and PLA 3D printers as well as 3D scanners. Students can work in one of our computing labs equipped with Rhino 3D, Fusion360, and Adobe Creative Cloud.
Our Metal Fab studio is equipped for welding, metal fabrication, blacksmithing, and foundry work. Equipment includes:
- MIG, TIG, and oxy acetylene welders
- Plasma cutters
- Step shear
- Drill press
- Cold cutoff saw and large horizontal band saw
- Vertical band saw
- Pedestal grinder and Bader wheel belt sander
- Sand blasting cabinet
- Di-Acro rotary bender
- Flypress
- Complete smithing setup including LP, natural gas, and coal forges, hammers, anvils, treadle hammer, and an industrial power hammer
- Comprehensive foundry facility for casting bronze and aluminum
The studio for the Ceramics emphasis area consists of a studio/teaching area, clay-mixing and storage area, a large shared courtyard, loading dock, glaze lab, and a gas and electric kiln room.
- The main teaching room has 12 electric wheels, a Slab roller, an extruder, large working tables, and shelving space for a student. All students have access to the locker in the hallway way and the shelving unit in the studio space for their work and tools.
- The clay mixing room has two Blue Bird mixers and a de-airing pug mill. And the room is equipped with a ventilation system.
- The glaze lab has sinks, a spray booth, glazes and materials, and a semi-enclosed structure with ventilation to mix glazes.
- The kiln area has seven electric kilns, one gas kiln, one soda kiln (atmospheric kiln), a Raku kiln, and one test kiln.
The Metals and Jewelry emphasis area consists of a main studio and teaching area, advanced student studio, wet room, casting and enameling room, and hammer room.
The main studio and teaching area can accommodate 16 students with jewelry benches for each. It has four individual soldering stations, utilizing acetylene, with one dedicated annealing station. Each soldering station comes equipped with ventilation. There is an additional pickling and neutralizing station.
Equipment in the main studio includes:
- Guillotine Bench Shear
- 2 Drill Presses
- 2 Micro Tig Welders
- 6 communal flex shafts
The wet room includes finishing, chemical use, mold making and wax injection, and alternative materials along with:
- 1 single barrel tumbler
- 1 double barrel tumbler
- Ottosonic
- Vulcanizer
- Wax injector
The casting and enameling room is a dual purpose room and includes:
- 2 paragon enameling kilns
- 1 casting Kiln with hood ventilation
- Oxygen and Acetylene Casting Torch
The hammer room has a wide variety of equipment available for use:
- Vertical band sad
- Vertical belt sander
- Large selection of hammers, stakes, and bench blocks
- Beverly Shear
- Hydraulic Press
- Dapping sets
- Planishing sets
- Circle cutter
- Bench brake
- Plate roller
- Polishing machine
The Photography program teaches courses in both digital and chemical photography.
The Main Classroom is equipped as a digital space and includes:
- 12 Mac Mini computers with high resolution LG computer displays
- 2 Epson SureColor P7000 24″ printers
- 8 Epson Perfection V700 negative scanners
The Darkroom Suite includes a film developing space, a silver-gelatin darkroom, and an alternative process darkroom. Notable equipment includes:
- 8 Beseler 45MXT Enlargers with Arista Variable Control Heads
- VerifiedUV 365nM LED Super Exposure System, 22×30 unit
- D&K 550 26×34″ Dry Mount Press
The Lighting Studio is a large open space that provides plenty of room to photograph large sets. Notable equipment includes:
- Dynalite power pack lighting systems
- Alien Bee monolight systems
- LED continuous lighting systems
- 10 Century Stands with knuckles and arms
- Manfrotto Super Boom
The Brad Cushman Gallery on Level 2, has just over 1,800 square feet of floor space and just over 181 running wall feel. Two 6’ 8” tall x 12” long movable walls can be positioned anywhere in the gallery and remain in the gallery at all times.
The Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery on Level 1, has 1,000 square feet of floor space and just over 136 running wall feet. Two 6’ 8” tall x 8” long movable walls can be positioned anywhere in the gallery and can be stored if not needed for exhibition purposes.
The Focus Gallery on Level 2, is an intimate space with 390 square feet of floor space and 44 running wall feet.
Permanent Art Collection
This area has just over 1,800 works of art in a variety of media. The collection holds artworks by UA Little Rock students, and regional, national, and internationally known artists.