Miami Regionals prepares art students for the real world by expanding bachelor’s degree in Community Arts and Cultures
Miami University Regionals have painted a new vision for their bachelor’s degree in Community arts and Cultures.
The university will expand the bachelor’s degree in Community Arts and Cultures just in time for fall.
The goal of the program is to draw students in who are interested in how art making and art is utilized in an aesthetic way.
The program also hopes to draw students who also have a curiosity in looking at art creatively and collaboratively as a passageway to use art to advocate for broader social, cultural and community issues, explained Susan Spellman, chair of the Department of Humanities and Creative Arts.
“We can do that in a range of ways, of you know, helping students utilize visual, digital and printed media to achieve those goals,” she said.
According to Spellman, the Community and Arts degree has been around five to six years and within that time the degree has evolved.
Spellman along with other professors discovered that they have several students who are considered art makers, students who enjoy making art. This would include, but not limited to sculpting, painting or 3D print making.
However, Spellman explained they also had a variety of students who didn’t make original art but were interested in the digital or visual aspects of art and how it can be used in a community context.
The insight to understanding the true needs of art makers and students who visually appreciate art eventually led to the expansion of the Community Arts and Cultures degree.
According to Andrew Au, a professor of Humanities and Creative Arts, when traditionally thinking about art, music or history degrees they’re narrower.
On the contrary, students at Miami Regionals have a wide variety of rich courses to choose from.
As a result, students could have the opportunity to work for nonprofit organizations, museums, and theaters such as the Cincinnati Ballet or the Taft Museum. A few of these courses include film, history courses, music and philosophy.
“We’re realizing students go out into the community. It’s about the networks of people within that community to make things happen,” said Au.
Students engaging in professional experiences is a mandatory part of the program.
Former students have had the opportunity to intern with the Fitton Center for the Creative Arts, Middle town Art Center, Miami Valley Ballet Theater and Pyramid Hills, explained Spellman.
“We’re not just an art department, we have faculty with experience in art. I’m a historian. We have lots of historians, we have faculty who have experience in music, in theater, in media studies and in journalism. In other words, we are drawing on a broad range of expertise that students can take advantage of to cultivate their skills and to set them up well for the workplace,” she said.
For more information on the Community Arts and Culture bachelor’s degree at Miami Regionals click here.
