top image by Stephen Ray, others Janice Faber
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
School Wide Rally to Save Parsons Fine Arts Dept.
NEW SCHOOL WIDE RALLY
Support Our Union!
Support Parsons Fine Art Faculty!
When: Thursday, April 23, 12-1 pm
Where: Directly in front of the New School administration building at 66 West 12th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues, New York City)
What: ACT-UAW Local 7902, the union of part-time faculty at NYU and the New School, will sponsor a rally protesting mass dismissals of arts faculty at Parsons the New School for Design.
http://www.actuaw.org
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Upcoming Parsons Fine Art Student Shows
Come out and see the great work of all these
"soon to graduate" artists.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Pre Rally Prep (before Thurs. April 23)
Your chance to help, your chance to show support.
Along with coming out this Thursday at noon for the rally you can pitch in and help in other ways.
SIGN MAKING
Tuesday 4/21
11am to 8pm
113 University Place, 6th floor
Conference room
PHONE BANKING and MEMBERSHIP OUTREACH
Wednesday 4/22
10am to 12pm (calling press -- Very Important!!!!!!!!)
12pm to 5pm (membership outreach)
113 University Place, 6th floor
PRESS PHONE BANKING
Thursday 4/23
8am to 10am
113 University Place, 6th floor
See you there!
Along with coming out this Thursday at noon for the rally you can pitch in and help in other ways.
SIGN MAKING
Tuesday 4/21
11am to 8pm
113 University Place, 6th floor
Conference room
PHONE BANKING and MEMBERSHIP OUTREACH
Wednesday 4/22
10am to 12pm (calling press -- Very Important!!!!!!!!)
12pm to 5pm (membership outreach)
113 University Place, 6th floor
PRESS PHONE BANKING
Thursday 4/23
8am to 10am
113 University Place, 6th floor
See you there!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
New School Free Speech
The protests of April 10th at the New School are part of an ongoing pattern of opposition by both students and faculty to the policies and practices of the administration of Bob Kerrey.
The over-reaction of the Kerrey administration to the occupation of 65 Fifth Avenue is symptomatic of a top-down policy of intimidation and unilateral thinking that is reflected in the recent mass firings of Parsons Fine Arts faculty.
In this regard it is of note that multiple attempts by Parsons Fine Arts students to engage with the administration to initiate dialogue and solicit information about the firings have been met with obfuscation, double-speak and finally blatant attempts at intimidation.
In a recent meeting of undergraduates it was reported that an administrator threatened to “spit in the face” of any student who “leaked news to the press”.
More than inappropriate, statements like these have a chilling effect on academic discourse and set an intolerably low standard for free speech.
The over-reaction of the Kerrey administration to the occupation of 65 Fifth Avenue is symptomatic of a top-down policy of intimidation and unilateral thinking that is reflected in the recent mass firings of Parsons Fine Arts faculty.
In this regard it is of note that multiple attempts by Parsons Fine Arts students to engage with the administration to initiate dialogue and solicit information about the firings have been met with obfuscation, double-speak and finally blatant attempts at intimidation.
In a recent meeting of undergraduates it was reported that an administrator threatened to “spit in the face” of any student who “leaked news to the press”.
More than inappropriate, statements like these have a chilling effect on academic discourse and set an intolerably low standard for free speech.
Letter from a Concerned Parsons Parent... We wonder what response they received?
I am writing to express my dismay over the article in yesterday’s New York Times, which details a one-third cut in your Fine Arts faculty. The timing of this article is remarkable. It was published the day after my daughter told me and my wife that she has declared Fine Arts as her major. She is completing her freshman year in the BAFA program, but her true passion is art, and she has been excited about studying art in the Parsons milieu, even though, as she said, she thought the kids in the Fine Arts major were treated as sort of black sheep.
She loves Parsons and what she sees that it stands for (or has stood for up to now). But I would not be surprised if, before long, she comes to realize that her pursuits will not really be honored at Parsons, and that she had better think about transferring to SVA or Pratt, even though she’d not be able to pursue a BA there.
I realize we are in tough economic times but I am, I have to say, amazed that you have allowed Fine Arts to take such a hit, rather than spreading the pain around to all the departments and programs.
So I must ask you, please, to tell me the truth: Are you abandoning Fine Arts and a Parsons tradition?
Should I be advising my daughter to switch to another art school, or perhaps pursue a double major at Hunter?
Yours truly,
She loves Parsons and what she sees that it stands for (or has stood for up to now). But I would not be surprised if, before long, she comes to realize that her pursuits will not really be honored at Parsons, and that she had better think about transferring to SVA or Pratt, even though she’d not be able to pursue a BA there.
I realize we are in tough economic times but I am, I have to say, amazed that you have allowed Fine Arts to take such a hit, rather than spreading the pain around to all the departments and programs.
So I must ask you, please, to tell me the truth: Are you abandoning Fine Arts and a Parsons tradition?
Should I be advising my daughter to switch to another art school, or perhaps pursue a double major at Hunter?
