The building was the College鈥檚 first official dining hall. It had a capacity of 184 people and opened in 1990. In 1991, it was officially designated Hammond Commons. 

This building鈥檚 namesake, Alice Hammond, was a member of the College鈥檚 Board of Trustees. In addition to Hammond Commons, Hammond made another generous donation and had a residence hall named in her honor. 

The new facility will be an integral space for the Fine Arts department and its students, as well as students from any major. 

鈥淥ne of the things we were really intentional about when designing this space was having specialized studios that are tailored to the needs of each discipline, in addition to more communal spaces like classrooms,鈥� said Noah Coleman, who oversees the Makerspace as the Visual Art Center Studio Manager and Technician. 鈥淪o there are these social areas like the classroom and bench room, plus our more specialized areas for metalworking, mold making, and sewing.鈥� 

The Sewing Studio has facilities for cutting, pressing, and sewing fabric, as well as weaving, crochet, and embroidery. Open to all students, it fills a strongly felt need for textile workspaces on campus. It is the home of the first costume construction course at the College. 

The Mold Making Studio provides facilities for working with a range of materials, including plaster, alginate, silicone, urethane, and many other commonly used materials in mold making. The Metal Fabrication Studio is equipped with all the necessary tools to bend, shape, join, grind, and form metal.

鈥淭hese areas, combined with our existing studios for wood, glass, digital fabrication, and letterpress, really round out the facilities that the Makerspace offers to the Ringling community,鈥� Coleman shared.

The Makerspace also features the Wood Shop, the Letterpress and Book Arts Studio, the Digital Fabrication Studio, and the Glass Studio, all housed within the Basch Visual Arts Center. Explore all of the Makerspace Studios and facilities on their . 

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NASA and space travel have been front and center in Dominguez’s imagination and interests since he was a child, dreaming of becoming an astronaut. 

He explained, 鈥淔or me, the fascination wasn鈥檛 just about flying into space鈥攊t was about the mechanics behind it all. I was captivated by the idea of designing and engineering the machines that make space travel possible. I loved taking things apart just to figure out how they worked. I even spent time drawing machine parts for fun! The creativity and problem-solving involved in engineering sparked my imagination.

One pivotal moment in my life was visiting the Kennedy Space Center as a child. I met a former astronaut and asked him a simple question about his space suit. That encounter sparked an idea in my mind: One day, I could create illustrations that tell stories and inspire others in extraordinary ways about space.鈥�

Illustrating a book about NASA became a lifelong dream for him, and led him to . The book shares the story of Ochoa, who became the first Hispanic woman to enter space in 1993, as part of a nine-day mission aboard the Discovery Space Shuttle.

After the book launched, Dominguez hosted a presentation and reading at the , the visitor鈥檚 center and museum for the Johnson Space Center where Ochoa worked. 

Dominguez explained, 鈥淚 pitched the Space Center Houston on a special presentation. Knowing Ellen Ochoa used to work at Johnson Space Center. The concept was to share the book I illustrated, showcase my original paintings, and talk about my journey as a children鈥檚 book artist and my passion for space. It was designed to inspire children of all ages and families. To my amazement, they said yes! I was over the moon鈥攏o pun intended. Space Center Houston invited me to participate during Hispanic Heritage Month, giving me the opportunity to showcase my original artwork, present my journey as an illustrator to the public in the Destiny Theatre, and read my book to children and families.鈥� 

He shared, 鈥漁ne of the most unforgettable moments was hearing Ellen Ochoa herself give a presentation about her time as an astronaut and express her appreciation for the book I illustrated. I was absolutely blown away!鈥�  

He also met the director of Space Center Houston and a few ex-astronauts and had the chance to explore the campus: 鈥淚t was an incredible experience鈥攁 blend of art, storytelling, and space exploration, all coming together in a way I never could have imagined.鈥� 

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Among the building鈥檚 green components are 150 rooftop solar panels providing renewable energy, and in-house coolers providing chilled water for the HVAC system. Cunniffe Commons also employs state-of-the-art ORCA waste technology, which uses bacteria to break down food waste, mimicking a whale鈥檚 stomach.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely accepted international system for guiding and rating environmentally beneficial building practices. Only two other campus facilities, the Larry R. Thompson Academic Center and Ann and Alfred Goldstein Hall, have earned LEED Gold. Three other 红杏视频 buildings鈥擜lfred R. Goldstein Library, Richard and Barbara Basch Visual Arts Center, and Greensboro Hall鈥攈ave been certified LEED Silver, and Bridge Apartments are also LEED certified.

In addition to its construction and renovation projects, 红杏视频鈥檚 commitment to sustainability includes a number of ongoing programs and practices, like campus-wide recycling and the Green Ambassadors student club. The Princeton Review also named 红杏视频 to its , which recognized 522 environmentally responsible schools around the US. 

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红杏视频 is dedicated to working towards sustainability and having a green campus. Every new building has the goal of becoming LEED Certified, growing the list of buildings that can already claim the certification: the Larry R. Thompson Academic Center, Alfred R. Goldstein Library, the Richard and Barbara Basch Visual Arts Center, Bridge Apartments and Greensboro Hall, and our new dining facility Cunniffe Commons. The dining hall houses 150 solar panels on its roof and in-house coolers for chilled water. It also employs state-of-the-art waste technology that breaks down food waste using a bacteria that mirrors a whale鈥檚 stomach鈥攊nspiring its name, the Orca. 

The College鈥檚 Facilities department is currently overhauling our network of collection bins around campus and adding several locations to increase the ease of contributing to the Ringling recycling program. 

In addition to the recycling program, they have several other projects in the works, led by Energy and Sustainability Manager Ian Shannon, including expanding the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations around campus, expanding ice storage at our chilled water plant, LED light replacement, and converting buildings to smart air conditioning and energy recovery ventilation (ERV), which uses less energy and is designed to address the sick building syndrome when buildings are sealed too well.

At the end of last year, the College submitted information to the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) for rating, which should be announced in March 2024.  

Since his arrival as Grounds Maintenance Supervisor, Devin Riles, who heads all of the landscape initiatives, has primarily been concentrating on cleaning up an overgrowth of trees, shrubs, and debris after two hurricanes and COVID-19 closures. Almost 120 trees were lost between the College鈥檚 Main Campus, Sarasota Art Museum and the Museum Campus, and the Englewood Art Center. As the team addresses the tree loss, they are integrating a new tree software system from PlanIT Geo to help track what is left and any new additions that they plant. Arborists from the Arbor Day Foundation鈥檚 Tree Campus Higher Education have been invited to review and rate the campus trees for health, size, and quantity, and to be included on their map of U.S. colleges recognized as tree campuses.

Facilities and Ground Maintenance have also been working with Phillip J. Smith of David W. Johnston Associates, Inc. Architects on plant selections that are low maintenance and follow the University of Florida鈥檚 Florida-Friendly Landscaping program for the landscape of new buildings and parking lots. The nine principles of the program are to find the right plant for the right place, water efficiently, fertilize appropriately, mulch, attract wildlife, manage yard pests responsibly, recycle yard waste, reduce stormwater runoff, and protect the waterfront. 

One of Rile鈥檚 main goals has been to develop an irrigation master plan to efficiently water plants across the campus. They have hired a team of aqua engineers to assess the grounds and put together a proposal. Riles is currently setting up 22 individual irrigation controllers with web-based service that allows users to control irrigation via any internet-connected smartphone or tablet.

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