The curtain is closing on a 118-year-old legacy at the University of Kansas.

Beginning July 1, a reorganized School of Fine Arts will replace the original one, whose organization has remained unchanged since 1891.

The school’s programs will move to new and existing schools at the University. As students, faculty and staff prepare for the reorganization, administrators continue to puzzle out scholarships, donor contributions and possible curriculum changes that could open up arts classes to more students.

The latest step in the process was the naming of Alicia Ann Clair, professor of music education and music therapy, as the interim dean for the new School of Music on Wednesday.

Administrators are trying to make the transition as smooth as possible for students, many of whom are having mixed feelings about the reorganization.

For Mandy Shriwise, Overland Park senior and dance major, who has one year left in the school, the change is bittersweet.

“On the whole, it’s kind of sad to see,” Shriwise said. “There’s a part of me that misses having a cohesive school at KU.”

Old and new

The School of Fine Arts currently includes the departments of art, design, and music and dance.

Changes under the reorganization include a new School of Music, a separate School of the Arts in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a revamped department of design that will move to the School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Administrators don’t expect any of these changes to cost the University any money in the long term. John Gronbeck-Tedesco, interim dean of the School of Fine Arts, said the reorganization might ultimately save money and increase enrollment.

“We raised the standards for the units that teach the arts,” Gronbeck-Tedesco said. “The raising of standards often triggers more interest not only in the arts, but in other fields as well.”

The move to create a School of Music has received praise from many in the department of music and dance. Christopher Johnson, professor of music and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts, said KU had one of the largest music departments in the country.

Alyssa Boone, Wichita senior and music performance major, said a new School of Music would help give professors and students adequate recognition for their work.

“Just in name alone, the department of music being elevated to a school of music makes us a little more lucrative to people who would come and teach here,” said Boone, who also served on the task force to help plan the reorganization.

‘Change is hard’

Sam Schlageck, Manhattan senior, expressed confusion about the reorganization. Schlageck said he did not feel informed about the changes because of poor communication between administrators and students.

“I don’t think they really went around and asked for much input regarding what we would like to see in the departments,” said Schlageck, an industrial design major and the Student Senator for the School of Fine Arts.

One primary factor motivating changes to the School of Fine Arts was the need to modernize the school’s organization, said Dawn Marie Guernsey, chair of the art department.

The outdated model made it difficult to find a new dean for the school, said Johnson, the associate dean of the School of Fine Arts. Steven Hedden, the previous dean, stepped down last year to return to his teaching position in the department of music and dance.

Johnson said students might not notice some of the changes because faculty and courses would be in the same offices and buildings as before. He said students would still have access to the same degrees and programs, just offered under different schools.

“In the long run, all the programs are going to flourish,” Johnson said. “In the short run, change is hard.”

Opening the arts

In the School of the Arts, organizational changes could include opening first- and second-year art classes to all KU students, Guernsey said.

The change would allow non-art major students to take art courses as elective credit within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Currently, non-art majors must have faculty permission to take an art class. Changing the requirements could also help recruit students to the School of the Arts and provide graduate student teaching opportunities.

“It goes both ways,” Gronbeck-Tedesco said. “Students outside the arts have more access to art training and those in art will have more access outside the arts.”

‘Part of the creative process’

But the plan is not without criticism.

Tim Hamill, a Lawrence resident and former chairman of the School of Fine Arts Advisory Board, said he was worried that the reorganization would not prepare students for the real world, where art and design are integrated.

“Dividing the school into different disciplines makes sense academically,” said Hamill, who received his undergraduate and graduate design degrees from the University.

“But to those of us who have spent 30 to 40 years making our living in art and design, the idea of separating art and design doesn’t make any sense at all.”

May Tveit, associate professor of industrial design, said she wasn’t unhappy with the new plan, but would have preferred to see art, design and architecture merged, rather than moved to different schools.

“The current contemporary world tells me that all of our disciplines are merging and hybridizing,” Tveit said. “I had hoped that the structural alignment would have supported that.”

Caroline Curtin, Leawood senior, a graphic design and painting major, has a unique perspective on the reorganization because her majors will no longer be in the same school.

“It is a bit of a shame that people cannot see that, out in the real world, art and design work hand in hand,” Curtin said. “Without knowledge of one or the other it would be hard to be successful in either discipline.”

Aside from the criticism, John Hachmeister, associate professor of art, said he was not worried because artistic thinkers could creatively change quickly.

“It would really behoove us to rally on top of this and accept that change,” Hachmeister said. “Yeah, there will be some things that will be a little messy, but that’s part of the creative process. If anybody can do this, we can do this.

— — Edited by Carly Halvorson