The decor is industrial chic.

And why not? Hollins University's new Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center is a kind of creativity factory - complete with unpainted pillars and concrete floors.

The $10 million building, erected on the sturdy foundation of the former university library, opened for classes this month, with a formal dedication scheduled for October. To the uninitiated, it still has a Spartan, unfinished look - but those who work here say it's perfect for the sometimes messy business of making and teaching art, film and photography.

Understand: Hollins valued its artists in the past. But the arts offices and studios were tucked around the 160-year-old campus, in former dormitory rooms and musty basements. Students and professors often had to walk across campus to get from studio to gallery to class.

Though their nooks and crannies were often charming, synergy was lacking, said art department head Bill White, whose own studio was a converted kitchen in the dance department.

No more. Thanks in large part to Hollins alum and actress Eleanor "Siddy" Wilson, who remembered Hollins generously in her will, the university now has a visual arts building that White said would do a larger university proud. In fact, said White (who proposed the phrase "industrial chic" to describe the building style), officials from Virginia Tech are planning a visitwith an eye toward building a new arts building of their own.

"It just seems to be a tremendous morale lift for everyone concerned," said Hollins art professor Bob Sulkin.

"We're all in one place. This is our home," said film professor Klaus Phillips. "And I fully expect this building to become a magnet. There's so much space in the hallways to just sit and chat."

Indeed, the whole building, with its rudimentary decor, purple-painted handrails and concrete floor, has the look of a perfect playroom - someplace where an imagination can run large and nobody says "no."

In many ways, the rough-hewn surface is misleading. Unpainted pillars and exposed air ducts notwithstanding, the Wetherill Center is a state-of-the-art arts building, with lavish photo labs and filmmaking studios and a museum built to the exacting specifications necessary to exhibit and safeguard art-world treasures.

Still, the minimalist look can take some getting used to.

"It's a little bland at first," admitted film major April Woods, a junior. She and sophomore Kristen DeBruycker, a philosophy major who has taken art classes, were sitting on the steps of a nearby building on a recent sunny Friday afternoon, as young boys clattered past on skateboards.

"I think it's supposed to have that whole modern, industrial look to it," said DeBruycker. "It kind of distinguishes itself by doing that."

Both students said the arts center is light-years from what they had before, and makes a statement about art at Hollins.

"Now that we have a new building here, it's a lot more appreciated," DeBruycker said.

***

The building was a long time coming.

Conceived more than a decade ago, it grew steadily in the planning stages - thanks largely to Wilson.

A 1930 grad who died childless in 2002 at age 93, Wilson was a painter and actor who had worked with Marlon Brando and was in the 1980 Warren Beatty film, "Reds." The Wetherill arts center is named for her grandfather, banker Richard Wetherill, who once treated Wilson to a trip around the world. On that trip, she met British playwright George Bernard Shaw.

Wilson donated nearly $3 million to the building project in 1992, and another $6.5 million in her will.

She was, however, a canny benefactor who held her cards close to the vest, according to White, who met with her often. Wilson would ask what could be accomplished for a certain sum of money, which she said was all that they were going to get. Once they had come up with a plan to use the money efficiently, however, "She would sweeten the pot," White said.

The end result is a building that exceeded their dreams, complete with a much-improved university art gallery built under the guidance of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.

The Eleanor D. Wilson Museum is not only an opportunity for Hollins students to see and be influenced by great art (a priority of Wilson's) - it is now a major component in Hollins' efforts to serve the wider community. "We're anxious to get people to think that Hollins is not on the other side of the moon," said White.

For its permanent collection, the museum is gathering the university's own scattered art holdings, which include alumni donations, works by former resident artists such as Jack Beal and others by well-regarded regional artists such as Jim Yeatts.

"It's sort of a treasure hunt," said new museum director Wyona Lynch-McWhite.

The museum will also purchase new artworks through an acquisitions fund provided by Wilson, White said.

The museum consists of three galleries, including one with a 20-foot ceiling that could turn other valley museums green with envy. Equipped with state-of-the-art climate control, security and lighting, the museum opened this month with an exhibit of photographs by Hollins grad Sally Mann, whom Time magazine has called America's best photographer, and paintings by highly regarded New York realist Janet Fish. There are also faculty works and a sampling from the university's collection.

"I think this is going to be one of the best quality exhibit spaces in the area," said Lynch-McWhite, who arrived in July to run the museum with help from exhibition and events coordinator Janet Carty. "If you can drive four hours to D.C., you can give us 15 minutes. It's worth the trip."

The museum also has forged a partnership with the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which is hinting at lending major works.

Jeffrey Allison, who runs statewide programs at the VMFA, said they have worked with Hollins from the start to ensure the gallery spaces meet the requirements for top-notch traveling exhibits. The result, he said, is a space superior to any other university gallery in the state except the University of Richmond's.

Indeed, the Hollins museum can even handle some works that the Art Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke cannot, he said, because of the height of Hollins' largest gallery.

So when will the Monets arrive?

Allison wouldn't say never. In fact, artworks of that kind of quality and value "are the things exactly that they'll be able to get," he said.

Asked what precisely the Hollins gallery might receive on loan, however, Allison demurred. "There's something on the burner, but I can't tell you. I would expect to have something of a major nature announced fairly soon."

Susannah Koerber, chief curator of the Art Museum of Western Virginia, said she had not visited the Hollins museum yet, but planned to.

"I have heard wonderful things about it. I think the more venues we have for art, the better," she said. The art museum is hoping to build a new building itself, to be located behind Billy's Ritz restaurant downtown.

Other arts center highlights:

A 125-seat theater with state-of-the-art projection facilities for film students.

A new pottery department, to be led by artists Donna Polseno and Richard Hensley, well-known as part of the "16 Hands" Floyd County pottery studio tours.

A much-enlarged photo department, with everything from old-fashioned darkrooms to cutting-edge digital equipment.

A year ago, "The darkroom was practically a closet," said sophomore Mary Townsend, who had the cavernous department all to herself on a recent afternoon. Now, "We have a black-and-white lab, a color lab. We don't even use all our space."

"We have the capacity now for a student to do about anything she wants to do in fine art photography," said Sulkin, who is also a photographer.

A built-from-scratch top floor, complete with custom-designed studio spaces with northward-facing windows for the steady indirect light artists love, as well as a roof garden for painting outdoors.

Numerous porches and interior spaces for informal meetings, chats or meditative moments.

A general ambience that encourages students to get messy. This is not a building, after all, that is going to suffer from a little spilled paint.

Project Manager Mark Tambornino of Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle architects in Minneapolis said the sometimes untidy business of making art, as well as the need to keep costs down, led them to design a bare-bones interior with sturdy materials that could stand up to heavy use, and also clean up easily.

Easy cleaning is important. Explained Carty, herself an artist:

"Art buildings get dirty fast."