During the March 19 open forum for Studio Art majors and faculty, Director of Sustainability of Social Justice Laurie Ross confirmed that the Studio Art major would be phased out or “sunsetted” over the course of the 2025-2026 academic year. 

The forum was held to explain the University’s decision to phase out its Studio Art program and to alert Studio Art majors and professors about how this change will affect them.

Ross alleged that Clark University administrators made this decision over the course of several months, about which “no one is happy.” When asked who specifically was responsible, Ross added that the Undergraduate Advisory Board (UAB) took an “active role in program closure.” 

Ross explained that most of the majors being cut, with the exception of Studio Art, faced low enrollment in recent years. She cited the number of part time and adjunct faculty in the Studio Art Department, as well as the high cost of the Clark University Sculpture Studio on Main Street, as reasoning behind cutting the department. According to Ross, the upcoming demolition of that block was a “looming expense.”

According to Ross, the three main factors behind the decision to remove the department were sustainability, capital expense, and postgraduate job attainment and salary. Ross said that the UAB used W2 data and U.S. News Reports to obtain data on postgraduate career outcomes. Ross also said she believed this method, which was used to justify decisions to suspend the program, was “flawed.” However, according to Ross, this is a standard data collection method universities use nationally. 

To reimagine the program to present better employment outcomes for Studio Art majors, Ross explained, the program would have to undergo “major” changes that would constitute entirely shutting it down before reconstruction. 

At the listening session, Ross acknowledged the “deep connections” and high satisfaction rates within the Studio Art program. However, no budget will be allotted to the Studio Art Department for the 2025-2026 academic year, she said.

“I get that this doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Ross said.

According to Ross, all students currently enrolled at Clark will be able to continue and complete their Studio Art majors. The minor will also continue to be operational until the major is “reinvented.”

Associate Professor of Studio Art and Program Director Sherry Freyermuth alleges she had no input into the plans to sunset the Studio Art Department. 

“I was as surprised as everyone else,” she said, adding that she would like to “get clarity” on the timeline of the restructuring process. She has since begun collaborating with administrators, full-time Studio Art faculty, and the Visual and Performing Arts Department to “reimagine the major” with a focus on “providing opportunities for students to explore cross-disciplinary collaborations.” 

“There are still a lot of questions and frustrations from members of our community,” Freyermuth summarized.

Adjunct Professor Katie Commodore doubled down on the assertion that faculty were excluded from discussions surrounding sundowning.

“The meeting on Wednesday was the first time we’ve been invited to anything,” she said. “I know I’m teaching next semester, but have no idea what happens after then.”

“I’m beyond disappointed that the administration could be so shortsighted and is focusing on metrics that don’t apply to artists and people with an art degree,” Commodore added. “I worry about the department’s ability to give the current majors and minors the education and experience they deserve.”

“The students I’ve had are so driven and talented. I know they deserve better than this,” she finished.

Professor Stephen DiRado also had strong words for administrators. 

“I have been teaching in the Studio Art program for 42 years,” he wrote to The Scarlet. “I can say without a doubt that I have never seen our morale this low along with general foreboding feelings deeply expressed campus-wide…it doesn’t surprise me that the Studio Art program got tossed into the first proposed cuts. It is the most misunderstood practice.”

DiRado added that many students take up Studio Art as a second major, accompanying programs of study that have traditionally been thought of as more marketable. This leads to a great number of self-designed majors, double majors, and collaboration across departments, DiRado said. 

“Clark has always been unique—it is our strength—and it is what we do all so well,” DiRado concluded. “If you remove Studio Art from a liberal arts university, what do you have left?” 

“Clark Studio Art is a very special program,” Studio Art Professor Kristen Lamb shared in a statement to The Scarlet. “I’ve taught in about 6 different programs as an adjunct over the years and Clark has been my favorite.”

“I’m devastated for the students, majors, faculty, and broader campus community,” Lamb continued. “We are going to lose a place where imagination and making with your hands is treasured and nurtured.”

Lamb concluded with a play on Clark University’s motto: “Challenge Convention? Not without Studio Art.”