VADA works to improve department, curriculum

By Josh Rutenberg     11/13/08 6:00pm

Architecture. Music. Rice schools of the arts rank among the best around. In 2006, the Design Futures Council ranked Rice's Undergraduate Architecture program second in the nation. The Shepherd School of Music was one of eight music schools chosen by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for its Conservatory Project. However, when it came to visual and dramatic arts, Rice somehow slipped off the radar.Well, that's all about to change, according to Professor of Visual and Dramatic Arts Christopher Sperandio.

Until 2003, the Visual and Dramatic Arts department and the Art History department were combined. However, according to a 2003 Issue of Sallyport, "the two disciplines had grown too large to be managed together effectively. Art professors also have different needs than art history professors, such as dealing with heavy equipment and chemicals, safety procedures, and adequate space for working."

When the programs split, Karin Broker became the chair of Visual Arts. Current Visual Arts Chair Brian Huberman said he continues to elaborate on her vision, while incorporating his own.

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"We hear stories of people with little knowledge we exist," Huberman said. "It's somewhat depressing. Rice has always stressed a fully-rounded education. We need to take the maximum advantage of the offerings we have so students can get the best."

Seventy students are VADA majors and double majors.

Huberman said Sperandio's appointment was a step in the right direction.

"Hiring Sperandio was a huge breakthrough," Huberman said.

Sperandio replaced former professor of painting and drawing Basilios Poulos. With few spaces allotted for professors in the VADA program, Poulos' retirement allowed Huberman to bring a new vision and focus into the program.

Sperandio said he is concerned about the decentralization of Rice's art facilities. Art classes are currently held in various locations across campus. Given that art students often have to carry their supplies to and from classes, a consolidated art center would make transportation easier for students, and would also benefit faculty, Sperandio said.

"There has been a lack of vision at the top levels in the administration," Sperandio said. "The visual and dramatic arts have been long suffering."

Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman said plans for a visual arts building are not a priority at this point because of lack of funding. Instead, the next big project will be the construction of a new physics building.

"I think there are a lot of needs on campus right now and there's a lot of construction going on," Forman said. "[A visual arts center] is not in the current wave of construction."

Both Huberman and Sperandio said they want to improve the VADA program by making changes to its curriculum. Huberman believes the current program could be improved through innovation and a change in focus.

"We need to improve our offerings," Huberman said. "Human nature is to do what comes easy, and that doesn't serve the department well."

Sperandio suggests hiring additional faculty and building more facilities to house a variety of VADA classes. He hopes VADA students will better utilize the Houston art scene.

"Given the physical location of Rice near the Museum District, it's a terrific opportunity for Rice to make a big impact on Houston [arts]," Sperandio said. "I think it's a real opportunity for Rice to enter the 21st century, and I'd love to see that happen."

In order for his vision to work, Sperandio said Rice's administration - in particular, the president, the provost and the trustees - needs to look at the art programs of peer institutions and examine what can be done. Sperandio said he fears that Rice's VADA department might disappear altogether without substantial scrutiny and investment.

For example, Washington University spent $56.8 million on a new Center for the Arts and Visual Design five years ago. The building linked three of the university's schools - Architecture, Art and Art History and Archeology - with the already-existing Gallery of Art and Architecture Library.

In 2006, Princeton announced it would be constructing new academic buildings for its art programs, including dance studios, acting studios and an experimental media studio. The Princeton University Arts Building will cover more than 130,000 square feet upon its completion.

Forman said the university would like to provide a new facility for visual arts but this might be difficult given Rice's finances right now.

"I think the general sense at the administration is that we'd love to be able to provide a better space for them," Forman said. "But right now it's not on the list of current projects."

Lamar Advertising Agency recently donated $15,000 in billboards to the VADA. The 11-foot by 24-foot billboards will feature Rice students' artwork around the Houston area.

Huberman has also been working with the University of Texas at Austin to develop a Summer Film Institute at Rice. The Institute will host both Rice and UT students, and is set to kick-off this May.

Recently, VADA Professor John Sparagana held a "Meeting of the Minds". The presentation consisted of an assemblage of Visual and Dramatic Arts professors, working in all representative art mediums, who came together and shared their works with other professors and students in the VADA department.

Sparagana got the idea to hold his collaborative meeting from Bomb Magazine.

"The magazine had artists interviewing other artists," Sparagana said. "It's a very informal approach, often different from an art historian's."

Sparagana noted that although the department is small, everyone in the department is still a working artist. If students are able to see their instructors' involvement in the arts outside of the classroom setting, Sparagana believes the students will develop a deeper relationship with the professor, and subsequently, a healthier department.

Forman said the department was well known for assembling quality faculty members.

"Visual arts plays an important part in everyone's vision of what Rice is and I think we've had some truly wonderful artists on our faculty," Forman said. "I think it's great that we can provide those kinds of experiences for our students."

Sparagana said he plans to hold a department meeting each semester, eventually developing an exchange with other professors and students from the University of Houston.

If VADA at Rice continues to expand, Sperandio said he imagines the reinstatement of a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, in addition to a Master of Fine Arts and Ph.D. Huberman noted the Art History program, part of the Humanities department, will begin offering a Ph.D next fall.

"It's going to be slow, and I don't think anyone will see anything on the short term," Sperandio said. "But we're going to do the best with what we're given. We would just like to be given more.

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