The Gordon Parks Arts Hall opened in September 2015 at the University of Chicago. The new building provides programs in theater, music and the visual arts with new performance halls, studios, rehearsal and practice rooms, a digital media lab, and more.
The George Lucas Family Foundation committed $25 million to the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in support of the schools' new arts hall. George Lucas and Mellody Hobson requested the new building be named in honor of the iconic photographer, writer, film director, and musician, Gordon Parks. The new Gordon Parks Arts Hall Lab has 94,000 square feet on three stories, with art spaces that match the talent of the students and teachers who use them. With a new 250-seat Sherry Lansing Theater, a 150-seat drama studio, and a 700-seat assembly hall, the Gordon Parks Arts Hall dramatically increases the Lab Schools' ability to support theater and music programs. Four art studios and specially outfitted spaces for music practice and performance, photography and digital facilities are among the many features of the new building.
Gordon Parks: An American Story, an exhibition curated by The Gordon Parks Foundation, was the inaugural show at the Gordon Parks Arts Hall, on view from September 8- November 25, 2015.