Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center

The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) is a multi-venue arts center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, which opened on October 3, 2008.

The director of EMPAC is Johannes Goebel. He was previously the director and founder of the Institute for Music and Acoustics at the Center for Art and Media Technology (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany. EMPAC's curatorial team includes: Argeo Ascani - Curator of Music, and Victoria Brooks - Curator for Time-Based Visual Arts. The building is named after Curtis Priem, co-founder of NVIDIA and graduate of the RPI Class of 1982, who donated $40 million to the Institute in 2004.

The institute announced plans for the construction of a new performance hall in Fall of 2001 with construction costs originally slated at $50 million. After a design competition and discussions with architectural firms, the plans were revised with a new construction cost of $141 million and completion date of sometime in 2006. While some thought that RPI needed improved music and arts facilities, the increased size and construction cost were seen as unnecessarily expensive by many students and faculty.

The project broke ground on September 19, 2003. During 2004 the Institute began a large capital campaign and Rensselaer alumnus and trustee Curtis Priem, '82, donated $40 million in an unrestricted gift. RPI decided to officially name the project in his honor. Additionally, the Institute received a $1 million gift for EMPAC programs from alumnus David Jaffe in 2006.

Over 100,000 cubic yards of earth were evacuated from the hill to make room for the structure. RPI has had problems in the past with the instability of the ground on the hillside, a phenomenon known as mass wasting. To prevent the EMPAC from "sliding down the hill", 215 rock anchors were drilled into the ground to stabilize the foundations. At over 210 feet (64 m) long, they are some of the largest anchors in North America.

In September 2005, the institute hosted EMPAC 360: On Site + Sound, a multimedia and performing arts presentation to celebrate the midpoint of construction. The event was attended by over 3000 people from the region. The expected completion date was moved to sometime in 2008. In January 2008, RPI commissioned lighting designer Jennifer Tipton to create a large lighting display called "Light Above the Hudson". Operational for several weeks, the display drew attention to the center with a 300 by 100-foot (30 m) array of multicolored lights and search lights pointed into the sky.

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