St. Thomas has been making incredible strides to expand the arts, especially with the recent opening of the Schoenecker Center. The center specifically focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, while also including innovative musical performance and digital media spaces.
These additions to St. Thomas are a great step in diversifying the educational options at UST, but I can’t help but feel like something is missing. Even with new visual design classes that focus on digital media, St. Thomas doesn’t offer any studio arts majors or even classes.
If St. Thomas describes art as “the glue that connects people and varying disciplines by tapping into emotions, increasing understanding, providing new perspectives, and empowering students,” according to the university’s website, why is the selection of fine arts classes so narrow?
Looking at class options to fulfill my fine arts core requirement during my first year felt like staring into an empty void. As a student earning college art credits in high school, I always imagined myself in college working in a studio and learning high-level art skills. However, with no courses specializing in painting, drawing or other studio arts at St. Thomas, I was forced to take a different path.
Now, as a visual designer for The Crest, I have found a different creative outlet through digital media arts. But in the back of my mind, I’m still envious of students at other universities who have had the opportunity to take college-level art courses.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to take an AP art course in high school because it has strengthened the skills I use every day for graphic design. However, I can’t help but feel sad for St. Thomas students who did not get the opportunities to pursue art in high school and still haven’t been given the chance to in college.
Sky Anderson, a professor in the digital media arts, said that he and many of his colleagues in emerging media feel that students are missing out.
“St. Thomas clearly lacks some fundamental studio art classes, and we wish our students who are making media would be able to take those classes,” Anderson said.
While classes such as painting and drawing may seem outdated when new artistic technologies are available, I would argue that they are now more crucial than ever.
Traditional media give students a better understanding of color, balance and perspective. When creating with your own hands, there are no shortcuts, templates or copy and pasting, and as a result, students must think more creatively, problem-solve and fine-tune their motor skills.
“It’s a lot like learning a language. Not only can you speak to a lot of different people in the world, but it also sort of changes how you think. It’s a visual literacy skill set that’s severely lacking,” Anderson said.
Studio art fosters visual literacy and creativity, skills that are crucial for success in any field. Sixty percent of CEOs stated that creativity was “more important than any other factor regarding future success,” according to a 2010 IBM Global CEO study.
The University of St. Thomas 2025 strategic plan writes that leading in STEAM is at the top of the university’s list of priorities. However, the arts at St. Thomas can’t be well-rounded until traditional visual arts classes such as painting, drawing and ceramics are offered. If we want to push the arts forward, we first need to take a step back and lay the foundation.
Beatrice Rybak can be reached at ryba2889@stthomas.edu.
