The University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences will open its new Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts to the public Thursday, Jan. 16.

Adjacent to UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center on 10th Avenue South, the AEIVA houses academic classrooms and laboratories for instruction, offices for students and faculty of the Department of Art and Art History, and a series of professional art galleries for exhibitions. Art history, time-based media and graphic design classes are located on the building’s second floor. The 26,000-square-foot building was named for lead donors Judy and Hal Abroms and Ruth and the late Marvin Engel. Additional major donors include Gail and Jeffrey Bayer, the Ronne and Donald Hess Foundation, and Carol and the late Jack Odess. The building was designed by renowned Los Angeles-based architect Randall Stout. Hoar Construction, based in Birmingham, oversaw the construction of the building.