By
Angela Orlando
Arizona Daily Wildcat
About 125 turn out to vote on issues affecting internationally recognized photography center
A variety of concerned community members, UA students and staff assembled yesterday in the CCP auditorium to express concerns regarding the fate of the Center.
This third community forum was hosted by the Office of the Provost and was designed to guide the Center for Creative Photography's Steering Committee in developing how to approach to the future of the Center.
The forum addressed three specific aspects of the CCP: expectations of the CCP's role in the community concerning exhibits and programming; the CCP's most important qualities; and major factors determining the future of the Center.
Michael Dues, acting head of the communication department, moderated the forum. Also in attendance were former University of Arizona president John Schaefer and UA provost George Davis.
"The Steering Committee will know to take these comments really, really seriously," Dues said. "This is a mix of real issues which aren't going away and a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings, all of which need to be addressed."
He added that there may be future community forums scheduled regarding the issues addressed at yesterday's forum.
Chod McClintock, a photography junior and member of the Steering Committee, defined the committee's vision.
"Our goal is to develop a vision of opportunities to incorporate with the CCP's mission statement," he said, "and to gather concerns from people with vested interests, and thereby create a 'vision of opportunity' statement."
Because the CCP is about to begin a search for a new director, this visionary statement will eventually assist the hiring committee on that search.
For "a variety of reasons," current acting director Amy Rule does not want to be a candidate for the open position. Terry Pitts directed the CCP from 1989 until leaving the position, also for a "variety of reasons," in May 2000.
During the two-hour meeting, about 125 audience members voiced their concerns and later voted on the top five most important issues facing the CCP (see graphic).
John Schaefer, UA president from 1971 to 1982, was instrumental in founding the CCP in 1975 along with famous landscape photographer Ansel Adams. During the meeting, Schaefer reiterated his original mission for the Center.
"We wanted a place," he said, "where we could get together the best modern photography, learn the art of photography and its history and encourage people to take photography seriously."
He added that the mission has not changed but that some issues have remained undiscussed and should be addressed quickly.
He said he feels, for example, that the Center has not forged a strong enough relationship with its affiliated university departments, such as the art history and journalism departments.
The audience agreed about the nature of the Center - one of diverse, often avant garde exhibits - and they voiced a widespread fear of losing this modern edge.
UA provost George Davis said he was pleased with the forum's turnout.
"We've received tremendous input from these forums," he said. "(This time), the importance of the (CCP's) exhibits resonated strongly. We want to develop a vision which is wholly consistent with the mission of the past but which is more formalized."
After discussing the issues facing the CCP, audience members voted to highlight the top five:
- 1. The CCP's need to be separate from the control of the library. It, like the UA Museum of Art, which recently emancipated itself from the library's control, has outgrown the affiliation. (Many audience members want the CCP to be a self-governing entity, no longer controlled by the library's budget.)
- 2. The CCP (which is beginning the process of finding a permanent director) must seek a director who is a "visionary/revolutionary." The job solicitation will need to reflect that requirement.
- 3. The CCP has a "world-wide reputation" and is therefore concerned the library's control puts that reputation "at stake."
- 4. The CCP's current staff must have input in the choice of the future director.
- 5. If a strategic plan is written after the future director has been selected and the CCP is still under library control at that time, then the CCP's staff will not have had enough influence on the selection of the future director.
