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October 28, 2020
News
(Teddy Jeannette/The Penn) Sculptures around campus were covered with blankets, tarps and sheets as a way of a silent protest at the dismissal of the fine arts department.
Sculptures around campus get masked for silent protest RACHEL FOOR Staff Writer myjv@iup.edu @ThePennIUP Early Monday morning, students armed with bed sheets, duct tape, maps, signs and tablecloths met at the loading dock behind Sprowls Hall to put a demonstration into motion. These students covered artwork all over campus to protest the consolidation of the College of Fine Arts and College of Humanities and Social Sciences because of the restructuring of the college’s programs and retrenchment of numerous faculty that was announced Oct. 14. “Each sheet will have a message attached that will say something like ‘by order of President Driscoll, since fine arts don't matter’, ‘because it's not in the plan for student success,’ etc.,” co-founder of the IUP Arts Initiative Kaitlyn Carey (senior, art) said. “Certain pieces will also have statements from the artists who created them, or the families or foundations that donated them to IUP that express their permission to be covered and their frustrations with IUP's reconstruction plan.” The phrases “shame on IUP,” “a preview of what’s to come,” “result of IUP’s retrenchment plan” and “find another way so our professors can stay” were also written on the sheets covering the
(Teddy Jeannette/The Penn) A statue by Sprowls with a sign that reads “By order of Chancellor Greenstein since fine arts don’t matter #shameonIUP.” artwork. “IUP is failing an open note test,” David John (senior, art) said. “Schools that don’t invest in the arts are doomed to fail. Especially when the niche fine arts majors are what drove many of us to come here in the first place.” John said that by covering the art on campus, they hope to make themselves known as an organization and let President Driscoll know that they are fighting for professors, future students and their own futures as working artists. IUP’s restructuring and retrench-
ment plans include cutting 128 faculty, many of which are from the College of Fine Arts. The college’s programs would also be seriously affected. “The goal of the covering is to deprive the university of art before they can do it to us,” Carey said. “To give them a preview of what to expect if they slash the College of Fine Arts in half.” She said that she co-founded the IUP Arts Initiative because the art department at IUP is her life. “Every time I think about the potential five out of 13 faculty
members who are slated to lose their jobs…I cannot even imagine an art department without even one of the professors who have helped me to get where I am now,” she said. “Our professors, faculty and staff mean the world to all of us and they have been nothing short of supportive in the 3.5 years that I have been here.” The students from the IUP Arts Initiative hope that covering the art on campus, much of which was created by students, will demonstrate the widespread effect of cutting arts programs at the university. “Indiana has certainly grown into more of an arts town in the short time that I have been here,” Carey said. “The artists, visual and performing at IUP have formed relationships with the artists in this community. For example, my art education professors have formed a relationship with the Artists Hand Gallery, and part of our classes at IUP revolve around teaching preschool art lessons at the Gallery.” She said there are families that depend on the art education program at IUP for quality lessons for their children. “The Indiana community and IUP's Art department are so closely intertwined that this devastating blow to IUP will be equally devastating to the borough of Indiana.” The Initiative’s cause has received support from much of the IUP student body. “It's always the first thing
cut because it's supposedly less important,” Kortnee Flood (senior, sociology and psychology) said, “but what would a world without any art look like? Art isn't my main path, but it's still a very important part of my time at IUP.” She said she doesn’t blame IUP for wanting to focus more on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), but there needs to be more of a balance. “IUP isn't the kind of place that's meant to be nothing but science and math. Without the richness of the departments that they're cutting drastically or erasing completely, IUP is going to lose its appeal for many students,” she said. “I know if I were a younger student, I would seriously be considering leaving.” “The arts are essential to everyone, not just the students in the field,” said Carey. “What did we all turn to during the months of quarantine? It surely wasn't calculus problems or frog dissections. We turned to TV shows, movies, Hamilton, books and music. Our local artists and crafters hand-stitched us all masks to wear. Now that we're out, I've seen so many people going to breweries and wineries, and they are ecstatic that there are live performers there.” Monday afternoon, the coverings had been removed. By Tuesday morning, they were replaced on the art once again, only to be taken down by noon. “Art is all around us and is integrated into our everyday lives. Our lives would be dull without it.”
