Fine and Performing Arts Focus Group Summary
1998 All-University Planning Retreat
September 18, 1998

Facilitator: Robert Chapel

ASPIRATIONS FOR THE FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS:
· To be in the top ten among public universities.
· To be in the top 25 among public and private universities.
               
Comments: We must stop thinking in terms of constraints, limits, making do. Only by setting bold goals will we be able to go after high-level funding.

WHERE DOES THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA RANK IN THE FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS?
· Drama ranks 37th in the US News & World Report rankings.
· Art History ranks 16th in the National Research Council rankings.
· Architecture ranks 6th in the nation.
· Music has no graduate program and is not ranked.
· Studio Art has excellent, internationally known faculty, but a small, almost
unknown program.

WHAT DO WE NEED IN ORDER TO REACH OUR ASPIRATIONS?
· New facilities for music and art (both art history and studio art).
· New facilities for the University Art Museum.
· Expanded facilities for drama and architecture.
· A change in the mindset at the University. Students interested in the arts generally do not choose to study at UVA. Integrate the arts across the Grounds, make the arts a part of the teaching mission at the University, and incorporate the arts into the University's advising systems.
· A Ph.D. program in music. (A Ph.D. proposal has been developed on a new model that combines theory, composition and performance.)
· More variety and cultural diversity in arts programming (both internal and external).
· Money for facilities, programs, events, and endowments to support both.
· A common spokesperson for the arts.
· A vibrant message for the arts.
· Student involvement in the arts, as majors or as non-majors.
· A synergy for the arts resulting from the Carr's Hill Arts Precinct.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
· Should UVA start a School of Fine Arts with its own dean and a separate development staff? Or should the arts expand within the College of Arts and Sciences?
· Should creative writing be a part of the fine arts?
· Does the proposed media studies program belong in fine arts?
· Should UVA develop a program in dance? In film? In radio?