The Australian National University (ANU) recently released its Organisational Change Proposal document (3 July), inviting comment for a couple of weeks.
The details have sparked grave concerns from the sector, as the core vision in the university’s drive for operational efficiencies, has been to recommend a merger of the School of Music (SoM), ANU School of Art and Design (SoAD) and the ANU Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies (SoHMS), into a new super School – the School of Creative and Cultural Practice.
While the move – which seems pretty much a done deal at this stage – is geared towards shared resources, coordinated infrastructure and streamlined governance, it is at the expense of an incredible creative legacy and reputation in the shaping of our nations great artists, musicians and museum professionals.
ANU: what the merger will mean to the School of Art and Design
Simply, jobs will go, according to the 3 July statement by the ANU. ArtsHub has cited the document, and this is our reading of the proposed changes for the SoAD.
The new structure will:
- Generate operational efficiencies through coordinated infrastructure, shared resources and streamlined governance.
- reflect the evolving nature of creative and cultural practice – which is increasingly collaborative, interdisciplinary, and publicly engaged.
- will enrich educational offerings and support research that speaks across artistic forms and social issues.
- is designed to leverage existing strengths in key areas, including Indigenous arts and music; curatorial and museum practice; heritage studies and cultural practice.
Read: Outrage as ANU announces cuts to School of Music
Understanding the ANU’s planned restructure
With the merger, Foundation Studies will be disestablished within the SoAD. Foundation Studies has historically delivered first-year, skills-based courses – particularly in areas such as drawing – within the SoAD. Under the new Bachelor of Visual Arts curriculum, the Foundation Studies offerings have been significantly reduced to a single course, with only 0.5 FTE staff currently allocated to this area.
Moving forward, the workload of the Foundation Studies will be absorbed into the broader Visual Arts program and delivered by staff in other discipline areas.
Foundational Studies are key at any art and design school – they are the core of all practice – and it is deeply shortsighted to limit the potential of students’ growth by essentially not giving them the tools to understand the pathways in their profession.
The merger will also see a transition of the Environment Studio within the SoAD, known for its strong emphasis on First Nations engagement and learning. It is proposed that this study until will be integrated across all creative disciplines in future, ‘strengthening its educational, cultural, and research impact,’ states the ANU.
The University continues: ‘To support this transition, the existing position associated with the Environment Studio is proposed for disestablishment, with a view to developing a more flexible and embedded model for delivering this work in the new School context.’
By our count, on top of that, one Senior Lecturer, one Lecturer and one Research Fellow position will be cut or disestablished in the SoAD. It has to be remembered that as recent as December 2020, the School went through a similar dramatic suite of staff cuts and a strategic redesign.
Read: Deep cuts at ANU’s School of Art and Design
The SoAD is not alone. There are further cuts of academic positions within the School of Music on the tail of this merger, with seven positions disestablished. “Across the three Schools, at least 35 continuing academic staff positions, five vacant continuing academic staff positions and 18 continuing professional staff positions will go,” calculates Limelight.
Concerns for studio arts practice
In the rhetoric that surrounds the new Schools announcement, there is no mention of importance of studio practice – both within the SoAD and SoM – with the focus seemingly shifting from the individual, and their professional pursuits as an artist, musician or museum professional, towards collaborative, interdisciplinary, and publicly engaged practice.
This is deeply concerning future that the University is mapping out for the creative sector, and the loss that is imminent through these reductions and merger, will be detrimental to our nations cultural expression and unique individuality moving forward.
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