UCSC ART BOARD SPONSORS CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS THE NATIONAL CRISIS IN VISUAL ARTS PROGRAMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ--Art departments at colleges and universities around the country are in crisis as faculty and students grapple with questions of cultural diversity and technological innovation. The Art Board at the University of California, Santa Cruz, is hosting a two- day conference April 21-22 to foster discussion among educators, artists, activists, and students.

Titled "Target 2000: Rethinking the Future in Art Education," the conference is designed to be an open forum for artists and educators. "The question is how do we develop a curriculum that's more multicultural, technologically improved, and interdisciplinary," says conference organizer Norman Locks, an assistant professor of art at UCSC. "How much diversity can a program take philosophically before it becomes too fragmented and loses its integrity?"

Artists today bring aspects of non-Western cultures into their work, and technological innovations have created whole new art forms, such as computer-assisted photography and mixed media, says art professor Joyce Brodsky. "It is causing great waves in arts education," she says. "As we design an art program that is based on traditional practices such as painting, sculpture, and printmaking, how do we accommodate the experiences of students from diverse backgrounds? How much of the new technology do we include?"

The questions have become an ideological battleground, and organizers of the conference have invited panelists who represent all sides of the debate. Among the participants are Malaquias Montoya, a well-known muralist from UC Davis; Carol Becker, dean of academic affairs at the Art Institute of Chicago; Anne Healy, chair of the studio art department at UC Berkeley; and Edgar Heap of Birds, a Native American painter from the University of Oklahoma.

The conference, which takes place in the Performing Arts Theater at UCSC, begins at 8:30 a.m. on April 21 with a panel discussion "Interfacing Ideologies: Dialogue or Battleground Within the University and Society?" The opening panel at 9 a.m. on April 22 is titled "Planning for Cultural, Technological, and Academic Diversity in University Studio Art Education." Workshops are scheduled for both afternoons.

(Editor's Note: For schedule information, call Norman Locks or Pat Hernandez at 408/459-2282.)

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