Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center

The public grand opening of the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center will be held the weekend of September 17-19, 2021, as a highlight of Christopher Newport University’s 60th anniversary celebration. Additionally, in recognition of the importance of summer camp programs to families in our community, the Torggler will offer a limited camp program for school-age children this summer, prior to our grand opening. We are proud to welcome the community’s children as the first guests to the Torggler!

Please note that the university adheres to Centers for Disease Control and Virginia Department of Health guidelines. All plans are subject to change based on the recommendations of university leadership and these agencies.

The building has been named in honor of Mary M. Torggler. Mary Torggler and her husband George, of Maryland and Florida, are longtime supporters of arts and education programs at Christopher Newport. Through their generosity, the Torgglers have created unique opportunities so that artists in both the performing and visual arts may flourish. Their support already underpins the university’s renowned Torggler Vocal Institute, and they endowed the George and Mary Torggler Professorship of Music, held by Dr. Mark Reimer. Their son, Hunter Torggler, graduated from Christopher Newport in 2014 with a degree in music.

An artful feat of engineering, these cascading domes evoke the sails of the three ships commanded by the university’s namesake, Christopher Newport. The domes also embody the university’s bold vision for the role the visual arts play in our lives.

The Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center is an 83,000-square foot building with three floors, featuring a large main gallery for changing exhibitions, a community gallery and a gallery for student work. It also contains a 150-seat lecture hall, a stunning atrium with a small café, five studio classrooms for community use and an interactive gallery for children, opening in 2022. Additionally, roughly half the building houses Christopher Newport’s Department of Fine Art and Art History, including state-of-the-art classrooms for a wide range of media, faculty studio offices and seminar rooms.

Yes. Certain spaces within the Torggler will be available for event rentals. Details of the rental program are still under development.

The Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center will present changing exhibitions on a seasonal basis, featuring professional, high-quality work in a variety of media. In addition to its spacious main gallery, the Torggler Fine Arts Center contains a community gallery and galleries devoted to student work.

The first major exhibition at the Torggler will open in mid-September as part of Christopher Newport’s 60th anniversary celebration.

The Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center will offer a broad array of programs for audiences of all ages. In addition to public gallery talks, lectures and other programs related to our exhibitions, the Torggler will offer year-round studio art programs for children and adults, and summer art camps for school-age children. The Torggler will also offer outreach for special community audiences.

The Torggler contains five community classrooms, including a state-of-the-art ceramics studio, two drawing/pain ting studios and two classrooms for children’s classes. We will offer a limited summer art camp program this year, prior to the grand opening of the building. After-school and evening classes for children and adults will begin in the fall of 2021.

In addition to after-school classes, special workshops and summer camps, the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center will feature the Art Explorers Gallery, a dedicated interactive space where children and their caregivers can explore art concepts and create art together. This innovative, welcoming space will open to the public in 2022.

At the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center, we will proudly offer our exhibitions to the public and the Christopher Newport community at no charge. Our goal is to encourage you to experience and enjoy the exceptional visual art on view in our galleries as often as you like. There will be a charge to participate in programs, including classes, workshops and summer camps for children.

Discounts on classes and camps are offered for those who support the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center through the Patrons Program (see below). Additionally, we will offer discounts to Christopher Newport’s students, faculty and staff; local educators; LifeLong Learning Society members; and veterans and active military members.

At the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center, we are committed to serving both the academic and the regional community. To that end, we will be developing outreach programs in partnership with schools, community centers, veterans’ organizations and other partners to ensure we impact a broad cross-section of our community.

Currently, we anticipate the galleries at the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center being open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The Torggler will be closed to the public on Mondays and during campus holidays. Those who are enrolled in classes will be able to access the building during the evenings and on weekends when classes are in session.

The Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center will be led by a professional staff that includes an executive director, a curator, art educators, an exhibition preparator, an administrator and a visitor services coordinator. Marketing and patronage programs for the Torggler will be handled in partnership with the university’s advancement and communications offices.

The Torggler will work collaboratively with Christopher Newport’s Fine Art and Art History Department faculty to offer unique and inspiring programs for the public. We will also welcome volunteers to the Torggler. A formal volunteer program is under development.

The Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center serves the university community by housing the Department of Fine Art and Art History and offering Christopher Newport’s students the opportunity to engage with world-class art and learn in a state-of-the-art facility. It will support undergraduate research as well as faculty scholarship and creative activity.

The Torggler will also prepare students for visual arts and museum careers by offering internships and volunteer opportunities.

With the addition of the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center, Christopher Newport has a home for the visual arts that is as impressive as its neighboring haven for the performing arts, the beloved Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts. The Torggler and the Ferguson will embrace opportunities to work collaboratively to offer inspiring, interdisciplinary experiences in the arts.

The Torggler is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the preeminent accrediting body for visual arts organizations and museums. AAM accreditation ensures that the Torggler adheres to best practices in the industry, and aspires to the highest ideals of public enrichment and education.

The Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center exists to serve both the academic community of students and faculty, as well as the broader public of the Hampton Roads region, the commonwealth of Virginia and beyond.

The Torggler will cultivate a variety of income streams to sustain its programs, including individual support through the Patrons Program (see below), grant funding from government sources and private foundations, corporate sponsorships, and earned income through fee-based programs. The commonwealth of Virginia supports the Torggler’s academic functions, but the Torggler’s public exhibitions and programming are dependent on private contributions. Donations from individual patrons will allow the Torggler to present exceptional exhibitions that are free and open to the public.

In service of our mission, and in recognition of the support of the commonwealth of Virginia, all exhibitions at the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center will be free and open to the public. Therefore, instead of a typical membership program, the Torggler has established a Patrons Program to enable these free exhibitions and related educational programs. In addition to the ongoing Patrons Program, we will also be seeking individual and corporate sponsors for our exhibitions.

If you become a Patron anytime between September 1, 2020, through the spring of 2022, you will earn the special distinction of becoming a Charter Patron. You will be recognized as part of this visionary group each year that you renew, and you will be invited to participate in once-in-a-lifetime opportunities that unfold as the new Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center begins its voyage.

Exclusive Charter Patron benefits offered during our inaugural year (public health conditions permitting) include:

• Insider email updates from the executive director
• Behind-the-scenes virtual tours of the Torggler as it nears completion
• Exclusive special event for all Charter Patrons prior to the public opening of the Torggler
• Invitation to the grand opening exhibit and celebration event
• Special recognition through a variety of communications, including the website, e-newsletter, special program guides and other print and electronic media, as well as a plaque at the Torggler
• Membership card that denotes your Charter Patron status
• Car decal that recognizes you as a Charter Patron
• Invitation to special hard-hat tours of the building prior to opening for Patrons at select levels

As a Patron, your generosity enables us to offer exceptional exhibitions, free to all members of our community. Your contributions also support engaging educational programs, both within our facility and through outreach to schools and other community organizations. Your patronage is essential to fostering lifelong learning, encouraging creativity, advancing cultural dialogue, and elevating the quality of life in our region and the commonwealth.

In recognition of your support as a Patron, you will be offered unique benefits and special access to opportunities designed to enrich your personal experience and that of your family, including discounts on classes and camps. There is a Patron level to meet every budget. For more information on the Patrons Program, please visit the link below.

The Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center at Christopher Newport became caretaker of the story of the Peninsula Fine Arts Center (PFAC), and home to many of its beloved programs, as of January 1, 2021. Current members of the PFAC (those who joined or renewed between January 1 - December 31, 2020), will be recognized as Charter Patrons at the level that most closely aligns with their existing PFAC membership. To accept this special invitation, call Sarah Hoang, advancement assistant for the arts, at (757) 594-8905.

At your membership renewal date (one year from the date of your last gift to PFAC), you will renew by selecting from the Torggler’s new Patrons Program membership levels.

We hope that you are eager to be part of the next chapter in the life of the visual arts in our community, and we look forward to welcoming you into the Christopher Newport family!

Christopher Newport University has possession of the PFAC building now that it has closed. Plans for the building are still evolving, but our hope is to continue to use the building in the short term to benefit students and the broader public.