Over the past decade, NYU Florence has offered studio art courses as part of the centerpiece of the heavily arts-centered academic program at Villa la Pietra. What took root as a rumor several weeks ago has now grown into a certainty; that these studio courses are been eliminated and the faculty fired, in what seems a shift to a more political science-focused curriculum.
Beginning next semester, Fall 2013, students at NYU Florence wishing to take studio arts courses?the engaged study of the methods and techniques of the visual arts?can only do so at an institution external to NYU called Studio Art Centers International (SACI), a study abroad center accredited by Bowling Green State University in Ohio.?
These ?outsourced? courses will take the place of those studio courses that have been taught at NYU Florence?s Villa La Pietra by three esteemed faculty members, each of whom have taught at Florence for over 10 years: Alan Pascuzzi, Robert Caracciolo and Patrice Lombardi.
Professor Pascuzzi posted on the student-run?Save NYU Florence Art?Facebook page that NYU Florence Director Ellyn Toscano has been gradually scaling back course offerings for the studio arts courses as well as courses in art history, film, music, and creative writing?the effect of which being that professors now finding they no longer have jobs after this May.
?The reason for closing the art component was based on President Sexton and Ellyn Toscano?s idea to change NYU Florence into a political science-based program,? wrote Pascuzzi.??Political science is now the emphasis.?
The supreme irony of eliminating studio art courses taught on site at Villa La Pietra, the 57-acre estate that was the gift of arts benefactor Sir Harold Acton, is not lost on any of the professors or students affected by the change. Questions have been directed to and subsequently deflected by?Toscano.
Below is the email Toscano sent in response to the numerous emails from students protesting the sudden change and demanding explanations. Professor Caracciolo noted that the faculty affected were not forwarded the email until students took it upon themselves to send it over.
Dear NYU Florence students,
I understand that there are rumors about the future of art history at NYU Florence. I would like to stop these rumors cold, so let me be clear that there is no plan to eliminate the arts at NYU Florence. It would be unthinkable to do so. We will continue to offer students both art history and studio arts; additions to NYU Florence?s curriculum in politics or other social sciences are not in place of art history or studio art.
The art history courses will continue to be offered at NYU Florence as before. They range from Renaissance Art to Florentine Villas, from the Etruscans to Modern Movements in Italian Art. The studio arts courses are a slightly different matter. As we have reflected on these offerings, we are keen to expand them through better facilities, a more complete roster of courses and an opportunity for students to experience the art scene in Florence beyond La Pietra. We plan to move forward with an agreement to offer studio arts through a respected studio art and artist training center. Our expectation is, thanks to this kind of partnership currently under discussion, that we will offer studio arts without interruption. So, as you can see, art history and other humanities courses will continue to be a prominent piece of NYU Florence?s offerings.
Lastly, I have seen some claims that Sir Harold Acton?s bequest to NYU required certain prescribed curriculum in the arts. The Acton gift requires us to maintain his family?s art collection and to use his estate for educational purposes, both of which we do. The inclusion of art history and studio arts in the curriculum is a decision NYU made; it is a natural decision in Florence, and you need not worry ? it is one we intend to stand by.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Yours,
Ellyn Toscano
One would assume that the decisions to keep, cut or expand courses in New York and abroad would fall under the jurisdiction of the?departments?that?offer the given courses. Yet, surprising is the degree of autonomy that Toscano and other administrators apparently wield on the curriculum and the employment of faculty.
A professor in the Art History department at Washington Square noted that the information they have been receiving from the?administration on the matter has been very opaque; the exact?hierarchy?of and relationship between the directors and administrators at NYU Florence, the Office of Global Affairs, and the?departments?here in New York is unclear. Also unclear is whether the change comes only at the hands of Toscano or if it was a joint decision made with the Office of Global Affairs.
?Collateral damage? ? i.e. the loss of jobs at NYU ? is the Art History department?s primary concern.
The scaling back of the program was accompanied?by unusual and absurd changes to space priorities given to the studio art classes and to the contracts of the arts professors. According to Pascuzzi, the studio courses were moved to rooms too?small?and too inadequate to?accommodate?the volume and needs of students wishing to take the courses.
In an email to NYU Local, Patrice Lombardi, who taught a painting course, said:
?The problem with the whole issue is the lack of communication and transparency on the part of the NYU Florence administration, specifically Ellyn Toscano and her representative for the humanities, Prof. Bruce Edelstein.?The faculty members that have spoken out have said that they showed up to work at the beginning of the Fall semester 2012 to find themselves presented with new contracts they were pressured into signing.?
In the summer of 2012,?changes to Italian labor law?made firing individual workers in private sector jobs easier in a pointed attempt to revive up a sub-par Italian economy and workforce?and?reverse precedent that were??harming productivity growth and discouraging business investment.??According to Lombardi, all faculty salaries were cut by 20% this year.
Lombardi noted that ?the Italian state does not?recognize?programs [like NYU Florence] as universities as they do not confer a final degree. The bizarre upshot of this is that we have contracts that are for teachers in middle schools ? not for university professors.?
Roberto Caracciolo was the third professor to be vocal on the issue. He said in an email to NYU Local:
?I have been teaching two drawing courses at NYU Florence since 1999. This year, because of [that] new Italian labor law I was forced (that or my courses would have been cancelled) to sign a time limited contract that expires in mid-May. In this new contract, which was not shown to me until the day of the beginning of the fall semester [2012], I had to accept a substantial reduction of salary and clauses that are totally unacceptable, such as the university having rights on all that I do even outside of teaching (I am a painter and so are all my new works that I do in my studio in Rome theirs?).
At the beginning of the spring semester I went to talk with the Director of VLP and asked about future plans for the art studio as there were rumors of them being shut down and got generic answers about how the new Italian time-limited contracts cannot be renewed (which is false) and on how all decisions were being taken in New York by the various departments.?
When Caracciolo contacted the?department?that credits students for his studio courses, The Department of Art and Art Professions at Steinhardt, department chair David Darts replied that the decision to offer or not offer art studio courses did not rest with him or the department. When Caracciolo asked Toscano for an?explanation?as to who in directly responsible for determining the curriculum at Florence, he received no reply. ?She simply ignores me and my colleagues,? Caracciolo said, ?to try to get to end of the semester with the least amount of questioning and problems.?
An ?NYU?press release?from June 1st, 2004 announcing Toscano?s appointment as Director of NYU Florence, detailed some of her experience up to that date:
?She is well-versed in government policies with regard to public diplomacy, educational exchanges, and cultural diplomacy; moreover, she has had significant expertise in fundraising and program planning??Since 1990, Ms. Toscano ? who speaks Italian ? has served as chief of staff and counsel to Congressman Jos? Serrano, an association that has spanned some 20 years overall. From 1988 to 1991, she had a private law practice, specializing in arts, entertainment, and publishing. Prior to that, she had served as counsel to the New York State Assembly Committee on Education for nine years, during which time she also worked with Mr. Serrano.?
Her expertise suggests a great deal of administrative ongoings, which may in turn come at a cost to some sensitivities that guide the decisions of those with a?training more deeply rooted in academia.
An additional concern of students and faculty is the calibre of the teaching staff at SACI compared to NYU. Courses at SACI are also far cheaper, a fact which may give an indication of the quality of the education; a 15-credit semester costs a student $11,900 in tuition and fees while NYU Florence will continue to charge just over $21,600. To whom or to what resources that extra $10k per semester per student will be devoted is unclear. We can only speculate as to the motivations for outsourcing the flagship art courses to a off-site?institution.
The Art History department at Washington Square is to issue a statement to students and faculty within the next few days. We await their official response addressing the issue.
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