The Art Chapel

"Make nothing" to build architecture

FACT 21 – Active Project

A Plain-FACT project, The Art Chapel is a safe and inspiring studio for adults to explore and cultivate their creativity through art and craft instruction provided at low cost. The Art Chapel interacts with the South Downtown community, an economically depressed area in Lincoln, Nebraska with few cultural outlets, by offering gallery shows and other art-related events for the public. The historic building, Lincoln’s first church structure, has been transformed from a neglected space into an asset for a struggling neighborhood. After a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, FACT + Plain Design Build re-engaging with The Art Chapel to complete this important building in 2025.

The Art Chapel is a collaboration with Plain Design Build. 

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The primary design acts are subtractive - removing material and abstracting the building to highlight its generic qualities and enhance the inherent beauty of its simplicity. Subtraction is a form of direct action on an object that preserves the object’s independence.

The most distinctive new feature is a large rolling wall that opens the Art Chapel to the community both literally and figuratively. The rolling wall is cut from the existing exterior wall preserving a door and window. The main interior space is a multi use room for art classes and exhibitions. The back of this room is a new plywood wall the repeats the form of the open street elevation.

Custom details occur throughout, but all serve the overall project goals and in many cases, students worked to obscure the intensive effort necessary to build with visual restraint

All Parts of The Art Chapel

The Art Chapel, seen pre-construction, with rolling wall mock up by Plain Design Build. Plain+FACT intend for the transformation of the historic building, to be perceptually mute at first look. By “making nothing” the project explores architecture’s ability to disarm the viewer through apparent simplicity.

Designbuild process: installing the rolling wall header beam, May 2024

"Show Us Your Art" community gallery event at the Art Chapel featuring an exhibition of Art Chapel design and 1:1 mockups

Material and detail explorations

Welding custom window frames; striking the prime datum line (window heads) around the room

First window installed

Framing the rolling wall

Moving the rolling wall to Art Chapel

The door rolls! (May 2024)

Custom-fabricated concealed latches maintain a "clean" interior appearance and hide security hardware for view

Art Making Space

FACT works with creative nonprofit clients in collaborations that span design and construction. Central to FACT’s mission are projects shaping places of intersection between the production and consumption of culture – where the creators and audiences meet. With The Art Chapel, Plain + FACT explore artistic methods in the making of space, and the production of space to serve the making of art.



Building the art tables.

Each table has build in power outlets for art making equipment. Tall and low tables nest when an open gallery space is desired

Fall 2021 FACT studio kicking off work at the Art Chapel

Project Team

FACT students, construction phase:
Izzy Brehm, Colton Corrin, Wyatt Gosnell, Ashley Hillhouse, Haneen Jabbar, Tanner Koeppe, Angela Medina, Nicholas Olsen, John Raridon, Ben Van Brocklin, Kayla Weller, Meagan Willoughby, Andrew Winter

Plain-FACT students, design phase:
Alec Burk, David Huismann, Saray Martinez, Andrew Rose, Kyra Stradley, Chris Antonopoulos, Caleb Goehring, Brandon Jensen, Joshua Pfeifer, Madeline Whitted

Actual Architecture Co. staff:
Ethan Boerner

Photography By Photographs of the completed project by Walker Pickering, construction photos by FACT or Plain unless otherwise noted.
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