Notre Dame's new Center for Arts and Culture, established by the Institute for Latino Studies, aims to celebrate cultural diversity through art and community.
The Center will host an open house today and give tours of its inaugural exhibition from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. and from 3 to 7 p.m.
The Center is located in the West Washington National Historic District of South Bend beside the Indiana Center for History, the Center's executive director GilbertoCardenas said. The Center houses a printmaking studio, an art gallery and the University's Office of Community Relations.
"This whole area will become a cultural area," Cardenas said. "That's another reason we selected to have the center here."
The Center's internationally-known fine-art print studio, Segura Publishing, was previously located in Tempe, Ariz. Cardenas said this printmaking studio will fill a unique niche in the community.
"There's not a single print studio like this that does lithography, etching and woodcuts in northern Indiana or southwestern Michigan," he said. "If you're just graduating or a student, there are hardly any opportunities at facilities like this. But hopefully, in time, we'll create opportunities for artists in this region to work."
Cardenas said the first works to be featured at the Crossroads Gallery will be by artist Martina Lopez, a photography professor at Notre Dame. Cardenas said he hopes to feature a wide variety of artists in the future.
"We're hopeful some of our international programs will help us bring in artists from around the world, from South Africa or Latin America," he said. Cardenas said the Center will seek to create and display art "to address social issues that affect all Americans and people throughout the world: hunger, health, justice."
The Center aims to offer opportunities for students and faculty to apply their artistic skills and work off campus, Cardenas said.
"We hope to soon have student work study, interns, people who want to learn more about the arts and people involved in marketing," Cardenas said. "We also want to have a visiting lecture series, to bring in lecturers who are involved in community arts to lecture [at the Center] or on campus."
Cardenas said the Center wants to have a strong connection with the University and the community, as well as with other universities in the area.
"We're hopeful that we will be able to attract students and faculty and campus units to get involved with us for a mutual benefit," he said.