Though most of the work is done, the two-storey building will become fully functional by next year.

Students chose the occasion to exhibit their art in the new gallery — their paintings depicting different moods and sculptures with a variety of themes greeted Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who inaugurated the new block.

Special attractions in the exhibition were the animated videos made by final-year Fine Arts students. Sheila Dikshit said the students in the college are at par with any institute abroad. “With the kind of infrastructure and talent in the college, it has all the materials to make it the most reputed college in the world,” Dikshit said.

Abhimanyue, who teaches painting, said the auditorium/art gallery will it easier for students to exhibit their work. “At present we have to transform classrooms and the studios into makeshift galleries that consume a lot of time,” he said. “We can lend the gallery to outsiders.”