The newly remodeled Doakie Day Art Center at Howard Payne University will be dedicated during Homecoming weekend, on Friday, October 23. The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. and the public is invited to attend and tour the facility.
Located in the historic 1920s-era Coca-Cola bottling plant, classes began this fall in the new complex. The gallery and other displays will feature works by current HPU students and the late artists Doakie Day, Dorothy Mayes, Dr. Charles Stewart and Maurine Stewart
“The completion of the long-anticipated Doakie Day Art Center project is a source of great excitement for us,” said Dr. Bill Ellis, HPU president. “We look forward to the many ways this facility will enrich student learning at HPU, as well as enhance the cultural life of our community. “The building is named in honor of the late Doakie Day, an artist, homemaker and lifetime resident of Brown County. Day’s son and daughter-in-law, Ed “Beezer” and Virginia Day, were significant contributors to the project. Their gift is one of the largest in the university’s history.
The Doakie Day Art Center features the J Waddy Bullion Lecture Hall (by The Meadows Foundation), the Dorothy and Wendell Mayes Art Gallery (by Jane Ellen Jamar and Wendell W. Mayes, Jr.), the atrium (by J.R. Beadel Central Texas Foundation), the student lobby (by the Dodge Jones Foundation) and the department chair suite (by the Dian Graves Owen Foundation). Additional features include classroom/studio space, the photography darkroom and faculty offices. Beezer Day is a native resident of Brown County. He is a businessman and rancher, as well as a decorated veteran of World War II. He and his wife, Virginia, have been married for 63 years.
HPU’s Department of Art offers the Bachelor of Arts degree and the Bachelor of Science degree in art communication and art education. This program prepares artists to serve in education and art-related businesses and meets the needs of the university student who chooses art for fine arts credit.
