Art Chowder September | October, Issue 23 | Page 36

The Living Room with View of the Fireplace
The oil painting over the mantel, A Young Woman with One
Shoulder Undraped [this author’s title] is by American illustrator
Frank Xavier Leyendecker (1878-1924). The French-style pair
of figurines above the piano on the right are Dresden ware. The
Louis XV style piano is by Kranich & Bach, c. 1905.
photo: Melville Holm es
M
iss Woldson had bequeathed over
50 million dollars to the university,
largely in order to build a performing arts
center on campus. A part of this project
would include exact reconstructions
of four rooms on the main floor of
her home, with all the artworks and
furnishings exactly where she had
arranged them. (By the way, Gonzaga
also got that silly little parking lot in
Seattle.)
The Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts
Center officially opened at Gonzaga
University in Spokane, Washington, with
a gala performance on April 25, 2019.
More than a mere performance venue, the
Center is also a state-of-the-art, cutting-
edge, interdisciplinary performing arts
educational facility and laboratory.
It is the result of what amounted to a
collaborative “think tank” among faculty,
staff, architects, engineers, designers, and
experts on lighting and sound, who brain-
stormed over what was necessary and
how to maximize the possibilities.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE
View of the Reproduced Living Room with Fireplace, as built in the Performing Arts Center
photo: Gonzaga University, Zack Berlat
While the building’s distinctive asymmetrical style remains a far cry from Miss
Woldson’s classical taste, the cost of a historical revival would surely have
consumed much of what went into its serious functionality.
At 57,550 square feet, the Center is a masterpiece of environmental engineering.
Designed principally by Pfeiffer Partners of Los Angeles, the building is
outfitted with new theatrical lighting and equipment that uses less than 20
percent of what would be needed for traditional lighting and equipment.
Solar panels on the roof provide on-site renewable energy. LED lighting is
used throughout, and because the theatrical lighting is digitized it can also be
creatively colorized.