MiraCosta Community College District and MiraCosta College in Oceanside, California, celebrated the grand opening of its new Media Arts Complex. The design-build team of HMC Architects + Balfour Beatty, faculty, staff, and community leaders attended the event for the $22.66 million, 10,471 SF facility.

The complex will serve as the campus’s art hub and support the school’s degree programs in art history, photography, film, museum studies, studio arts, graphic design, and digital media. It features a new, museum-quality art gallery, media arts lab, a classroom for 40 students, studying and collaboration spaces, an enhanced outdoor quad, and several dedicated areas for displaying artwork.

One former student spoke about the impact this will have on current and future students, saying that the new space is not just a building: “It’s a gateway to opportunity, a place where stories will be told, where students will be able to share their voices, and where careers will begin.”