Cornell Fine Arts Center

At a total space of 13,800 square feet, the Cornell Fine Arts Center is located next to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum. The building provides rooms for ceramics, sculpture, photography, drawing, and paining classes along with four faculty offices. Moreover, the storage area provides room for paintings and other artistic works.

The ground-breaking ceremony took place in September 1977 with Rollins President Dr. Jack Critchfield, trustee Mrs. Marylyn Wilson, and Winter Park mayor Byron Villwock in attendance. The Arts Center was largely financed by a gift of $500,000 from George D. Cornell (’35 ’85H) and his wife Harriet Cornell (’90H). Other donors to the building included: Augusta Hume (Rollins ’39), Rose P. Skillman (’60H), and Jessie Ball duPont.

The Cornell Fine Arts Center provides Rollins College as well as the Central Florida community a first-class art facility. The Center allows easy access to practical studio rooms for art students. It enriches students’ understanding of the visual arts and helps them develop more profound appreciation of European and American art and culture. This focal point of beauty and art for Rollins faculty and students is located in close proximity to the music department and the chapel-theatre complex, perfectly blending art with the natural beauty of the lakeside and the majestic oak trees. Ron Wilson of Poole and Fuller’s Garden Village of Winter Park designed the landscaping of the site. The Cornell Art Center has recently undergone significant changes as part of a new round of renovation.