Tuesday 4th January 2011
On behalf of the students of the Printmaking Department, Howard Gardens, UWIC.
Re: Letter sent to all Howard Gardens students on the 1st December 2010
There has been discussion amongst the Printmaking students about the proposed changes to the structure of the degree as a result of spending cuts. We understand changes must be made in harsh economic circumstances, yet there is a fear that cutting Sculpture as a specific discipline is a retrograde step. Sculpture is a well-respected area within the school. This has come about as a result of both excellent technical support and the subject specific tuition that contributes to an articulate and skilled student.
We are all artists and this can encompass many areas and skill sets. However, as students who use process on a daily basis ourselves, we printmakers know that having a discourse within one’s own discipline is essential. This means that we need to have peers as well as tutors who understand the very specific concerns of our subject. For this reason we empathise with those sculptors who may not have these needs met in the future at UWIC.
Sincerely
The Students of the Printmaking Department.
Year Representatives of the Fine Art programme, Printmaking
To Whom it May Concern,
I write to express my concern against the recently announced closure of the Sculpture department of the Fine Art course of Cardiff School of Art and Design (CSAD).
It is my strong belief that Sculpture as a discipline and mode of thought underpins the most radical and progressive art that exists today, bringing an important contribution to the visual language of painting, print, photography, performance, writing...
It is my strong belief that a vibrant and diverse creative environment is a pre-requisite for any visual art education programme. All artists and creative people thrive in an environment of wide discourse and critical relationships with artists who work both in very similar and very different ways to themselves.
Furthermore, it is my strong belief that Cardiff, as a capital city, has benefited from increasing arts activity, which has been built on the foundations of a supportive and exciting art college. Each year more and more graduates, a great many from the Sculpture and recently closed MAP/Time based fine art departments, have gone on to contribute to Cardiff and South Wales, generating arts activity of an international standard in Wales and right across the globe.
Arts activity is something that many individuals and organisations have spent years trying to nurture and develop. This activity and growth that threatens to bloom into an exciting and fertile environment is itself now threatened. All regional arts activity is dependent upon trust and support from institutions and educational establishments.
The closure of the sculpture department of the Fine Art course alongside the recent closure of the MAP/Time based department shows a regressive attitude toward contemporary art, it shows a lack of belief in diverse and imaginative arts education, and it shows a grave lack of responsibility towards its role in growing a creative hub in the city.
For the reasons above I write in protest and request that this decision is reversed immediately.
Yours Faithfully,
*** *****
