Windgate Hall: A $25 Million Building Where Art and Engineering Students Share a Roof

Arkansas State University has cut the ribbon on Windgate Hall of Art and Innovation, a building that puts students from the Art + Design Department and the College of Engineering and Computer Science into the same working space.

The numbers

• $25 million in total — $20 million in construction and $5 million set aside for building maintenance.
• The hall opened in August 2026, ahead of the autumn semester.
• The Windgate Foundation is the largest single benefactor in the university’s 115-year history, with endowments exceeding $40 million.

The unusual part: two unrelated disciplines under one roof

Putting art students next to engineering students sounds arbitrary, but it is the point of the design. Dr. Kat Baker, chair of the Art + Design Department, said the collaboration with the Windgate Foundation began a decade ago and gives students “state-of-the-art facilities where they can and will engage in craft and expand their creativity”.

The reasoning behind the open project studio is that many problems only yield when viewed through a different lens. An engineering student and a design student standing at the same 3D printer will think of two different uses for it — and that gap is where the value sits.

What it means for international students

The building is open from the first day of a degree, not reserved for final-year students. If you are aiming at design, art, engineering or computer science, these are facilities you use from your first semester.

Dr. Calvin White Jr., interim chancellor, called the opening “an example of what is possible when vision meets generosity”.

See more about programmes at A-State.

Source: astate.edu