Woods Hall

Woods Hall

Quick Info

Building # 1214 | Abbreviation: WO
College of Arts and Sciences

  • Department of Art
  • Studio Art
  • Meadows Computer Lab
  • Engle Figurative Modeling Lab
  • Student Art Gallery

Department of Art and Art History

Woods Hall houses the Department of Art and was the first building constructed after the Civil War. The ground floor contains the sculpture workshop and Sella-Granata Art Gallery/Student Art Gallery. On the second floor, the Meadows Computer Lab has the latest in Apple computers and digital art software.

Woods Hall, built between 1867 and 1868, was named Alva Woods Hall in 1884 in honor of UA's first president. Prior to 1884 it was just called the “barracks”. It was first used a dorm for military cadets, but also held classes and a dining hall on the ground floor. It was constructed out of the bricks from the buildings which were destroyed in the Civil War as well as new bricks that were shipped in.

Originally the plan called for a large military style building, but because of the budget only the rear half was actually constructed. It was the main building on campus for 15 years until the financial situation improved enough to allow Manly and Clark Halls to be built. By that time the architectural style of the planned Woods Hall was considered outdated and new building designs were used.

The building continued to function as a dormitory until 1961 when the Art Department moved in. In 1966, the students discovered that the University was considering demolishing Woods Hall in order to build the Ferguson Center. They immediately launched a “Save Woods Hall” campaign and the new building was instead built behind Woods where Dressler Hall, a dorm that was destroyed by arsonists in 1970, once stood. In 1975 woods was remodeled and the iron railings reinforced.

Information collected from The University of Alabama : a guide to the campus by Robert Oliver Mellown (Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, c1988), and The University of Alabama, a pictorial history by Suzanne Rau Wolfe (University : University of Alabama Press, c1983).