UNC studio art minor draws 15 students

Two semesters after it was introduced at UNC, 15 students have declared a minor in studio art.

The minor, consisting of five courses, has already created an opportunity for students who desire the ability to do what they love while also focusing on their future.

As a high school student looking at colleges, sophomore Hunter Travers was interested in graphic design. She decided she needed a major that was more practical, eventually choosing to pursue public relations and advertising.

The small number of people taking advantage of the minor might mean the University will discontinue the minor.

“Having this minor has been a really great opportunity to continue studying a real passion of mine,” Travers said.

Jim Hirschfield, chairman of the Department of Art, said he is proud of the minor’s success so far.

“I don’t think we would have created the minor if we didn’t think that it would be successful,” Hirschfield said.

Too many people declaring interest in the minor could be equally problematic.

Beth Grabowski, undergraduate director for studio art, said she fears the department couldn’t accommodate all students interested in the minor if it becomes too popular.

“We only have so many faculty and so many teaching hours,” Grabowski said.

Grabowski said she worries the minor will displace some studio art majors. She believes people are choosing the minor to practice art with a less rigorous workload.

“Would people not major if they could minor?” Grabowski said.

Despite the appeal a studio art minor has, Grabowski is hopeful the number of students will balance itself out, allowing the department to retain the minor without losing majors.

Hirschfield is also concerned, but has confidence that there will still be enough majors.

“We’ll probably lose some majors, but we’ll probably gain some majors from minors who decide they want to major,” he said.

The minor has opened doors for students who didn’t necessarily realize they were interested in art, including freshman Kristen Goldberg.

“I honestly didn’t think I was going to consider doing art because I didn’t see it as a future, but I’ve been able to keep it up,” she said.

For students such as Goldberg, the structure of the minor is perfect.

“I think it’s nice for me because it’s not a huge commitment and it’s extremely reasonable,” Goldberg said.

For more serious artists, though, the five mandatory courses of a minor might not fulfill their artistic needs.

“I believe that by creating a minor, we can serve more UNC students in ways that we couldn’t before,” Hirschfield said.”

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