friday, feb 4th
concourse gallery

Here is the transcript
of the second forum
that was held in the
concourse gallery, this
one organised by the

administration.

Maurice Yacowar: ...wherever an
economy can be made, we make it. We
are looking closely at what courses we
can continue to offer. You may have
noticed you could sign up for a course
with five or six students, but these days,
unless it’s a studio course, we cancel a
course with five or six students, just to avoid
the cost, and we hope that the students can
find other places to go. My hope is that by
faculty reductions, staff reductionss, and
restraint in every area, we can close that gap
so that we can get through. If we can’t, we
have to do the thing that none of us
wants to do, and that’s considering
cutting out a program. And thats why I
included, partly as a warning and partly
to give you assurance, that if it came to
the point that we had to cut a program
of study, it would be a program that we
determined was cuttable ...that did not
affect a large numberof students, that
did not affect a large number of faculty
or support staff. Ideally, it’s a program
for which alternatives were available
elsewhere, that was an expensive
program, and most of all for your
assurance, we would not cut the pro-
gram completely all at once. We would
phase it in so that anyone who was in
that program now would have the
remaining years to finish their work.
That means that we can’t make a huge
savings even doing something as dra-
matic as cutting a program, right away.
We could maybe save $30,000 by
cutting out the first year of it (the
second year introductory) then 3rd and
4th. So we have to plan in advance to
make significant savings. That’s not
going to help us a lot with the initial
$430,000 deficit.

Student: What would be your response
to the article in the Planet of the Arts,
“Crit Your Faculty”?

MY: I’ve had to answer this before
now so I may have what sounds like a
pat answer. It reminds me of the speech
that (unknown name) from Manitoba
made when “Voice of Fire” was the
center of controversey in the National
Gallery. When you hear the guy, it
sounds pretty good. Anybody could do
a Barnett Newman painting on a
barnside with a roller. But if you know
anything at all about the world in which
that subject operates, then the thing

breaks down entirely. There’s a huge
difference between Barnett Newman
and a farmer with a paint roller on the
barn wall. Now it’s not a difference
that might strike the uninformed eye
right away, but it’s a difference that’s
apparent to anyone working in that
world. To put it another way, when
you start talking about Barnett
Newman’s painting you come from an —
understanding of what the conventions
of abstract painting are. You don’t
judge it against landscape paintings or
against portraits or against the velvet
painting of little dark-eyed children
that’s probably on the Manitoba M.P.’s
wall. You talk about it according to the
conventions of it’s world, the conven-
tions that are understood between artist
and viewer governing abstract painting.
Well, the same thing happens when you
talk about how the faculty member in
any post secondary institution works.
There are certain conventions that
govern the world of faculty. One

convention is that you don’t judge a

faculty member’s workload by how

many hours that a faculty member is in
a class. You have to take into acount
the myriad other responsibilities that
the faculty members have. The college

responsibility of committee work, in

_ consultation with students, in prepara-

tory time for particular classes, in
preparatory time to keep up with the
movements in the faculty member’s
field, not necessarily for an upcoming
class, but just to stay abreast of the
faculty member’s dicipline, so that the
faculty member knows what he or she is
talking about if a question comes out of
left field. In that perspective, faculty
work extremely hard. Faculty also have
the responsibility to maintain their
studio practise and their professional
connections. This is in the students’
interest because it’s in the college’s
interests. When you go to the outside
world with a diploma from Emily Carr
College, we don’t want you to run up
against people that say, “What the hell
is that?” we want you to run into,
“Emily Carr College ... Oh yeah, that’s
where Mike Banwell is from. I remem-
ber seeing this really dramatic piece he
did up in Edmonton...Oh, you must

know Rennie Van Helm, or you must
know Paul Hess, or you must know
Marie Bancroft who had that big show
at the VAG.” We want instant recog-
nition for any one who graduates from
this college. And instant recognition
comes from the fact that our faculty are
working their butts off in their studios
at every opportunity, not because we
tell them to but because they are
hungry for it, so that they’re always
working and producing with exhibitions
here, solo or group shows, whatever,
and it pays off for you and it pays off
for the college and that’s part of their
responsibility as teachers.
[undiscernable comment]

