As classes are held virtually this fall semester, WSU Vancouver’s fine arts department is facing challenges when preparing for instruction. While a termination of art fees has ensued, the department is being forced to find other ways to support students in need of essential art supplies.
Avantika Bawa, an associate professor of fine arts, has worked on campus for the past 10 years. She explained the department first received the news about canceling course fees this fall semester after they had already started ordering supplies, which the department ended up paying for with an emergency backup budget.
“Every class in fine arts has a course fee, and this is the fee we use to make sure our general supplies and our computer programs are up to date,” Bawa said. “But this is the fee we will also use to give students a basic kit to get started. … So the advantage of a course fee and creating a course kit is that you have everything ready, and students get it the first day of class.”
Bawa also explained how Professor Pavithra Narayanan, academic director and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, did not want students to have to pay for their own art supplies this semester due to the cancellation of course fees. As a result, some fine arts students’ course fees were waived too, along with materials being provided accordingly.
“The College of Arts and Sciences … [were] really generous and philanthropic in its help with materials for students,” Bawa said.
In addition, Bawa works closely with Noah Matteucci, WSU Vancouver’s fine arts technician. Matteucci typically works with both students and professors on a day-to-day basis and played a major role in putting together and distributing at-home art kits.
“One of the big issues is that since the pandemic, more people are making art at home. … More people are ordering, so things are out of stock,” Matteucci said. “One of the issues that we were dealing with is we had to buy everything before those items went out of stock. Because if they cancel course fees, and they could not make up money to the emergency budget, which they did thankfully, students would not get their supplies because some items are specialty items that are no longer there [and] back-ordered until October [or] November.”
Once the kits were put together, Bawa explained the faculty was unsure of how to get the art kits to students, but ultimately decided to have students pick their kits up on campus during scheduled time slots, while wearing masks and implementing social distancing measures.
Madiera Vath, junior fine arts minor, is currently a student in the printmaking course. Vath has taken art classes on campus before and said she misses the interactions between students.
“Interacting with people, that is one of the greatest things about the art classes because it is so small, that people really get to know each other and it is not really cliquey,” Vath said. “During the Zoom calls, we do not actually see the work that [students] are doing, and there is never really an opportunity where someone can be like, ‘Oh, hey, you want to look at [my project]?’”
In regards to the art kit for the printmaking class, Vath’s box includes items such as various colors of ink, paper scraps, plexiglass sheets and cut plates.
With spring semester coming around the corner, WSU Vancouver’s fine arts department is unsure of how they will afford art kits for students next semester if the university continues with online instruction.
“We are going to have a meeting, but we do not necessarily know what is going to happen [next semester] if everything stays the same, if they cancel course fees, where that money is coming from,” Matteucci said. “Because in order to teach an art class students need supplies, and you know they are going to have to pay for it whether we get it or not.”
Despite changes caused by the pandemic, the department of fine arts has put immense effort into ensuring art classes can be successful and are determined to provide the best academic experience for students through fall semester and beyond.
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