Colombia Rebuilds the Faculty of Arts of the National University

Colombia is advancing in rebuilding the Faculty of Arts at the National University. An investment of 70,000 million pesos funded the laying of the foundation stone for the final building of this new faculty yesterday, March 11. This follows the opening of blocks B and C, which marked the completion of the first phase in August 2023.

The final phase of the construction project, which started yesterday, is scheduled for completion in December 2025. It is set to serve over 3,200 undergraduate and graduate students at Colombia’s largest public university. This project marks the most substantial update to a university campus in Colombia in the past three decades.

Recovering the old faculty

On the afternoon of Monday, March 11, 2024, the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, together with the Minister of Education, Aurora Vergara Figueroa, and the Dean of the National University of Colombia, Dolly Montoya, launched the second phase of the New Spaces for the Arts project, which includes the construction of Block A of the Faculty of Arts.

This marks the culmination of the recovery of the former Faculty of Arts of the most important public university in the country, at its Bogota headquarters. The new building to be constructed in the next twenty months will have an area of 12,095 m², distributed in 7,959 m² of covered area and 4,137 m² of surrounding outdoor areas.

The first phase of this project, blocks B and C, included specialized spaces for the Industrial Design school and the Film and Television school.

“This work is the result of a collective effort of the students who appealed to the Congress of the Republic and were heard by the National Government so that today we have this second phase of the Faculty of Arts. The arts are an agent of social transformation for the construction of the nation and for the consolidation of peace in the territories”, said the dean of the National University of Colombia, Dolly Montoya.

According to Minister Vergara, this new infrastructure will have an impact on education in various fields and will benefit approximately 1,058 undergraduate and graduate students. With this boost, the Faculty of Arts of the National University of Colombia will be positioned as one of the largest faculties in Latin America.

Commitment to public education

“To be able to continue this project of the National University is fundamental for the growth of Colombian society. Art brings the sensitivity that Colombia needs in the face of injustice and other problems,” said President Petro during yesterday’s event.

“We have become insensitive to death, to injustice, to people who suffer; insensitive to excluded people, to people who do not even have the opportunity to reach a space like this,” said President Gustavo Petro during the symbolic act of laying the first stone of the Fine Arts building of the National University of Colombia, in Bogota.

The president alluded to the importance of art in bringing new perspectives and sensibilities to society. He also highlighted the relevance of his government’s free education policy and the democratization of education in the territories.

“The objective is that any young person in Colombia can have access to higher education. The more people can study, the more brains can be brought together, the greater the leaps in quality, leaps forward in any of the areas of knowledge”, he said.

The rebirth of the faculty

With this last phase, the rebirth of the facilities of the historic faculty will be completed. Seven months ago, the political and academic authorities inaugurated the first phase of the new faculty. With the completion of buildings B and C, the new facilities took shape, awaiting the completion of the last phase, which has now begun.

“Delivering a new house to the National University of Colombia means believing in the capacity of the Arts in the construction of the nation”, said Minister Vergara Figueroa at the ceremony last August.

For the Colombian government, in addition to a commitment to strengthening Higher Education, the works at the Faculty of Arts are also considered strategic for Bogota in accordance with what is defined in the Multi-Year Investment Plan 2023-2026 regarding the strengthening and construction of physical and technological infrastructure for Higher Education.