28th
Save NSCAD
There are some things I think of as so potent, so formative, it never dawns on me to imagine the world without them.
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, a 125 year old independent arts institution, is under the gun for serious defunding and possibly termination. I admit to knowing only about the ceramics department, which has been so influential and yielded such a number of high quality potters and clay artists that I hate to think of it not carrying on.
From being a young full-time potter picking up the earthenware issue of Studio Potter and falling in love with Walter Ostrom’s work, to rubbing elbows with Joan Bruneau, Fredi Rahn, Kathryn Finnerty, Linda Sikora, and Lisa Naples, I slowly became aware that NSCAD was fostering a generation of great clay artists. A one month course I took there with John Gill and Ian Symons caused me to rethink and enlarge my approach to my work.
NSCAD is a major force in our field and I entreat anyone who has benefited from it - whether by learning there or enjoying the work of its faculty, students and alums - to read this article and follow-up with emails to the powers that be:
The Friends of NSCAD are asking that anyone interested in preserving NSCAD’s artistic legacy let the province of Nova Scotia know how important the institution is to both Halifax and the art world. Please let the Premier of Nova Scotia, Darrell Dexter ddexter.mla@gmail.com and the Minister of Labour and Advanced Education Marilyn More marilynmoremla@ns.aliantzinc.ca know what this locally, nationally and internationally recognized university’s value is to you.
