Cressman Center for Visual Arts

Cressman Center Galleries
100 East Main Street
Phone: 502.852.0288

Mission

The mission of the Cressman Center for Visual Arts is to educate, engage and excite the community through the visual arts. The Center will function as a space where practice and theory; artists and the public intersect.

The Cressman Center expands the department's studio art and exhibition programs and provides an educational focus for the visual arts within the urban center of the city. Located at the corner of First and Main Streets in the heart of the downtown arts district, the Cressman Center is home to the department's glass program, and provides the public with an opportunity to observe the daily operations of the glass studio. Covering 12,000 square feet, the facility features a hotshop and cold working studios, sculpture studios and shops, a seminar room. The Cressman Center also features the John B. and Bonnie Seidman Roth Gallery, Leonard and Adele Leight Gallery, and the Alice S. and Irvin F. Etscorn Gallery for ongoing exhibitions. See current exhibition at the Cressman Center Galleries.

The Cressman Center will accomplish its mission to:

• Educate our students and the public by providing an educational focus for the visual arts within the urban center of the city. A downtown university-run visual art center forges a connection between the public and the University through the visual arts. The space expands the University's outreach; attracting visitors, creating new audiences, and recruiting prospective students from the region and the nation.
• Engage our students and the public by expanding the University's studio art capabilities. The Cressman Center extended the space for the Department's studio arts program and in particular programs in 3-D studios, including the areas of glass and sculpture. The open design allows student to work in a truly interdisciplinary manner exploring a variety of glass and sculptural media.
• Excite our students and the public by creating a unique environment for interactive fine arts experiences. Visitors are able to see faculty and students at work in various glass and sculptural media in open studios, and at the same time view exciting exhibitions in the galleries, attend lectures and special events, and meet visiting artists and scholars all in one space. The Cressman Center for Visual Arts is a destination for the public where they can experience firsthand the art making process.

The Department of Fine Arts is the largest and most comprehensive art program in the state. Its active and productive faculty composed of artists and scholars form the core of scholarship and research from which the Cressman Center is built, but perhaps the most important strength that ensures the success of the Cressman Center is the cultural wealth of the city of Louisville, and the desire of the University to make a greater contribution to the growth and well-being of the city.

View information about the Department of Fine Art's other facilities and galleries on the Belknap Campus.

Cressman Center Gallery Hours*:

For up to date information on exhibitions and hours, please visit our current exhibitions page.

Group Tours: School & other group tours should contact Jessica Oberdick at 502.852.4437 to make arrangements.

*Please check our calendar for specific dates, as the gallery is closed between exhibitions

Link to current Exhibition at the Cressman Center Galleries.