The art of the possible: 10 years of CAM
(Oct. 17, 2008) In 1998, before iPods, YouTube and the widespread presence of digital photography, the university ratified its fine and performing arts unit as the College of Arts & Media (CAM). Today creating a college where art, technology and commerce come together seems natural, but 10 years ago it was a first in the country.
“To focus a college exclusively on the intersections of art, technology and commerce was revolutionary at the time it was conceived,” says Valparaiso University President Mark Heckler, CAM’s founding dean. “And while many other schools have branched into both technology and commerce, UC Denver is still one of the few focused on the intersection of all three rather than treating each element (art, technology, commerce) as individual and discrete disciplines.”
Structurally, the college came together in 1989 when the UC Denver College of Music merged with the university’s fine arts and theatre programs to become the School of the Arts under the auspices of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Recognizing the nontraditional nature of its students, the school spun itself off in 1998 as the College of Arts & Media, a college committed to exploring what can happen when business and technology are combined with theater, film, art and music.
Longtime faculty member and administrator Frank Jermance sees CAM as perfectly positioned to educate a creative work force for the media and entertainment industry. “This is a $1.5 trillion industry,” he says. “It’s bigger than pharmaceuticals and automotive combined.”
Of course, 10 years is a blip in the life of an educational institution, and there are many initiatives waiting in the wings—most notably upcoming graduate programs in film, composition for new media, and visual culture to join the college’s existing graduate program in the recording arts. CAM is also establishing the new National Center for Audio/Video Forensics and moving into medical applications for the arts.
“There are people who are wary of technology and what it’s doing to the art industry,” says CAM Dean David Dynak. “We feel the opposite. We embrace it and work to define its future.”
Photo: Colin McAllister, seated, performs Oct. 2 a the CAM Alumni Recital in the King Center. Check out all the photos.