 A&M–Commerce founded the Bill Martin Jr Memorial Symposium in 2005, which honors children's author Bill Martin, Jr. and focuses on teaching reading to children.Since the inaugural event, its keynote speakers have included Brod Bagert, Gloria Houston, Steven Kellogg, Jerry Pallotta, Brian Pinkney, and Jane Yolen.In 2005, the university remodeled its Wathena Temple Home Economics Building into the Wathena Temple Fine Arts Building, as a replacement for the Creative Arts Village that had existed since the 1970s.