The TRU Arts & Education Building. (Photo via Thompson Rivers University)
There may still be a glimmer of hope for the future of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program at Thompson Rivers University.
That is according to TRU Associate Professor of Visual Arts, Alan Brandoli who says he was caught off guard after TRU announced last week, it was phasing out the program over the next three years, with no new enrollment.
“It was it sounded very black and white. We had been led to believe that we were going to be looking at new retrofitted or rebuilt facilities, which would have sat on top of our existing infrastructure; that was the discussion we’ve been having for a few months anyway.”
However, Brandoli tells NL News the one ray of hope is that the removal of the program, is not set in stone.
“There very much is a glimmer of hope for us because this has not gone through the formal process of determining program redundancy, which in itself, brings up a lot of questions,” he said. “It needs to go through a process, through TRU Senate and through the TRU board of being vetted for a very specific criteria, so until that’s done, this is not really final.”
Brandoli says it will be up to the Kamloops art community to create the pressure needed to have TRU retract its decision to end the program.
“What we’re trying to do is to inform the public and our arts community who is going to be significantly impacted by this, that we yeah, we do have a chance,” he said.
“I think hearing from those who are going to be most affected from the Kamloops Art Gallery and the Kamloops Arts Council, there will be significant kind of pressure that might may turn this around.”
Additionally, Brandoli suggests there will be provincewide pressure on TRU to retract its decision
“I can’t think of another BFA program that has been canceled in this province,” he stated. “So this is going to have you know it’s going to have an effect across the system. People will see this as TRU turning aside what is thought of as a central discipline in what is a university education.”
Meanwhile, he says they will be advocating for the Fine Arts program provincially and regionally.
He says the cancellation will have a significant negative impact on art galleries and the art community across the region.
“We deal with the Salmon Arm Art Gallery, our students are very engaged with that institution and we have many students who are working in Kamloops and Vancouver as well. So, this is going to be felt throughout the system and I think we will be hearing from those institutions and galleries.”
