New Media Lab Opens in Hargrove Pavilion
The American College of Arts and Performing Arts officially opened its new Hargrove Media Lab on Friday, September 6, 2024, in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by faculty, staff, students, trustees, and local guests. The lab, situated on the second floor of Hargrove Pavilion in rooms HP-214 and HP-215, represents a significant expansion of resources for ACAPA's Film & Media Arts department and was two years in the planning.
The 1,800-square-foot facility replaces the department's former editing suite in Caldwell Hall, which had operated with the same hardware configuration since 2016. College administrators say the new lab doubles available workstation capacity and introduces a range of production capabilities that were previously unavailable to students on campus.
"For too long, our Film and Media Arts students have had to work around the limitations of aging infrastructure. This lab puts ACAPA on par with conservatories twice our size, and it sends a message to prospective students that we are serious about this discipline." — Dean Patricia Holbrook, Dean of Academic Affairs
About the Hargrove Pavilion Location
Hargrove Pavilion, which opened in 2009 and serves as ACAPA's primary hub for interdisciplinary arts instruction, was selected for the lab after a facilities review determined that rooms HP-214 and HP-215 could be combined into a single open-plan production space with minimal structural modification. The two former seminar rooms were merged over the summer of 2024, with work completed in late August. Soundproofing panels were installed along the north and west walls, and new electrical circuits were added to support the lab's high-draw workstations and recording equipment.
A dedicated equipment checkout window has been installed adjacent to the lab entrance in the HP-214 corridor. Students enrolled in Film & Media Arts production courses may reserve equipment for off-campus use through the department's online booking portal.
Equipment and Facilities
The Hargrove Media Lab is outfitted with the following equipment and production resources:
| Category | Items | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| Editing Workstations | Apple Mac Studio (M3 Ultra), 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD; dual 4K monitors | 14 |
| Editing Software | Adobe Creative Cloud (Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, Photoshop), DaVinci Resolve Studio, Avid Media Composer, Pro Tools | 14 licenses |
| Cinema Cameras (checkout) | Sony FX6 Full-Frame Cinema Camera (with lens kit) | 4 |
| Cinema Cameras (checkout) | Canon EOS C300 Mark III Cinema Camera | 3 |
| DSLR / Mirrorless (checkout) | Sony Alpha 7 IV Mirrorless, Canon EOS R5 | 6 total |
| Audio Recording (checkout) | Zoom F6 Multitrack Field Recorder; Rode NTG5 Shotgun Microphones; Sennheiser EW 500 G4 Wireless Lavalier Kits | 6 recorders, 8 mics, 4 wireless kits |
| Lighting (checkout) | Aputure LS 300X Bi-Color LED Panels; Litepanels Astra 1x1 Bi-Focus; C-stands, flags, diffusion | 12 fixture kits |
| Color Grading Suite | Dedicated DaVinci Resolve color grading station with Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel | 2 |
| Sound Recording Booth | Isolated vocal/foley booth (approx. 80 sq ft); Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 interface; AKG C414 microphones | 1 booth |
| Screening / Playback | 85-inch 4K display panel for review screenings; 7.1 surround monitoring system | 1 |
| Shared Storage | OWC Thunderblade 8TB shared project storage (NAS configuration) | 1 server, individual project allocations |
| Support Equipment (checkout) | Fluid head tripods, shoulder mounts, slider rails, DJI RS 3 Pro gimbals | Mixed inventory |
| VR / Emerging Media | Meta Quest 3 headsets for immersive media coursework | 8 |
The lab operates on a dual-access model: workstations are available as open lab during non-class hours, and production equipment may be checked out by students enrolled in qualifying Film & Media Arts courses. A student lab monitor will be on duty during all scheduled open hours.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday: 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Sunday: Closed
Equipment checkout inquiries: medialab@acapa.edu or visit HP-214.
Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
The official ribbon-cutting was held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, September 6, in the HP-214/215 corridor. In attendance were Dean of Academic Affairs Patricia Holbrook, Film & Media Arts faculty, ACAPA President Gerald R. Finch, members of the Board of Trustees, and approximately sixty students and staff. A brief reception followed in the Hargrove Pavilion atrium.
Professor James Okafor, who chairs the Film & Media Arts department and spearheaded the lab proposal, addressed attendees before the ribbon was cut. He described the lab as the product of sustained departmental advocacy dating to 2021 and thanked several parties whose support made the project possible.
"We wrote the first version of this proposal three years ago and it came back with questions about budget and square footage about four times. Every round made the plan better. What you see today is the result of a lot of revision—which is, when you think about it, exactly what we teach our students to do." — Prof. James Okafor, Chair, Department of Film & Media Arts
President Finch remarked that the lab represents "a concrete investment in the college's commitment to contemporary arts education" and that he looked forward to seeing student work produced in the new facility screened at ACAPA's annual spring showcase.
Funding Sources
The Hargrove Media Lab project had a total equipment and renovation budget of approximately $487,000. Funding was drawn from the following sources:
- ACAPA Capital Improvement Fund (2023–2024 allocation): $195,000
- Vermont Higher Education Endowment Trust – Technology Infrastructure Grant: $120,000
- The Hargrove Family Foundation (unrestricted gift, designated by donor for media arts): $95,000
- ACAPA Alumni Annual Fund (Film & Media Arts earmark, FY2024): $52,000
- Equipment donations and discounted vendor pricing (Sony Education Program; Adobe; OWC): approx. $25,000 in-kind value
The college extends particular thanks to the Hargrove Family Foundation, whose unrestricted gift provided the earliest committed funding and gave the project financial credibility during the initial planning phase. The Hargrove family has been a major benefactor of ACAPA since the 1980s; Hargrove Pavilion itself was named in recognition of an earlier major gift.
About the Film & Media Arts Department
The Department of Film & Media Arts at ACAPA offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film & Media Arts and a one-year Certificate in Digital Production. The department currently enrolls approximately 85 undergraduate students and employs seven full-time faculty. Curriculum covers narrative filmmaking, documentary, experimental media, screenwriting, sound design, and—beginning in Spring 2025—a new elective sequence in interactive and immersive media.
For more information about the Film & Media Arts program, visit the Academics page or contact the department directly at filmmedia@acapa.edu.