JAMES LILLIN
Staff Writer
Fredonia’s Visual Arts and New Media Department is facing numerous changes this year as it adapts to a new location in the $37 million dollar expansion added on to the Rockefeller Arts Center, an expansion which includes new areas for sculpting, drawing, animating, and illustrating.
Leading the department is the newly appointed Dr. Michele Bernatz, a veteran teacher and Fredonia alumni who earned her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin.
“Her teaching style is very structured and writing focused, follows syllabus to a T, and she is always willing to go over when you have a problem,” said animation and illustration major Anna Gilmore, who graduated last spring. “I know that she has big shoes to fill with [former chair] Bob [Booth] leaving,” said Gilmore, “but I really liked her and think she will do a great job.”
“Her passion is infectious and her classroom is always a fun environment to learn in,” added acting and art history double major Joanna Shapiro, who also graduated last spring.
According to Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts Ralph Blasting, Bernatz’s appointment was made in the same fashion as other department chairs, involving the department’s own selection and subsequent approvals from him, Provost Terry Brown and President Virginia Horvath.
“I think it’s a fantastic appointment,” Blasting said of Bernatz, “and I look forward to working with her.”
As the Visual Arts and New Media Department begins planning for the upcoming years, it’s also looking to combat the falling enrollment numbers that have been felt by every department, not just at Fredonia, but across the SUNY system.
“Recruitment is our top goal, currently, trying to get more students into every area of the art department,” said Blasting, adding that “we do already have a very large department, about 190 majors in Visual Arts and New Media, which is among the largest in SUNY.”
Hoping to utilize the unique advantages that the department has, Blasting believes that the diversity of the department will continue to be an effective and compelling draw for students.
“The trick with art students, and with all students, is to give to them a great deal of opportunities and choices across their chosen field,” said Blasting.
“We know that when a student comes in at 18 years old they may not know, nor should they know, exactly where they want to end up in four years,” he said. “A student may come in, thinking they want to be a graphic designer, only to find that they are an immensely talented and passionate sculptor, so we aim to recruit for the whole array of majors in the department.”
The seven specialized BFA programs, as well as one generalized BA tract, may be a fantastic draw for students, but the most compelling reason for a prospective student to choose Fredonia may wind up being the new expansion to Rockefeller Arts Center.
“I’m very optimistic that the new space will help with enrollment,” Blasting said, “and I know that the faculty is excited about it as well … Faculty members are ultimately our best recruiters, and fantastic teachers are what get students passionate and interested in a new school. It doesn’t hurt that our new facilities are far and beyond what most other SUNY schools offer.”
The Visual Arts and New Media Department is planning several events to celebrate the opening of the new space, including activities in all the new sculpture studios during homecoming weekend as well as a public sculpture-pour of molten metal in the new foundry.