In the 2025 Beckham Lecture, Dean Ed Adams Shared a Look at the Evolution of CFAC’s Buildings & Facilities
Those walking by the Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) as of late may have noticed a the new arts building rising to completion. What was once a barren construction site will soon be home to BYU’s fine arts programs. The buildings that students in the College of Fine Arts and Communications work, study, create, write and perform in are more than just buildings — they are sacred spaces of learning.
In the School of Communications’ Beckham Lecture, CFAC Dean Ed Adams gave a unique insight into how some of these buildings came to be, how they have evolved and their importance in students’ BYU experiences.
“Ed Adams is more than the dean. He is more than a scholar and more than a professor. He truly is a disciple of Jesus Christ in every sense of the word,” said journalism professor Kris Boyle, who introduced Adams at the lecture. “His vision as a leader, his dedication and his endless love and energy are traits that will benefit students for generations to come.”
Before serving CFAC as the dean, Adams was associate dean, chair of the former Department of Communications (now the School of Communications). In recent years, Adams, with the help of many others, has been working hard to improve buildings and facilities for students. This has meant temporary relocations to the former Provo High School at what is now called West Campus, poring over many iterations of class schedules, and throwing every idea into the ring — even the far fetched ones.
Adams emphasized the collective nature of the building project. “I’m going to use ‘I’ and ‘we’ interchangeably. There’s always more than just one person’s efforts coming into play.”
Adams reflected back on the Harris Fine Arts Center (HFAC), beloved by many for its years of service to music, theatre, dance and art students. The School of Communications had been housed in the HFAC since 1965 and the building was meant to eventually house the entire college. By the early 2000s, however, the college had far outgrown the space. The communications department was scattered over 5 floors, musicians were practicing in bathrooms and elevators, and 80% of CFAC classes were taught outside the HFAC. “There was no sense of community and no gathering place for students,” Adams said. “That led to the idea that we needed to do something about solving this space.”
In the 1990s, a new communications building was proposed where the current Life Science Building is located, but the project never came to fruition due to budget limitations. As the years went on, Adams had more conversations with people from different departments in the college, Space Management and Physical Facilities about solutions to the issues. Labs and classes from the School of Communications were disconnected, and departments and programs were split between buildings — the visual arts program between the HFAC and the Brimhall, communications between the HFAC and the Wilkinson Center, theatre and media arts in separate places.
Adams learned from his discussions with Physical Facilities personnel that while some programs were crowded, there were also spaces on campus that weren’t being used. After some exploration of the Brimhall Building, Adams determined that it would be best to reserve that space for communications classrooms and labs, unite the art and design departments in the HFAC and keep the theatre and media arts programs together in the HFAC. The School of Communications would then use its funds to renovate the space to accommodate student needs.
Now, the Brimhall Building is home to offices, classrooms and labs for the communications programs. “The Brimhall has transformed the School of Communications,” Adams said. “By moving to this building, we were able to expand the AdLab, increase potential for a public relations lab and co-locate the Universe and broadcast operations.”
Within a few years of the transition, the advertising program won a national competition, the public relations program was named the fifth best PR program in the country and the journalism program won a broadcast competition for ‘Best Newscast.’
Adams emphasized that throughout this process, building relationships was of utmost importance. Quoting the Relief Society General Presidency, Adams shared that “people aren’t projects. They are brothers and sisters, fellow travelers in the journey of life. We want to be walking through life together, helping each other find the strength to overcome obstacles and stumbling blocks along the way.”
Twelve years after moving the communications programs to the Brimhall Building as the school’s director, Adams found himself back at the HFAC, this time as the dean. Though the communications space issue had improved, many of the same problems still existed in the HFAC for the music, theatre, dance, film, art and design students.
“Most music students lived their life in the dark — practice rooms were in the bowels of the building, classrooms were in the dark,” Adams said. “We had a great film program, but they had no space. There was no film studio, no cinema and a lot of acoustic problems with the space.”
In the de Jong Concert Hall, the HVAC systems had to be turned off during performances because they were too loud. Adams discovered that music students had to wear ear plugs in certain rehearsal areas because the sound produced in the area would damage their hearing. Water in certain parts of the building didn’t run clear, and art students were working in hallways.
“This was all new information to people in administration; they had no idea about these issues because these stories had not been communicated to them,” said Adams. “Don’t ever assume that everyone knows your journey or your problems or your challenges. You have to communicate.”
With the continued growth of the college, it was time for another expansion. Adams decided to consult third party experts, whose feedback included comments such as “you’re beautifully maintaining many nonfunctional spaces” and “your facilities are what we might find in lesser colleges and universities — there are high schools that have better facilities for art and music than you do.”
One week, Adams had an acoustician who had worked on facilities for Julliard accompany him to four nights of performances at the HFAC so he could appraise the space. Following the concerts, the acoustician told Adams, “Your faculty are exceptional. Your students are outstanding. If you had even adequate facilities, I believe BYU could be the best in the world.” That night, as Adams reflected upon President Kimball’s second century address, he realized that a new and improved building was a fulfillment of Kimball’s prophecy of what BYU could become.
With this knowledge, brainstorming began and a plethora of ideas were laid out on the table: using the recently acquired Provo High School property, renovating the HFAC, adding parking beneath the building, and more. One idea included the construction of a building that was two stories higher than the Kimball Tower and four times as wide as the Museum of Art.
After a great deal of planning, designing, redesigning (“and redesigning again,” according to Adams), plans moved forward for a new Arts Building (soon to be completed), whose performances spaces will also be used by the dance department (currently located in the Richards Building), and a new Music Building (now dedicated).
“This will transform the School of Music,” said Adams. “We now have students who are turning down Juilliard, Indiana and Boston to come to BYU. Music is integral to everything we do at this university. You don't go to an event, a forum or devotional without music being a part of that.”
Adams shared with students that despite (and perhaps because of) the setbacks and challenges that come with a project of such large scale, his dedication to students is unwavering. “I care about what you are experiencing,” Adams said. “I hope your problems are my problems.”
As these projects continue to develop and enhance the student experience, Adams’s vision for the College of Fine Arts and Communications serves as a reminder of the meaningful symbols behind the physical facilities of campus. Behind every classroom, cinema, theater or lab are people whose belief in BYU students is so enduring that they are willing to spend decades making campus learning spaces as exceptional as the students they are built for.