The bus ride from West Irvine Intermediate School in Estill County covered about 90 miles roundtrip, but for many of the roughly 100 third-graders who visited the newly expanded Living Arts and Science Center in early March, the field trip seemed to cover a much further distance.
“It’s been awesome,” said teacher Cindy Robinson. “The kids were able to rotate through four stations and do a lot of hands-on activities. One student said, and I quote, ‘It’s like we were really in space.’”
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Students from Lakeside Christian Academy in Morehead, Kentucky, toured the Living Arts and Science Center's new discovery exhibit area to learn about the solar system and space exploration.
Although the official grand opening of LASC’s 11,000-square-foot contemporary addition will take place in April, visitors in March got their first look at some of the facility’s new amenities, including the two-story GLO art gallery, the city’s first fixed planetarium and an expanded discovery exhibit area, currently featuring an installation on space exploration.
As visiting students take in lessons on the universe, the center’s 10-person staff has been undertaking its own exploration into the world of opportunities created by a newly expanded facility with a lot more elbow room.
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Heather Lyons, executive director of the Living Arts and Science Center
“We’ve been able to expand and provide dedicated spaces for a lot of the programs that we’ve already been attempting but that have had to share space in the past,” said Heather Lyons, LASC executive director. “With the new space, so much of our programming is going to be able to expand significantly.”
Room to grow
The $5.5 million expansion and renovation project, which more than doubled the center’s previous square footage, has added a clay studio, digital media lab, maker space and teaching kitchen, along with the planetarium and expanded art gallery. A simultaneous renovation of the center’s historic Kinkead House also created a new retail gallery to showcase Kentucky arts and crafts, and updated classroom space and a children’s art gallery, which will feature work from local young artists as well as exchanges of youth exhibits from across the country.
The project also incorporated improvements to the center’s outdoor landscape, with plans to plant native food-producing trees as part of the community’s Urban Orchards program. That will happen along with additional educational planting areas such as butterfly gardens, rain gardens and medicinal herb plantings. In addition, the GLO gallery’s two-story glass wall has opened new opportunities for larger-than-life projections and digital art installations that can be viewed from inside or outside the facility.
“All of these programs really get to bloom now with their own space,” Lyons said. “That will free up a lot of opportunity for the types of classes, the level of sophistication and the technology that students will be able to have access to.”
And the added space couldn’t come soon enough, according to Lyons. In the past five years, LASC’s audience has broadened from its initial service area of central Kentucky, attracting groups from counties throughout Kentucky and occasionally from out of state, and the field trip program has doubled. The center’s outreach efforts have also expanded, with its Wonders on Wheels (WOW) mobile program now traveling statewide.
“We’re really serving each year anywhere from 35 to 45 Kentucky counties,” Lyons said. “And that has been expanding each and every year.”
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LASC's historic Kinkead house, with the 11,000-square-foot contemporary addition to the right
Community asset
The center, which draws more than 40,000 participants per year, also has become a strong asset for the local community, said James Brown, 1st District council member. LASC’s decision to stay downtown and improve its facilities has been building more interest and exposure in an area that is slowly re-establishing its position as a cultural hub for Lexington, Brown said.
“Seeing them put that kind of investment in and revitalize the building, I think, will have an impact on the whole area,” Brown said.
With the emphasis on beautifying the urban landscape, including an entrance garden planned by landscape architect Jon Carloftis, and the Legacy Trail extension slotted to run along Fourth Street, Brown said the changes are creating a more attractive and walkable environment for everyone.
“The more pedestrian friendly you can make that area, the more inviting it will be,” Brown said.
That open and inviting spirit is something that Lyons said the center is trying to emphasize with its planned offerings for the community as well. Lyons wants to promote the center not only as a great place for a workshop class or a school trip, but also a day-trip destination in its own right. To encourage families to make use of the expanded center, LASC is launching Discovery Saturdays in April. Visitors will be able to drop in to check out the exhibits at their leisure, tinker with a new project at the maker space, and take in a star-filled show at the planetarium.
“The Discovery Saturdays will be an opportunity that we just didn’t have before with the limited space,” Lyons said. “We can throw the doors open now.”
Planning and funding
Planning for the facility expansion began six years ago, as the center’s programming was beginning to suffer from the constraints of the original building’s limited space, Lyons said. The capital campaign, headed up by Harriet Dupree Bradley, was kicked off with a $1 million matching grant from the Lucille Little Foundation. The William Stamps Farish Fund also contributed $1 million to the eff ort, along with signifi cant donations from Joe Craft, the Mt. Brilliant Family Foundation, the William R. Kenan Charitable Trust, and many others.
“Kids have contributed, along with students, families, businesses, and great philanthropists in the community,” Lyons said. “It has come from every type of supporter and participant here at the center.”
To date, LASC has raised $5.3 million for the project.
“We are still raising funds to finish up and to be able to acquire the technology and the equipment that we want to include in the building, and to finish the grounds,” Lyons said. “But it has been an amazing journey, when I look back.”
The center will also be using its new space to host its H’Artful of Fun fundraising event — this year as a grand opening celebration — on April 23, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. The catered event will feature live music and entertainment, a silent and live auction and a Golden Ticket raffle, along with a chance to experience the new space in action. Tickets for the event cost $100 in advance, or $120 if purchased after April 11.
“This is the 26th year [for H’Artful of Fun], and it has never before been able to be held in our own facility,” Lyons said. “People will be able to see artists at work and the planetarium, and really get a sense of the building switched on.”
For more information on LASC and its offerings or to buy tickets for the H’Artful of Fun event, visit the center’s website at www.lasclex.org.