Art Institute

Art Institute

Written by Christi Covington Friday, 07 December 2007

Higher education gets artistic bend with new school

Round Rock is about to add another dimension to its opportunities for higher education.

Next spring, the nationally recognized Art Institute will open a school in the former Farmers Insurance building, now named Frontera Crossing, at Toll 45 and IH 35, according to David Putman, executive vice president at Moore & Associates.

“It is pretty exciting,” Putman said. “It rounds out the higher education we have here.”

So far, three other higher education entities have stamped their claim on Round Rock, including Texas State University, Austin Community College and Texas A&M University.

These schools all provide a range of studies with medical programs a dominant theme. However, the Art Institute brings its own obvious emphasis—art.

While AI is not yet ready to discuss its plans in Central Texas, the Education Management Corporation Web site listed 10 positions available for the Art Institute of Austin, including everything from an accounting supervisor to a president. Putman said they plan to open by next April.

The school will be called the Art Institute of Austin because of its Austin postal address, although it actually lies in Round Rock city limits. By mid-November, a banner hung on the building facing IH 35 announcing the new tenant.

At this time, of the more than 35 Art Institute schools in the United States, Texas has two with one in Dallas and one in Houston. Many of the schools offer four different genres of art, including media, design, fashion and culinary. Round Rock’s location will have all of the programs except culinary, Putman said.

Under these headings, AI studies can include everything from fashion design to media arts and animation to industrial design technology.

Both of the current Texas institutes in Dallas and Houston offer either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.

Moore & Associates began seeking AI as a tenant this summer soon after purchasing the building from Farmers Insurance in June. The school will lease around 40,000 sq. ft. of the first floor. The total building has 160,000 sq. ft.

Putman said although Moore & Associates already owns additional Round Rock property at the Summit at La Frontera, they would like to begin acquiring more property in the area because of the transportation infrastructure, surrounding amenities, high visibility and the business climate.

“The same qualities that attracted us were desirable to AI,” he said.