With Water Table and 'Whispering' Benches, $3.6 Million Plaza Will Offer Space for Study and Reflection while Expanding Venues for Performing and Exhibiting Art

Renowned artist Maya Lin will join UC Irvine Chancellor Michael V. Drake and other university officials, students and community members to dedicate the new 30,000-square-foot, high-tech outdoor arts plaza 4 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 25. The transformed plaza creates space for contemplation and creative interaction, while expanding the university's venues for performing and exhibiting new media art.

Lin, an internationally acclaimed artist known for designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., was commissioned in 2000 to make over the Claire Trevor School of the Arts' bland concrete courtyard built in the 1960s.

"I'm thrilled to be participating in this celebration," said Lin. "My hope with this space is that it will draw people in to the theaters and art venues to see that something special is going on here. My intention was to create an art installation where the overall concept was based on art and perception, and that would bring a sense of unification and identity to the arts school."

The $3.6-million plaza blends art and technology to offer an outside learning and gathering place for students, faculty and the community.

"We're honored to have worked with Maya Lin on the creation of the arts plaza," said Nohema Fernández, arts dean. "This exciting public space stands as a tribute to all the traditional art forms and at the same time unites technology and new media art to inspire and stretch the imagination. It will enhance the community and cultural life on campus and serve as a destination point for arts in Southern California."

The new plaza features one of Lin's signature fountains, a water table, flanked by "whispering" benches playing music and poetry. Lin sees the table and benches as the heart of the plaza and calls it "the drawing room" -- a place that offers space for study and reflection. Opposite the drawing room is a 200-seat amphitheater with natural seating where live performances and film and video screenings will be held. The plaza also features a digital exhibition space with four screens that are Web-linked to display images from around the world along with more local exhibits of digital art or video. Three pathways with multicolored lighting lead visitors into the plaza at the school's center. A landscape of fragrant and colorful plants, including native flowers and orange trees, flows throughout the plaza. Lin collaborated with noted Santa Monica landscape architect Pamela Burton on the project.

The dedication event is open to the public and will feature live music, drama and dance performances, and a showing of Takagi Masakatsu's video art.

The Arts Plaza is the final component of the school's renovation funded by a capital campaign that began in the late 1990s. This effort has renovated Winifred Smith Hall, converted the Village Theatre into the Claire Trevor Theatre, and established the Beall Center for Art and Technology, and CyberA Café. Newport Beach residents and longtime UCI supporters Marilyn and Thomas Nielsen led the fundraising for the Arts Plaza.