Our Chief Arts Correspondent Michael Nunn
talks to
Professor Nigel Whiteley,
of Lancaster University's Department of Art,
about rumours of closure.

The Final Degree Art Show, Red Carpet, was an outstanding success, thought Michael, (click here to read his review) so we wondered just what was going on at Bailrigg. Professor Whiteley tells virtual-lancaster about a success story that is set to continue.

MN What is the current position regarding the Art Department at Lancaster?

NW There is no question of closure. As from 1 August 2005 this Department will be merged, along with Music and Theatre Studies, into a new organisation: the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (click here to see the University's press release on the merger).

Within this new framework, the teaching of Art at undergraduate level will remain as it is, and we hope that the excellence we have already achieved can be built on and perpetuated. Courses at postgraduate level will allow students more flexibility in their research, performance and other advanced creative work.

MN So things aren't as bad as some had feared?

NW Not at all. The decision on the way forward was taken by the University Management Group and confirmed by the Senate in February. And we have kept our students informed about what's been going on throughout.

MN Good. So how do they feel about all this, now the dust's settled again?

NW They are firstly relieved, and those still doing the BA looking forward to ‘business as usual'. The move has not deterred anyone considering doing Art here in Lancaster for the new year's new intake in September; in fact applications so far are up 67% on last year.

MN That's encouraging – so there is no loss of face or credibility in the academic community, with the student body, or in the wider public's mind?

NW Far from it; that increase is the highest across all subjects within the University this year so far.

MN Well done – someone must be doing something right! What do you think that could be?

NW Well, central to our approach in this Department has been the notion of the ‘Informed Practitioner'.

MN What do you mean by that?

NW There are several points here. First, we believe that just ‘going for the market' is selling our students short. It is not our concern to be overtly trendy or ‘fashionable', but rather to equip our students with the broad range of skills and techniques – the ‘discipline', if you like - inherent in Art, and also to understand the greater contexts and broader issues of what they are doing in their practical work.

Education, at University level at least, is not just concerned with training people in skills and technique, but to provide a broader, wider and deeper experience.

By this I mean giving students a critical outlook on their own work, the meaning and rôle of the arts, and provide a wider ‘education for life', and cultivating an informed, critical perspective. It's almost a notion of good citizenship.

MN Art, as a subject, is particularly suited to that, dealing as it does with the emotions, personal situations, cultural, political and social issues. It is in some ways the most personal of all the generic arts subjects.

NW Possibly, though I won't argue with you on that one now! Unlike some other places, we are keen to encourage students to develop a respect for the traditions of their discipline – painting, sculpture, the history of Art, professional practice and so on.

In parallel to that, we strive to instil a sense of humility – that none of us in the arts is the centre of the universe, no-one is – has ever been - a unique creator ‘de novo'.

MN That is a highly distinctive approach. It's not often one gets that feeling, looking at some contemporary artists and their works that have hit the headlines recently.

NW Many artists nowadays lack a sense of history about what they are making, what they do. Our students are taught art history and they have to understand the place of their own work historically and conceptually.

MN Quite right too – historical practice, processes and antecedents are an integral part of music, theatre, English, film, – any arts subject. And the sciences, too, come to think of it …

NW Yet not all artists have a sense of history – just look at a lot of new and recent work. That is what I meant by encouraging a creative, critical and professional approach in what we do; it all enhances the students' perceptive on society.

MN Surely the new Centre will encourage a more multi-disciplinary approach?

NW Yes, there will undoubtedly be more opportunities to cross boundaries into other disciplines but it is also crucial that, at undergraduate level, students develop, initially, an in-depth understanding of a discipline.

MN But ‘multimedia' seems to be the buzzword, and ‘hybrid creativity' more and more in evidence across all the arts these days.

NW Best professional, informed practice – in Art or any arts subject - comes out of a strong, single-discipline base – how else can you engage with depth and complexity? Only when that is achieved can you cross boundaries, challenge the wider conventions.

So much in the arts just seems to be just about supposedly ‘raising issues' and being controversial and ‘in-your-face' for the sake of doing so.

And, sad to say, many students just ‘go for the market' with hardly any regard for professional, cultural or creative standards at all. So much hype is about ‘challenging conventions', ‘subverting norms' and ‘transgressing boundaries' now.

All of these things are potentially important in a critical society, but only potentially important – just doing them uncritically itself becomes an orthodoxy and a convention and therefore needs to be challenged.

So much contemporary art looks like a ‘first draft' – you feel like telling them to go away, work on it some more, develop it, contextually and visually.

MN Good citizenship is not based on Thatcher-inspired market forces or the ‘me, me, me' approach, you think.

NW Not at all – not for me, not in this Department so far, and not in the new Institute either. We aim to shape our students to the highest standards, to help them become the best ‘informed practitioners' in a volatile, changing and challenging society.

MN No-one can argue with that! Professor Whiteley, thank you for your reassurances, for a most enjoyable and stimulating chat.

The range and quality of work at Red Carpet perfectly validates your intentions and everyone's work so far. Well done to all concerned, and best wishes to everyone for what sounds like a very exciting future.

Copyright © 19 June 2005 Michael Nunn