A Mass. university sets up a satellite campus
San Juan Bautista will soon be getting an institution of higher
learning thanks to local art galleries and interest from a
Massachusetts college.
A Mass. university sets up a satellite campus
San Juan Bautista will soon be getting an institution of higher learning thanks to local art galleries and interest from a Massachusetts college.
Leslie University is partnering with the Center for Arts and Humanities and the Galeria Tonantzin as well as Studio San Juan in setting up a satellite graduate school focusing on the arts.
“This is a step forward in offering graduate-level classes in San Juan,” said Jennifer Colby, director for the Center for Art and Humanities in San Juan. “Basically it’s a grad school focusing on the arts sponsored by the Center for Art and Humanities.”
The idea of the program is to use the art resources that currently exist in this area to bring students to town in a low-residency rate, so classes will be offered on a once per month or few times per month basis.
In Colby’s research it was discovered that there were no graduate programs or very few in the entire Monterey Bay Area and there are zero graduate programs focused on the arts, Colby said. Most people that are interested in a graduate program focused on the arts have to travel to the San Francisco Bay Area, she said.
The selection of San Juan as the location for the campus is partly because the city has a strong potential for arts.
“We have the No. 1 cultural theater and a number of local art galleries, so I think that people are drawn to that ambiance,” Colby said, referring to El Teatro Campesino, a world-renown theater troupe.
The first program that will be offered through the satellite campus will be integrated teaching through the arts. The program will focus on elementary school teachers, but can also benefit museum curators, according to Colby. The program will examine all art mediums. In the future, there are plans to offer other programs.
“The [integrated teaching] program helps educators use art for the purposes of education,” Colby said. “Plus I think it serves local people who don’t want to travel and people looking to see the area.”
To kick off the campus, the organizers are having a gala benefit on July 1 at the Poppy Hills golf course at Pebble Beach. The event will be a fundraiser.
As soon as the first students enroll in classes the program should start and finish within 22 months at one weekend per month. At the conclusion of the program, students will receive a Masters in education, with a specialization in teaching through the arts.
