New President Seeks to Encourage, Strengthen Campus Arts Culture

These are “areas that fall between the curricular and extracurricular sides of By Kyle Warneck
News Associate

In his Inaugural Address twelve years ago, President Stanley announced an ambitious vision for a central place for members of the Pomona community. This vision eventually became the Smith Campus Center, one of the most visible legacies of his time at Pomona.

In his Inaugural Address, President David Oxtoby listed three areas that merited attention at Pomona: creative arts, student fitness, and increased interaction with the Los Angeles community.

Pomona. Our challenge here is to integrate these further types of activities into a Pomona education,” said Oxtoby.

President Oxtoby also suggested three ways of revitalizing the arts at Pomona. First, he called for building a new visual arts facility which would be comparable to Little Bridges for music and the Seaver complex for theater and dance.

Second, he called for bringing more artists and performers to campus to provide examples and instruction for Pomona students.

Finally, Oxtoby said that Pomona should focus on creating a campus culture that recognizes and encourages the creative arts.

Dean of the College Gary Kates said these themes should be considered important for the new administration, but students should not expect changes anytime soon. The goals in the speech were part of an agenda that will be accomplished over time.

Oxtoby pointed out that the Smith Campus Center was not built until eight years after Stanley’s inaugural address. Similarly, Oxtoby’s goals are part of a long term planning process. Creative arts were not included in the last capital campaign nor in the last wave of space planning that was done in response to the condition of the Academic Quad.

The programming and facilities for the creative arts will be part of a future capital campaigns and space planning discussions. Implementing these goals could take more than a decade.

The issue of art facillities has been discussed in a limited fashion before. Two years ago, architectural consultants were strongly critical of the style and placement of Thatcher Music building. Renovations have been put on the long term calendar for 2008-2009.

Both the Music and Theater departments recently completed self-studies, which every department does on a ten-year cycle. In their latest self-study, these departments were asked to report on their space needs and other issues. Dean Kates stressed that there are no specific plans for any of these issues and that these are large issues which will require careful thought and long term planning.

While these goals remain†in the very earliest stages, some students expressed support for the President’s priorities. Art History Liaison Brianne Cohen ’04 felt that Oxtoby recognized many of the problems for the arts at Pomona.

“I very much appreciate [Oxtoby’s] emphasis on ‘integrat[ing] analysis and criticism with creation and performance’, because the two work so closely in hand. Having had much experience with the music department, I’m constantly impressed by their almost seamless fusion of performance and scholarship, and I wish that the Art/Art history departments had even more of that,” she said. She also recognizes the Pomona culture that devalues art.

“I feel like people often deem the creative arts a less “intellectual” pursuit that needs textual scholarship to validate it, maybe because creation is viewed as a judgment of taste or aesthetics, but so is all of academia,” she contested.

Other students felt the President’s comments repeated the mistakes of the past. Dance Liaison Karanda Bowman ’05 said that she was frustrated to hear Oxtoby describe the creative arts as somewhere between curricular and extracurricular issues. She pointed out that Dance, Music, Theater, Art and Art History are all full academic departments and thus creative arts should be seen as a curricular issue.

“Dance is my major,” she insisted. Bowman believes that the biggest problem for the creative arts at Pomona is that they are seen as different or less serious than other departments. She feels the President’s approach may contribute to the some of the problems of the Pomona culture’s attitudes about art.

Still, she emphasized some of the same priorities. She stressed the Dance departments need for a larger locker room facility including showers and a larger space for student dance performances. She also hoped that visiting artists and professors could provider a broader range of art course offerings.

While final decisions will be mad over time, it is clear that students can look to the creative arts to be an important theme for Oxtoby’s presidency. The Inaugural Address initiated a conversation which will guide Pomona for years to come.