Doug Rosenberg, a professor of video, performance, and installation art and chair of the Art Department, tells Tone he had noticed an old loading dock in the Arts Lofts building that was filled with forgotten furniture and junk. Rosenberg tells Tone, though, that it “was an artist’s dream space.”

Now, after serious rehabilitation from the School of Education’s dean’s office, campus partners, and the Art Department, Backspace is a “bright, well-lit room, with crisp, white walls 23 feet high and nearly 50 feet long on one side, and two garage doors on the other,” according to Tone.

Master of fine arts candidate and sculptor Mariah Tate Klemens comments on the space, telling Tone that “it’s really interesting because of how large it is, and because it was a loading dock, there are some interesting dimensions and things you don’t often see in other spaces.”

Back in March, second-year MFA student Yoshinori Asai’s MA exhibition “Dear Mr. Good” was the first student show at Backspace. Originally planning on using Gallery 7, Asai was thrilled when he was able to use the new space for his installation. In addition to a longer installation period and show, Asai tells Tone that Backspace helped transform his show into something totally different.

According to Tone, Backspace is more than a student gallery. Milwaukee artist Shane Walsh showed there earlier this year, and Cara Jaye, a Washington-based artist, will show there from April 22 through May 17. Backspace is also run by students, offering an opportunity for professional development and insight into the curatorial side of art. Rosenberg hopes that this will eventually be a paid opportunity for graduate students, and is optimistic about the future of Backspace.

Read the Tone article here.