Shannon Fugate is the executive director of The Baum School of Art. The school has just broken ground on its Centennial Expansion and Renovation Project, which represents a significant enhancement to the school’s facilities in honor of its approaching 100-year anniversary and will position the institution to serve the Lehigh Valley community for the next century. We connected with Fugate to learn more about the school and how this major development will serve the students.
Can you tell us a little about The Baum School of Art and its students?
Founded in 1926 by Pennsylvania Impressionist Walter Emerson Baum, The Baum School of Art has served as a cornerstone of arts education in the Lehigh Valley for nearly a century. Baum established the school on a fundamental belief that no one should be denied the opportunity to study art due to financial constraints — a principle that continues to guide our mission of enriching lives through arts education.
The Baum School serves an extraordinarily diverse community of over 3,700 students annually across more than 300 courses. Our students span all ages, backgrounds and skill levels, creating a vibrant learning environment where creativity flourishes.
Walk through our classrooms on any given day and you’ll witness the breadth of our community: seven-year-olds experiencing the tactile joy of clay for the first time, teenagers building portfolios for college applications, working professionals attending evening classes to nurture their creative side and retirees finally pursuing lifelong artistic dreams. Some students are absolute beginners taking their first tentative steps into art-making, while others are accomplished artists seeking to refine their techniques or explore new mediums.
What unites this diverse group is a shared passion for creative exploration and personal growth through the visual arts. Whether someone arrives as a curious beginner or an experienced practitioner, they find encouragement, expert instruction and a supportive community that celebrates artistic journey at every level. We offer classes in traditional fine arts like painting, drawing and sculpture, alongside digital arts, fashion design and jewelry/metalsmithing.
A rendering of the expansion to The Baum School of Art by North Star Construction Management. Courtesy of The Baum School of Art.
What are some of the goals of the Centennial Expansion and Renovation Project?
The Centennial Expansion and Renovation Project represents far more than a physical upgrade — it’s a strategic investment in The Baum School of Art’s future that will position us to serve the Lehigh Valley community for the next century. Timed to conclude with our 100-year anniversary celebration in 2026, this transformative initiative encompasses goals that align with our founding mission while preparing us for evolving artistic education needs.
Our first goal addresses the practical reality of our success: we need more space. The project will add significant square footage through a new three-story wing on the southeast side of our building and a second-story addition on the south side. These additions will house gallery spaces, a specialized youth classroom, a life drawing and painting studio and a spacious multipurpose classroom designed to accommodate our growing enrollment. This expansion will allow us to increase class offerings and welcome more students into our community.
While honoring traditional artistic practices, we’re committed to providing students with cutting-edge tools for contemporary expression. The renovation includes upgrading our digital arts lab, enhancing photography facilities and creating versatile studio spaces equipped with state-of-the-art technology. This modernization ensures our students can seamlessly transition between traditional mediums like oil painting and sculpture to digital arts, photography and multimedia art.
True to Walter Baum’s founding principle that no one should be denied artistic education, we’re prioritizing accessibility throughout our campus. The renovation will ensure that our programs and physical spaces welcome people of all abilities and backgrounds. This comprehensive approach to inclusivity reinforces our commitment to serving the entire community and reflects our belief that diverse perspectives strengthen artistic education.
Our final goal focuses on deepening our relationship with the broader Lehigh Valley community. The project will create enhanced exhibition spaces and community gathering areas where we can showcase student work, host cultural events and provide venues for artistic dialogue. These spaces will serve as bridges between our school and the region’s cultural landscape, fostering connections that enrich both our students’ experience and the community’s artistic vitality.
Together, these goals ensure that our facilities will match the excellence of our programming as we enter our second century.
The Baum School of Art groundbreaking ceremony on May 15, 2025. Photo by The Baum School of Art trustee Marco Calderon. Courtesy of The Baum School of Art.
Why was this project so important for the school right now?
The timing of our Centennial Expansion and Renovation Project reflects a unique convergence of opportunity, necessity and vision that makes this moment pivotal for The Baum School of Art’s future.
As we approach our 100-year celebration in 2026, we face a profound responsibility: honoring Walter Baum’s legacy while ensuring the school remains vibrant and relevant for the next century. This centennial moment provides both symbolic significance and practical urgency — it’s our opportunity to demonstrate that nearly a century of arts education has prepared us not just to survive, but to lead innovation in creative learning. This expansion is our pledge that the transformative power of arts education will continue to be available to future generations.
Our success has created a pressing challenge. Enrollment has grown steadily over the past decade, with over 3,700 students now taking more than 300 courses annually. Our facilities have reached capacity, forcing us to have extensive wait lists and limit program expansion. The community’s enthusiasm for arts education has outpaced our physical ability to serve them — expansion isn’t just desirable, it’s essential to fulfill our mission.
Additionally, the Lehigh Valley is experiencing remarkable cultural and economic growth, with increasing recognition of the creative economy’s importance. New galleries, cultural venues and arts-focused businesses are emerging throughout the region. By enhancing our facilities now, we’re positioning The Baum School to continue to have a central leadership role in this cultural renaissance, contributing both skilled artists and innovative programming to the region’s creative ecosystem.
Will there be any programming changes in conjunction with the physical changes to the school?
Absolutely! Our physical expansion serves as the foundation for significant programming enhancements that will deepen our community impact and expand educational opportunities.
The most significant programming development involves our enhanced capacity for community outreach, made possible through the Dorothy Rider Pool Endowment for Culture, Arts and Education. This transformational funding allows us to dramatically expand our outreach through comprehensive scholarship programs and targeted community initiatives. These include free after-school programs, to summer camps, to initiatives for students with disabilities, to providing access for veterans and seniors. The expanded physical space provides the classroom and studio capacity needed to serve these diverse populations simultaneously, ensuring that our core mission of accessible, high-quality arts education reaches every corner of our community.
We’re expanding our STEAM programming (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) to emphasize the crucial connections between artistic thinking and other disciplines. These programs utilize our new technology resources while maintaining strong foundations in hands-on creativity, demonstrating how artistic processes enhance problem-solving.
Our programming expansion transforms The Baum School into an even more vibrant community art school. The new gallery spaces and multipurpose areas enable us to host regular lecture series, community exhibitions and collaborative projects with local organizations, museums and cultural institutions.
Photo by The Baum School of Art trustee Holly Harter. Courtesy of The Baum School of Art.
How do students at The Baum School of Art connect with other artisans in the Lehigh Valley?
Connecting students with the broader artistic community is fundamental to our educational philosophy. We create multiple pathways for meaningful engagement with practicing artists, cultural institutions and the vibrant creative community throughout the Lehigh Valley.
Our robust programming serves as the primary intersection between students and the regional arts community. Our annual art auction showcases regional artwork alongside student pieces, fostering connections and inspiring growth. Throughout the year, local, national and international artists are featured in exhibitions that include artist talks and opening receptions. Annual student exhibitions provide platforms for emerging artists to share work with peers and the broader community.
We regularly host visiting artist workshops, lectures and residencies that expose students to specialized techniques and professional insights. Our faculty members are practicing artists deeply connected to the regional arts community, serving as bridges to professional opportunities including exhibitions, commissions and career development resources. Additionally, we maintain ongoing relationships with galleries, museums, cultural centers and arts organizations throughout the region.
Our Centennial Expansion will strengthen these vital community connections through dedicated gallery spaces and multipurpose areas that accommodate more frequent exhibitions, artist talks and collaborative events with partner institutions.
—Carly Timpson
