Editorial 2.4, April 2000, by Deirdre Helfferich Metalsmithing at the University When Glen Simpson, silversmith, retired from the university, there was considerable concern that the metals program would disappear. Several people, including myself, signed up for classes during his last semesters because we were fearful that this would be our last chance to take metalsmithing at the UAF campus. Ever. But fortunately, there were art students who were already declared as metals majors, and so the university hired Jo Pedersen to continue teaching—but only as an adjunct instructor. The position of Metals Professor had been eliminated and with it, the metalsmithing program. This spring semester is the very last time metalsmithing will be taught at UAF. Like all the fine art classes on campus, metalsmithing has a waiting list every semester. But one cannot teach a class such as this in a large auditorium filled with 200 people, or even a regular classroom filled with 30, as one can with many courses. The arts are hands-on. They require a close working relationship between the teacher and the student. They cannot be cheapened in this regard—not without threatening the quality of learning and the resultant value of the university’s reputation. Those who hold the purse strings appear not to have considered that what is being cut is, in fact, manufacturing. Generally anything to do with economics and job creation is smiled upon by the legislature: why not this? The extraction of the raw minerals is considered worthy; why not the manipulation of the refined product? Why does the university have to make extraordinary efforts to attract students? My guess is that students keep finding that the programs they want have been cut, and so they have to go elsewhere. Every time another field is deemed unnecessary and a position eliminated or a program scheduled for the chopping block, students leave the state. Metalsmithing, alas, is just another part of our future that we are eliminating. | ||
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