Leading universities all around the world have fine arts programs. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California Los Angeles, and Princeton University all offer programs in the visual arts for undergraduate students. These universities combine academic rigour and strong education in the visual arts to produce artists that are skilled in their disciplines and have a strong educational background. Not McGill, though. Despite having a student body with a wide diversity of interests in the arts, McGill University does not offer courses in the visual arts besides the art history program.
So why not, McGill? The Daily believes that fine arts education is a fundamental aspect of academia and should be accessible to all those interested in studying it. We call upon McGill to expand its arts programming to give students an opportunity to pursue these disciplines at a post-secondary level.
McGill has previously incorporated the visual arts into its program offerings. In 1948, McGill began its Bachelor of Fine Arts program, which gave students instruction in the visual and fine arts. This program gave way to many successful artists like Mary Filer and Nancy Petry. The program was born out of the desire to expand McGill’s course offerings and was aimed at veterans returning from the war; but received significantly more women. Gwendolyn Owens, the director of McGill’s Visual Arts Collection, explained to the Daily how the Bachelor of Fine Arts program “ended up morphing into the Art History Department, which used to teach more studio art, but now doesn’t.” Owens cited a change in dean as explanation for why studio classes were eventually removed from the fine arts program.
At present, McGill has very few offerings for visual arts instruction for most students. Only architecture students have the option to take courses in sketching, and only students studying education in the arts may take studio courses. Outside of those programs, McGill offers virtually no courses for students who want to learn visual arts skills. While Concordia University offers a wide range of fine arts courses, these are not options for McGill students. Credits in fine arts courses taken at other institutions cannot be transferred to McGill, as there is no equivalent program.
Although McGill doesn’t have a fine arts program, it does host artists-in-residence, sponsors guest lecturers, and houses a robust Visual Arts Collection. Students also engage with art and education through clubs and workshops. Fleeting Form Studio, a student-led project which focuses on art-based activism against climate change. The project’s founders, Saskia Morgan, Ava Williams, and Hannah Marder-MacPherson, mentioned in an interview with the Daily how information about creative happenings around campus are often “few and far between.” One of the issues with McGill and its treatment of the visual and fine arts is that promotion for these events and happenings rarely seem to reach the students. Owens further commented on this dilemma, saying: “those kinds of things are all happening, almost under the radar. From my perspective, we need to figure out a way that people can know about these things.”
As such, many student-led clubs have been created in order to address this need, including the McGill Arts Collective, the McGill Students’ Visual Arts Society and the McGill University Photography Students’ Society. Though these clubs provide an excellent outlet for students to build community amongst other artists and hone their skills, it shouldn’t be the responsibility of the students to create these educational spaces. If the university has over 40 clubs in the category of fine arts, dance, and performances, shouldn’t it be a sign that our education should also provide this dimension? By offering these types of courses, McGill would ensure that students are able to have a more well-rounded education.
Fine arts education has been proven to positively impact academic and social development. It gives students a space to explore their creativity and learn new skills while providing a break from traditional academic courses. Introducing fine arts programming at McGill would allow students who are passionate about the fine arts to develop that interest in conjunction with other academic streams. At the very least, it should be possible for McGill students to take fine arts courses at other universities, such as Concordia.
McGill should offer fine arts programming for its students and continue to place the arts on the same level that it does other program offerings. If you recognize the value of fine arts education, support clubs and student groups at McGill. Even if you’re not interested in practicing the fine arts yourself, you can attend dance, theatre, or musical performances put on by these clubs, or attend exhibitions showcasing art and photography done by McGill students. Look out for and attend visual and fine arts events hosted at McGill, as larger turnout shows that these events are valued by the student body.