LATROBE, PA – Saint Vincent College students enrolled in digital art and media courses are enjoying the enhanced instructional space in the new digital art and media lab located on the second floor of Prep Hall.
The culmination of a roughly yearlong project that began in summer 2024, the former Macintosh lab classroom (located in Prep 219) was relocated to Prep 205 (formerly a general-use classroom), utilizing the larger space and existing platform seating design to create a classroom that facilitates the variety of activities necessary in the digital art and media classes. Students were first able to utilize the enhanced space at the beginning of the fall 2025 semester.
“Prep 219 was a space that inspired and cultivated a great deal of creative work. Many of our finest students produced incredible work there, but as our numbers grew, it became clear that we were outgrowing the space, which is what made this move necessary,” said David Safin, chair of the Visual Arts and Media Design Department in the College’s School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS). “The new classroom allows greater maneuverability among workstations, which gives faculty more freedom when providing one-to-one assistance, and the open space in the front gives faculty the opportunity to provide hands-on experience. I can't wait to see what this next generation of creators produce in this room.”
Prep 205 now features a new mobile station for class instructors and a moveable table in the front of the room for instructors’ equipment. New tables were purchased and installed to accommodate the 18 computers equipped with the Adobe Creative Suite relocated from the old Macintosh lab, in addition to new chairs, darkening blinds and acoustic panels.
The stadium-style seating is also appropriate for video production and other demonstrations that take place at the front of the room. In addition, the space is being used for a new music technology course being taught for the first time this semester.
“The renovation of this space is a strategic investment to directly support student learning,” said Dr. Elaine Bennett, AHSS dean. “This new space expands what faculty can do, facilitating hands-on production experience in addition to design and editing work.
“(FMO trades supervisor) Marty Pierce oversaw the renovations to the space and did an amazing job ensuring that we used quality materials and built the space to last, and colleagues from IT supported a sustainable and durable technology design,” Bennett added. “We are grateful for the expertise and effort of multiple departments in support of student learning.”
The goal of Saint Vincent College's Visual Arts and Media Design Department is to lay a foundation for creative expression in classrooms, galleries and online. The digital art and media major explores a host of areas, including video production, drawing, animation, graphic design, photography and web design.
