SAVE PRINTMAKING

April 20, 2000

To: Dean H. Randolph Swearer of Parsons School of Design:

After careful reading of your memorandum dated 4/17/00, there remain lingering questions as to what proposals are being made and what methodology is being used.

Your previous memo dated 3/29/00 was read in front of students and faculty by the Assistant Dean. The main points of your memo assured the printmaking community and publicly clarified that Printmaking would remain open, courses would go on uninterrupted and the Print Shop would not be moved for a period of one year during which a comprehensive planning process would take place.

We are now, by your memo of 4/17/00, confronted with weakening amendments to that promise. Under the heading: "Academic Year Degree Courses," you state that BFA and AAS degree programs will be offered in the 2000-01 academic year with no mention of The New School and Parsons Continuing Education classes. The New School and Continuing Education classes are particularly valuable as they permit an interchange of knowledge between the younger students and more experienced printmakers.

It is our response that any proposal to close the Print Shop or to eliminate any of the present print courses ]Is wholly unacceptable. The Print Shop is a stunning asset of the University that symbolizes the cross cultural and economically diverse role of the arts in New York City and in the world. It is startling that a movement exists on your part to interrupt this artistic environment. The proposed weakening of the print curriculum is in direct contradiction to our mutual goals of enhancing this important educational center.

In your 4/17/00 memo you refer to the need for a detailed analysis of the shop's 'operation." The "operation" of the Print Shop is to foster a community of artists of all ages from all disciplines making art in a specific and contemporary way.

Sotheby's realized 18 million dollars in 1999 for the sale of 20th century prints confirming the relevance of Printmaking in the modern world. Indeed Parsons/New School University Print Shop already has aspects of new and emerging technologies worthy of future enhancement.

Let's end the semester on a positive note. We offer our participation with you in planning the future for the Parsons/New School University Print Shop.

Save Printmaking Association