MY: No, it sure does! But your work,
while you’re here does not have the
audience that an Ian Wallace by now
has, or like an Attilla Lukacks or an
Angela Grossman by now has. And
part of your resposibility is that when
you go out of here, to make sure that
you make it as artist so that you can
perpetuate the reputation that’s clearing
the world for you. I got a letter from
Tan Wallace last week which is why I
remember him of course, because he’s
away on sabbatical. He had a guest
lectureship from the University of
Barcelona where he had an exhibition
and now he was in Paris where he was
having an exhibition, and he wrote and
one of the things he said in addition to

IKAGEIMPVAALL 94

looking forward to coming back teach-
ing full time next year, was that he’s
been looking at art schools all through
Europe and none of them come up to
what we have here. He also said that
wherever he is going he is remembering
European artists who remember Emily
Carr College, usually because they’ve
visited here, because in the past we’ve
had a good budget and could afford to
bring in artists and guest lecturers. We
haven’t been able to do that for about
four years. So when Ian Wallace
travels now, they don’t say, “Where is
Emily Carr?”, they say , “ Oh Emily
Carr, I remember it well,” etc. etc. and
that’s the reputation of the college that
your investing your life in. That’s the
reputation of the college due to our
faculty and our graduates. Nobody
knows Emily Carr because of its dean
or because of its board of governors or

_ because of its Granville Island location.

It’s known exclusively and properly for
the achievements, outside teaching, of
its faculty and its graduates. So that’s
the key point that was missed out in the
piece in the Planet of the Arts. That
when a faculty member is not here but
working in the studio, that work is done
for the college’s benefit, for the faculty
member is recharging his creative juices
so that now the thing that he will teach
you and show you is the commitment
that continues constantly. They’ve
already made it but they’re still hungry
to continue doing their own work.
Anybody that thinks sabbaticals are a
luxury and a waste of time should have
come last week to hear the reports of
the four faculty who were on sabbatical
last year. Frankly, I was not so tired all
week as I was after hearing Sam Carter
dong a quick tour of every thing he did
while he was on sabbatical.

Student: Sam Carter’s one of the few

friday, feb 4th

concourse gallery

Here is the transcript
of the second forum
that was held in the

concourse gallery, this

one or;
administration.

Maurice Yacowar: «wherever an
‘economy can be made, we make it. We
are looking closely at what courses we
can continue to offer. You may have
noticed you could sign up for a course
with five or six students, but these days,
unless it's a studio course, we cancel a
course with five osx students, just to avoid
‘the cost, and we hope that the students can
find other places to go. My hope is that by
faculty reductions, staff reductions, and
restraint in every area, we can close that gap
so that we can get through Ifwe can't, we
have to do the thing that none of us
wants to do, and that’s considering,
cutting out a program. And thats why I
included, partly as a warning and partly
to give you assurance, that if it came to
the point that we had to cut program
of study, it would be a program that we
determined was cuttable ..that did not
affect a large number of students, that
did not affect a large number of faculty
‘or support staff. Ideally, it's a program
for which alternatives were available
elsewhere, that was an expensive
program, and most of all for your
assurance, we would not cut the pro-
‘gram completely all at once. We would
phase it in so that anyone who was in
that program now would have the
remaining years to finish their work.
‘That means that we can't make a huge
savings even doing something as dra-
matic as cutting a program, right away.
‘We could maybe save $30,000 by
‘cutting out the first year of it (the
second year introductory) then 3rd and
4th. So we have to plan in advance to
make significant savings. That's not
going to help us a lot with the initial
$430,000 deficit.

‘Student: What would be your response
to the article in the Planet of the Arts,
“Crit Your Faculty”?

