Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2004

Contact: Angie Joe
713.743.8153 (office)
713.617.7138 (pager)
ajoe@uh.edu

EDITOR’S NOTE: An artist rendering of the Oran M. Roberts Elementary Outdoor Performing Arts Stage is available upon request.

PHOTO OP: ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS AT UH CRAFT
NEW HOME FOR APPRENTICE PERFORMERS

Performing and visual art apprentices at Oran M. Roberts Elementary soon will have a new home to strut their stuff.

First-year graduate students in the University of Houston Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture Design/Build Studio were charged with designing and building a venue that would allow the public magnet school for the visual and performing arts to showcase the talents of its students and community residents. The project, sited on the southeast lawn of the campus playground, also functions as a component of the neighborhood park, enhanced for after-school use through the City of Houston’s SPARK program. The Oran M. Roberts Elementary Outdoor Performing Arts Stage will offer a generous space for performances of drama, music, dance and gymnastics. Students expect to complete the structure by Aug. 18.

The Graduate Design/Build Studio is in its 15th year. The studio designs and constructs site-specific solutions to climate-influenced building problems for local nonprofit organizations, focusing often on outdoor classrooms and multipurpose shade structures. Community projects are supported by project recipients, donated student labor, in-kind services and equipment, additional fund donations and professional services.

Eighteen graduate students are working on the design and construction of the Oran M. Roberts Elementary Outdoor Performing Arts Stage with the assistance of local architects and instructors and under the guidance of Design/Build professor, Patrick Peters.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.