Art Center Students Protest Gehry Building

PASADENA, Calif.—Hundreds of students and alumni of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena have signed a petition protesting that the school is putting too much money and energy into campus expansion and self-promotion and not enough into scholarships and education, the Los Angeles Times reports. The online petition, which was launched May 31, asks the college's trustees to suspend plans for a $50 million Frank Gehry building.

The petition accuses college president Richard Koshalek of using his tenure to attempt to build his own legacy and and empire. Koshalek has countered that the opportunities to work with cutting-edge technology in Gehry's Design Research Center would be educational, and that creating a network of international contacts for the college will help the school's graduates.

Koshalek, the former director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A., has been attempting to expand the Art Center's facilities, visibility, and wealth since he became president in 1999. The proposed Gehry building would be built on the main campus and would feature a library and a high-tech design studio complex. A counterpetition in support of the plan was launched last Friday.