MY: I've had to answer this before
now so I may have what sounds like a
pat answer. It reminds me of the speech
that (unknown name) from Manitoba
made when Voice of Fire” was the
enter of controversey in the National
Gallery. When you hear the guy, it
sounds pretty good. Anybody could do
a Barnett Newman painting on a
barnside with a roller. But if you know
anything at all about the world in which
that subject operates, then the thing

ised by the

breaks down entirely. There's a huge
difference berween Barnett Newman
and a farmer with a paint roller on the
barn wall. Now it's not a difference
that might strike the uninformed eye
right away, but it's a difference that’s
apparent to anyone working in that
world. To put it another way, when
you start talking about Barnett,
Newman's painting you come from an
understanding of what te conventions
of abstract painting are. You don’t
judge it against landscape pai
against portraits or against the velvet
painting of litte dark-eyed children
that’s probably on the Manitoba MP.'s
wall. You talk about it according to the
conventions of it’s world, the conven-
tions that are understood between artist
and viewer governing abstract painting.
Well, the same thing happens when you
talk about how the faculty member in
any postsecondary institution works.
‘There are certain conventions that
govern the world of faculty. One
convention is that you don’t judge a
faculty member's workload by how
many hours that a faculty member isin
a class. You have to take into acount
the myriad other responsibilities that
the faculty members have. The college
responsibility of committee work, in
consultation with students, in prepara-
tory time for particular classes, in
preparatory time to keep up with the
‘movements in the faculty member's
field, not necessarily for an upcoming
class, but just to stay abreast of the

faculty member knows what he or she is
talking about if a question comes out of
left field. In that perspective, faculty

work extremely hard. Faculty also have

studio practise and their professional
connections. This isin the students’
interest because it’s inthe college's
interests. When you go to the outside
a diploma from Emily Care
College, we don’t want you to run up
st people that say, “What the hell
wwe want you to run into,
“Emily Carr College «- Oh yeah, that's
where Mike Banwel is from. I remem-
ber seeing this rally dramatic piece he
did up in Edmonton..Oh, you must

know Rennie Van Helm, or you must
know Paul Hess, or you must know
Marie Bancroft who had that big show
at the VAG.” We want instant recog-
ion for any one who graduates from
ollege. And instant recognition
comes from the fact that our faculty are
working their butts off in their studios
at every opportunity, not because we
tell them to but because they are
hhungry for it, so that they're always
working and producing with exhibitions
here, solo or group shows, whatever,
and it pays off for you and it pays off
for the college and that’s part of their
responsibility as teachers.
[undiscernable comment]

MY: No, it sure does! But your work,
while you're here does not have the
audience that an Tan Wallace by now
has, or like an Attilla Lukacks or an
‘Angela Grossman by now has. And
part of your resposibility is that when
‘you go out of here, to make sure that
you make it as artist so that you can
perpetuate the reputation that’s clearing
the world for you. [ gota letter from
Tan Wallace last week which is why I
remember him of course, because he’s
away on sabbatical. He had a guest
lectureship from the University of
Barcelona where he had an exhibition
and now he was in Paris where he was
having an exhibition, and he wrote and
fone of the things he said in addition to

(eteOORDBALE A

looking forward to coming back teach-
ing full time next year, was that he’s
been looking at art schools all through
‘Europe and none of them come up to
what we have here. He also said that
wherever he is going he is remembering
‘European artists who remember Emily
Carr College, usually because they've
visited here, because in the past we've
had a good budget and could afford to
bring in artists and guest lecturers. We
haven’t been able to do that for about
four years. So when Tan Wallace
travels now, they don’t say, “Where is
Emily Carr?”, they say , “Oh Emily
Carr, I remember it well,” etc. ete. and
that’s the reputation of the college that
‘your investing your life in. That's the
reputation of the college due to our
faculty and our graduates. Nobody
knows Emily Carr because of its dean
or because of its board of governors oF
because of its Granville Island location.
Te’s known exclusively and properly for
the achievements, outside teaching, of
its faculty and its graduates. So that’s
the key point that was missed out in the
piece in the Planet of the Arts. That
‘when a faculty member is not here but
‘working in the studio, that work is done
for the college’s benefit, for the faculty
‘member is recharging his creative juices
so that now the thing that he will teach
‘you and show you is the commitment
that continues constantly. They've
already made it but they're still hungry
to continue doing their own work.
‘Anybody that thinks sabbaticals are a
luxury and a waste of time should have
come last week to hear the reports of
the four faculty who were on sabbatical
last year. Frankly, I was not so tied all
week as I was after hearing Sam Carter
dong a quick tour of every thing he did
while he was on sabbatical.

Student: Sam Carter's one of the few