In the spirit of Indiana University's 1967 acquisition of the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis that then merged in 1969 to form IUPUI, during 1976 the Indiana General Assembly approved the merger of the Fort Wayne Art Institute with IPFW. The Fort Wayne Art Institute was founded in 1897 as the Fort Wayne Art School. Until 1991 the Fort Wayne Art Institute and resulting academic unit within IPFW maintained a small campus in downtown Fort Wayne. In 1998 this academic unit was renamed the School of Fine and Performing Arts. In 1991 that downtown campus was closed and the School of Fine and Performing Arts moved to their new building on the IPFW campus, the Fine Arts Building. During the latter 1990s, the School of Fine and Performing Arts and their primary classroom building was renamed the School of Visual and Performing Arts and Visual and Performing Arts Building, respectively.  (Wikipedia)