UWS reshapes fine-arts program
By Anita Maglicic and Clare Bruce

from Northern News 1 April 2008

AS STUDENTS at the University of Western Sydney settle into their first semester of classes, some are lamenting that this is the final year for the fine arts and electronic arts degrees.

Last year the university announced these courses would be replaced by a four-year Bachelor of Contemporary Art degree in 2008, but it failed to attract enough applicants.

In the revised version, a two-year TAFE Diploma of Fine Arts will be a prerequisite for a two-year Bachelor of Contemporary Art degree that will start next year.

Studio art such as painting and drawing, printmaking, ceramics and sculpture will now be taught at Kingswood TAFE and other campuses.

In the two-year degree component, students will study media and digital arts, photo media, animation, screen and sound, convergent and interactive media, digital music and art history and theory.

The 25 to 30 students of the fine arts and electronic art degrees who started in 2006 will be the last, as these courses are phased out by 2009. TAFE students who have already completed the diploma component can start the new degree next year.

Tony Hay, the president of Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils, said he was was disappointed about the loss of courses and blamed a lack of advertising.

"Western Sydney's distance, transport problems and socioeconomic disadvantage already places serious challenges on our artists," he said.

Lori Saywell, a 2007 graduate, agreed the university didn't do enough marketing.

"I found out about the course through a friend because I didn't know it was there," she said.

Professor Lynette Sheridan Burns, the head of communication art at UWS, said the course was advertised through brochures, the prospectus and on the university website.

She said the changes were due to a lack of applicants in the high-cost courses.

"Governments have reduced funding to universities that specialise in particular areas of study."

She said there had been a decline in fine-art enrolments nationally, not just in western Sydney.

Penrith councillor Jim Aitken, who has already asked the university to reconsider, said: "I think it's regretful that UWS can't find somewhere to cut back a little to let the full degree continue.

"The council supports the arts very heavily in Penrith through our Q Theatre, Joan Sutherland Centre and Penrith Regional Gallery.

"We are building a city known for its education and culture this decision is something that will retard this growth."

Also published as part of this story was this smaller article:

The history of the art school

THE UWS art school at Penrith was established in 1981 as part of the Nepean College of Advanced Education, to cater for budding artists in the west.

In its heyday in the late ’80s and early ’90s, it had more than 1000 students, 100 staff including highly respected Australian artists, and a high status in the arts scene. Some called it the ‘‘jewel in the university’s crown’’.

It has produced highly regarded artists such as Brook Andrew, Raquel Ormella and Con Gouriotis (now Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre director), while the theatre program has produced actors such as David Wenham.

The School of Contemporary Arts once included performance, fine arts, dance and electronic art. By the end of this year, the only degree left of those will be music.

In July 2007, a forum was held at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of a major art event called Western Front, to discuss the issues faced by the art world of western Sydney. A source said that the decline of the UWS arts department was on the agenda, but no one from the university attended to explain its side of the story, despite invitations.