Last spring, all of the dark room equipment from Paton House was moved to the city
campus, forcing the transition from print to digital photography. Now, Pace University’s fine arts department will be preparing for more changes.
According Yvette Jones, the staff assistant for the art courses
at Paton House, their last student studying fine arts for as their ma- jor is about to graduate, eliminat- ing the fine arts program on the Pleasantville campus.
While art courses will still be available on the Pleasantville
campus, fine arts are now only able to be studied for a minor.
Additionally, most of the classes being offered on the Pleasantville campus are only at the 100 level.
Pace students interested in furthering their art courses or pursuing a fine arts major can still find these programs at the New York City campus.
Professor Mark Cassata of the arts department thinks the de- crease of courses comes from an increase in the minimum amount of students required to run a class.
Both Jones and Cassata agree that the mandatory electives and core classes heavily rely on the art department.
“We have the welcome cen- ter, and it’s filled with our art, but when a potential student inquires about our art programs, we have to turn them down,” said Jones.
But the changes don’t stop there. According to Cassata, the campus is preparing to move the entire department out of Paton House and into an area of Wilcox Hall and other buildings as well.
“It is difficult and confus- ing because Paton House was designed to be used as an art fa-
their own health and fitness. “Classes are free, they are available upon walk-in, and I encourage students to get in-
volved,” Pouncey said.
cility,” said Cassata. “Tons of equipment and materials are going to have to get moved across campus.”
According to Cassata, the art department is in the perfect location.
“We are close to not only the environmental center, but also other scenic areas like Choate. I often assign still life assignments to my students that require these locations,” Cassata said.
Though the department has been notified of the upcoming changes, few other details have been provided to them ac- cording to Cassata. He further expressed a desire for more improved communication re- garding the upcoming changes.
“We are an art department. Our job is to focus on detail and when we aren’t given the information we need, we start to get worried,” said Cassata.
According to the Master Plan these changes will go into effect at the end of the Spring 2014 semester.