A DEEPER LOOK AT THE MANIFEST ORGANIZATION:
PROJECT UPDATES
Phase Two Not Yet Begun: HVAC (Life Support) 
Phase Two all along had as one of its primary goals the complete update of HVAC in the building. This includes replacing the failing 100 year old boiler system with high efficiency zoned systems suitable for 24/7 studio activity, public comfort, and artwork care. Phase Two has yet to be fully funded, and so has not yet begun. However, in January 2026, during one of the coldest extended sub-freezing periods in many years, the building's boiler failed completely and irrevocably. This forced our staff, board of directors, and technical advisors to make the difficult decision to implement the emergency temporary heating shown above, supplying just our two main studio spaces with warm air, rather than cancel all programming until warm weather. This image of a building on 'life support' illustrates the urgency of Phase Two being funded and completed on time. Image: January 2026.
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PROJECT UPDATES
Phase One: Printmaking Studio Wing
Print studio renovation in progress, a space originally designed in 1932 to be used as a four-car garage. Spring 2025.
Progress on the print studio. The nervous system is being installed. Drywall coming soon. July 2025.
More progress on the print studio. Drywall nearly finished. Early September 2025. Beischel team inspecting.
The intaglio print studio addition partitions have been removed. Lights in place. A view from the print study space. Early Oct. 2025.
The intaglio print studio addition partitions have been removed. Lights in place. A view from the etching press area looking through the doorway into the litho area. Early Oct. 2025.
A view south into the Print Wing from the Residency Studio Hall. Floor coverings begin to be installed. Early Oct. 2025.
After many months in storage, our donated litho presses arrive back home into a nearly complete printmaking wing. Nov. 11, 2025.
Print Studio nearly complete, late December 2025.
New (used) furniture fulfills completes the Print Library space, a part of the future Manifest Archives and Art Reference Library.
Plans include a full one-acre park-like creative campus
Heavy equipment awaiting significant digging on the south part of the Center's campus. Spring 2025.
A view of the bed of the future sidewalk that will connect Clifton Hills Ave. with the Drawing Center entrance, and eventually the
sidewalk around to the front gallery entrance. Also a nice view of the rhyming pattern echo of the print expansion roof in playful alignment with the original historic roof beyond. July 2025.
Architect, Janelle Kelpe (Chroma Architecture + Design), and landscape architect, Jack McGlasson (MKSK), selecting raw materials
for landscape features. Late Sept. 2025.
Infilling underway behind the legendary retaining wall at long last. Early Oct. 2025.
A very special circle inside a circle takes shape. Our campus has been lovingly designed to be, literally, a drawing from space which will unfold before your eyes as you stroll along the pathways. Early Oct. 2025.
Phase One: West Rooftop Terrace
West roof deck cleared of 1980's era HVAC equipment, in preparation for complete rebuilding and decking. Summer 2025.
West roof deck deconstruction/reconstruction underway. (before the rain) Summer 2025.
The ornamental finials on the west roof parapet wall, clean as the day they were new! July 2025.
The evening view off the West Studio Terrace, September 17, 2025. A plein air opportunity awaits!
Roofing work on the slate, including new heavy duty copper ridge and hip flashing and snow guards, continues. Planting beds on West Studio Terrace taking shape. Early Oct. 2025.
West Studio Terrace flooring and planting beds taking shape. Late December 2025.
West Studio Terrace nearly complete. January, 2026. (Yes, it is beautiful and very inviting, however its first role is as a code-mandated secondary egress from the second floor.)
North Stair. January, 2026. (This is the other part of the code-mandated egress. Not only will it allow safe exit from the second floor, it will also connect the second floor studio activities to the first floor gallery and exhibition programming through a new door into the North Gallery Hall.)
West Studio Terrace complete. May, 2026.
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