CSUB celebrates opening of Media Arts Center

Renovated building serves as dedicated home on campus for art and communications majors

By California State University, Bakersfield

November 7^th, 2023

Art and communications majors now have a newly renovated space on campus to call their own.

California State University, Bakersfield held a grand opening today for the new Media Arts Center (MAC), formerly known as the Performing Arts building. The $7.5 million renovation includes an art exhibit space, darkroom, printmaking facilities, a digital media studio, computer lab, sound booths and faculty offices.

“The Media Arts Center is a brick-and-mortar symbol of the guiding mission of CSUB. We put our students first, and we do that by offering them a hands-on education that allows them to use and refine the skills they are taught in the classroom,” said President Lynnette Zelezny. “We are so very proud of the new Media Arts Center, which will become a showplace for CSUB excellence and ingenuity.”

While students have already began utilizing the MAC for a few projects, classes won’t start being held there until the spring semester. Dr. Robert Frakes, dean for the School of Arts and Humanities, said he is looking forward to seeing the center reach its full potential next year.

“This creates a center of excellence for art and communications in a real way,” he said. “It’s going to be transformative for the students because it gives them so many opportunities for hands-on learning in a way they didn’t have before. It’s going to help them learn better and prepare better for careers in their fields.”

This is the first time that the Communications Department has had a dedicated space. Historically, the department has been housed in the Business Development Center, with classes spread out across campus. With the Media Arts Center, the department now has a centralized hub to support students in its three concentrations: journalism, public relations and digital media.

“I am excited about our new building and the facilities, as Department of Communications’ students now have a place that they can call their ‘home,’” said Dr. Md Abu Naser, chair of the department. “They can utilize all the facilities at MAC and our cutting-edge new equipment for their class projects. This would help them to better prepare themselves for the ever-changing job market. I want the students to know that this is their facility, and they are the primary stakeholders.”

Communications is the largest department within the School of Arts and Humanities with more than 150 students, according to Dr. Frakes.

'The culmination of a dream'

The Media Arts Center gives new life to a building that was being underutilized. Many of the performing arts programs that it originally supported have migrated to newer facilities, such as the music building.

The idea of renovating the Performing Arts building has been around since 2012, but it wasn’t until President Lynnette Zelezny joined CSUB in 2018 that the university committed to the project.

Dr. Zelezny realized the need for an updated space for art and communications majors after Dr. Frakes gave her a tour of the building soon after she started working at the university.

“As we walked through the building, I saw nothing but outdated facilities and cramped classrooms that did not give our communications and art students the first-class education they deserved,” she said. “CSUB prioritized a renovation of this building to bring it to the 21st century and beyond. The Media Arts Center is the culmination of a dream that has been in the making for years.”

Renovation of the Media Arts Center began in 2021. Despite some delays due to COVID-19, the university was able to finish most of the work on the building this summer. Some final touches are being made before classes begin at the center next spring.

“It’s fantastic that it has been completed and is seeing the light of day,” said Dr. Frakes. “It’s been a real team effort of so many people coming together. I really appreciate our leadership for staying behind the project and making sure it reaches its conclusion.”

Haydee Barahona, publications editor in chief of The `Runner student newspaper, is excited about the potential of the Media Arts Center. She said the space dedicated for journalism and public relations students is much larger than the classroom they’ve been operating out of.

“We’ve been crammed into this tiny classroom where we can only fit so many people in at one time,” she said. “Now we have a much larger space and there are other areas where we can go in and work on our own stuff.”

Barahona especially thinks the MAC will be great for the digital side of the publication, as students will be able to utilize the media lab and sound booths.

“I think it will give us more opportunities,” she said. “The work that we do is already great, but with this space now we’ll be able to do even more.”

Barahona, who has worked on The `Runner for the past two years, said she’s grateful to see the university provide more support for journalism majors such as herself.