Creative Spaces
Creativity Across Campus
At the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology, students are immersed in a dynamic environment equipped with cutting-edge resources. From state-of-the-art creative labs boasting leading-edge technologies to an extensive Games and Media Library (GML) housing over 1,000 digital and analog games, including classics and new releases, students are empowered to explore, create, and innovate.
At the Bass School, teaching and learning happen across the university campus. Each space is designed specifically for the research and instruction of arts, humanities, and emerging technologies. Students learn in a lecture format in one class and then work in a makerspace in another. Research labs and centers, 2D, 3D, AR/VR and creative practice studios, traditional and media libraries, galleries, and leading-edge and conventional classrooms allow full access to technologies aligned with industry demands.
The Edith O’Donnell Arts & Technology Building (ATC)
Created to showcase the visual arts and designed around a neighborhood cluster concept to foster collaboration at the intersection of arts, humanities, engineering, and computer science, the 157,920-square-foot facility houses academic programs for the Bass School.
Designed by award-winning STUDIOS Architects, who also designed Google headquarters, the ATC building creates a gateway to the campus. Completed in 2013 and certified LEED Silver, it features multi-story open areas with various interactive spaces and allows for the exhibiting of artist work. It also provides a public transitional zone, encouraging interaction with passersby between the adjacent central campus mall and the labs and studios inside. The building includes flexible instruction spaces, creative practice studios and research labs, galleries, conference and seminar rooms, faculty and graduate offices, the Dean’s Suite, and the largest venue on campus—the 1,200-seat ATC Lecture Hall.
Traditionally Untraditional
Our programs are grounded in the vital questions of the arts and humanities. Taught within the context of a Tier-1 research university, Bass students can focus on traditional disciplines while integrating technology with history, humanities, communication studies, and performance.
Studios
Painting Studio
Located in the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building, the painting studios are visual arts classrooms fitted with 20-foot floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the space with natural light.
Recording Studio
A Sound Design Studio that houses a state-of-the-art recording studio complete with a baby grand piano, two sound booths, voice-over rooms, and the necessary leading-edge technology to record sound for video, music, and more.
Motion Capture Studio
The Motion Capture Studio houses 16 Vicon optical motion capture cameras comprised of eight MS13 1.3mp cameras and eight MX40 4mp cameras. An LED array pulses at 120hz surrounds the cameras to capture light reflected from an object wearing motion capture markers.
3D Studio
Our 3D Studio provides a space for exploring art, design, and technology through intensive project-based studio practice. Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) tools such as laser cutters, mills, large format 2D printers, and 3D scanners/printers provide a discovery platform for collaboration and invention, resulting in works that resonate beyond the school and into the larger university community.
Makerspace
Performance
Galleries
SP/N Gallery
Our SP/N Gallery is a 6,000-square-foot complex designed to host a series of evolving exhibitions, allowing students, faculty, and guest artists to present their work. The gallery is also home to the University’s Comer Collection of Photography.
AHT Gallery
This dedicated space located at ATC 3.102 offers a transient and dynamic setting for exhibitions and installations, encouraging a constant flow of creative expression. This gallery promotes sharing unique perspectives and contributions with a broader audience, fostering collaboration and appreciation within our creative community.
Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum
Phase I of the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum serves as a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art, introduces the UT Dallas Art Museums and the Brettell Reading Room, and features a conservation studio, seminar room, museum shop, exhibition corridor, and lecture and event area.
Phase II, scheduled to be completed in 2026, will feature a 680-seat performance hall and music building and will seamlessly integrate with Phase I.
Research Opportunities
The Bass School is a place for transdisciplinary research, preservation, and teaching. We are home to research centers, labs, studios, collections, a usability lab, a games and media library, galleries, and museums that encourage investigating and exploring the arts, humanities, and emerging technologies.
