If you ever felt in awe of a sculpture or painting, had that one song that resonated with you while you were growing up, or heard a friend say that a story got them through one of the darkest times of their life, then you know exactly why the arts are so important. Artists, musicians, and performers create tools for us to navigate our emotions and the complexity of our lives.

I'm an alumni of West Virginia University with an MFA in Intermedia Art. I was shocked to my core to when I learned of the massive cuts that have been proposed throughout the school. The College of Creative Arts has been particularly hard hit, with the Schools of Art and Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance all losing vital faculty and slated to close programs. Even more upsetting, WVU is one of the few affordable universities to give rural students in West Virginia access to this level of arts education. 

I am creating this petition to urge the Office of the Provost to reconsider the severity of its cuts to the the Schools of Art and Design, Music, and Theatre and Dance. So much learning comes from the intersection between disciplines and interactions with fellow students from different majors. Carving away at the variety in these programs effects the quality of education across all majors within the arts. 

Looking at the School of Art and Design, the concentrations in Sculpture, Ceramics, and Printmaking will be completely eliminated. All of these programs have built unique opportunities and experiences – Sculpture gives students the rare opportunity to learn metal casting, while Printmaking has built a decades long relationship with Artists Image Resource in Pittsburgh to provide internship opportunities, and Ceramics has a strong International presence offering students a chance to study abroad. 

The other schools in the College of Creative Arts face similar losses.

In the School of Music several degrees will be eliminated: the DMA degrees in Composition and Collaborative Piano, the MM degrees in Jazz Pedagogy, Composition, Collaborative Piano, and the BM in Music Performance's concentration in Jazz and Commercial Music. Many of the remaining programs are slated to lose faculty.

In the School of Theatre and Dance, all of the MFA degrees are being dramatically effected with the MFA in Acting being completely cut. The MFA degrees in Costume Design and Technology, Lighting Design and Technology, Scenic Design and Technology, and Technical Direction are all being dissolved and lumped together into a catch-all production related degree. The BFA in Puppetry is set to be absorbed as an area of emphasis into the BA in Theatre, a degree which also is set to see a loss in faculty.

The cuts on paper do not give you the full scope of all the lost opportunities that these programs have been making and fine tuning for decades. Nor do they convey the holes in knowledge and experience created by the loss of faculty who are masters of their specialized fields.  Perhaps most immeasurable, will be the impact on rural students who deserve continued access to higher education in the arts.

As I was writing this petition, I heard from concerned parents and community members. An alumni from the School of Music I spoke to perhaps said it best, “The WVU School of Music taught me to find originality as a musician while still offering the necessary fundamentals, and instilled a strong work ethic in me...” These elements, especially originality, are absolutely crucial to success and will only flourish in a healthy learning environment, not one stripped down and unsure of its future.

I urge anyone who shares these concerns to please sign this petition.