Mr. Philip Scaturro, Chancellor
New School University,
66 West 12th Street New York, NY 10011
Dear Mr. Scaturro,
The rash decision to eliminate the printmaking department is wasteful and will be regretted in the long run.
Printmaking is the material manifestation of design. One can design brilliantly, however if the designer is not !itterate in how the design translates into print, it becomes a weak design despite it's conceptual strength. The best designer is one who understands the entire. process of creating - not just the conceptual one. The best designer is familiar with materials and process and this directly informs his design.
The departments of Communication Design, Illustration, AAS Graphic Design all depend on he printmaking department's equipment, experience and expertise. All print classes are fully enrolled, the Studio is open and vital seven days a week. It is even open during vacations with faculty and students working together.
Former President Fanton's description of Randy Swearer is that he is "committed to extending the school's leadership in training designers who command the conceptual and technological basis of contemporary visual design".
Printmaking is. the technological basis of contemporary visual design. It is the older technology.
What endures is the best, not the "newest". What endures is what works. Printmaking works. and has for centuries.
We w ill become visually illiterate designers if we choose to ignore our print legacy in pursuit of the "newest" technology. We will forget how to make things. We will know only how to press buttons to view, someone else's ideas and icons. Our choices will become limited.
I ask you, the officers of the president's office, to keep printmaking in place at the University. It is a vital and essential part of every visual arts design education.
Thank you for attention
Sincerely,
Phyllis Trout
Instructor at The New School
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