Yours truly,
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
ACT-UAW LOCAL 7902 STATEMENT ON FACULTY DISMISSALS IN PARSONS FINE ART
On March 10, a dozen part-time faculty members in the Fine Art Department at Parsons the New School for Design received notice that their teaching contracts will not be renewed for fall 2009. ACT-UAW Local 7902 protests this unjust action and deplores the administrative mentality it represents. The union has filed a number of grievances related to the dismissals, but contract violations are only part of the problem.
Administrators are trying to hide behind a smoke screen of "curricular change" and other management priorities to justify what amounts to the decimation of a department and the devastation of a faculty. This is both ethically wrong and institutionally counter-productive. It is needlessly cruel to hard-working faculty members at a time of terrible economic insecurity. It is also a terrible management decision, one that plays havoc with students' need for a stable, experienced faculty and a robust curriculum in subjects such as painting and drawing. It has set alarm bells ringing in the wider arts community, generating numerous statements of support for the Fine Art faculty and condemnation of the administration's actions from cultural institutions in New York and beyond.
At a critical time for labor locally and nationally, this inflammatory move strikes a blow at our entire membership as we head into contract negotiations, with our current contract set to expire on September 1, 2009. Unfortunately, there is considerable truth in Interim Provost Tim Marshall's remark to a New York Times reporter that these dismissals are "very typical of what happens in the school every single semester, all the time, all over the place." The Provost's comment, and the dismissals themselves, signal all New School part-timers (89% of the total university faculty) that we are viewed by the administration as expendable. Apparently our talents, experience, and past contributions count for nothing in the face of corporate-style "innovation" from above. We view this attitude as part and parcel of the problems that led to the December, 2008 New School faculty vote of "no confidence" in the administration of President Bob Kerrey.
We call on Coco Fusco, the Chair of the Parsons Fine Art Department, to make a course correction and re-appoint the affected faculty. We call on Provost Marshall and the Deans to embrace a model of change that includes substantive involvement of all sectors of the faculty, part-time and full-time, in the planning process. We call on President Kerrey to honor his recent commitment to accord part-time faculty a meaningful voice in decisions affecting curriculum. By drawing on the creativity and capacity for innovation of proven faculty, the university can--and must--break exciting new ground while preserving successful programs' existing strengths so as not to short-change our students.
Administrators are trying to hide behind a smoke screen of "curricular change" and other management priorities to justify what amounts to the decimation of a department and the devastation of a faculty. This is both ethically wrong and institutionally counter-productive. It is needlessly cruel to hard-working faculty members at a time of terrible economic insecurity. It is also a terrible management decision, one that plays havoc with students' need for a stable, experienced faculty and a robust curriculum in subjects such as painting and drawing. It has set alarm bells ringing in the wider arts community, generating numerous statements of support for the Fine Art faculty and condemnation of the administration's actions from cultural institutions in New York and beyond.
At a critical time for labor locally and nationally, this inflammatory move strikes a blow at our entire membership as we head into contract negotiations, with our current contract set to expire on September 1, 2009. Unfortunately, there is considerable truth in Interim Provost Tim Marshall's remark to a New York Times reporter that these dismissals are "very typical of what happens in the school every single semester, all the time, all over the place." The Provost's comment, and the dismissals themselves, signal all New School part-timers (89% of the total university faculty) that we are viewed by the administration as expendable. Apparently our talents, experience, and past contributions count for nothing in the face of corporate-style "innovation" from above. We view this attitude as part and parcel of the problems that led to the December, 2008 New School faculty vote of "no confidence" in the administration of President Bob Kerrey.
We call on Coco Fusco, the Chair of the Parsons Fine Art Department, to make a course correction and re-appoint the affected faculty. We call on Provost Marshall and the Deans to embrace a model of change that includes substantive involvement of all sectors of the faculty, part-time and full-time, in the planning process. We call on President Kerrey to honor his recent commitment to accord part-time faculty a meaningful voice in decisions affecting curriculum. By drawing on the creativity and capacity for innovation of proven faculty, the university can--and must--break exciting new ground while preserving successful programs' existing strengths so as not to short-change our students.
ART FACULTY PURGE AT PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL?
Artnet News
Apr. 3, 2009
ART FACULTY PURGE AT PARSONS THE NEW SCHOOL?
Is political artist Coco Fusco, new chair of fine arts at Parsons the New School for Design, presiding over a purge of its arts faculty? It certainly feels like it to some Parsons art professors. On Mar. 10, between one-third and one-half -- the exact number is in dispute -- of the fine arts faculty at Parsons received letters from Fusco’s office either terminating their teaching assignments for the 2009-2010 term, reassigning them out of the department or sharply cutting their hours.
...more
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Parsons Faculty Is Cut Amid Protests by Artists
Parsons the New School for Design Criticized for Faculty Cuts - NYTimes.com
A dozen members of the fine-arts faculty at Parsons the New School for Design have been told that they will not be teaching in the department in the fall.
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