Friends of the Fine Art Center Galleries
Letter From Rhonda Shumaker, Director, South County Art Association
This page, sponsored by Friends of the Fine Arts Center Galleries, is not an official University of Rhode Island Web page. See disclaimer
As Director of the South County Art Association in Kingston, I was appalled to hear of the University's decision to eliminate the galleries at URI. Over the past ten years I have worked with many students from the University who have gained their initial introduction to gallery work with Judith Tolnick. The skills they have brought with them to the Art Association have been professional and practical. The community at large is always inquiring about what show is currently going on at the URI gallery. The nationally recognized exhibitions held at the gallery are at the top of their form. Many students choose to attend the University as art majors, and having a functioning everchanging exhibition in the gallery is a major advantage to those students. If the University intends to present itself as a nationally competitive institution they need to not only maintain their gallery and its director, but also to think about expanding their arts programs. There is a need for culture. Their is a market for it too. Not everyone is interested in sports. Many of the Art Association members are graduates of URI's arts program, and they are prominent artists and prominent members of the community. What a slap in the face it is to them for all of their hard work and dedication to their field, eliminating the gallery where they first showed their work, and where they continue to send their alumni money and their children to get an education. If the people making this decision had any idea of the long reaching consquences of their actions, they wouldn't even be considering it. It will only breed contempt and disdain for a state school that is already overly sports oriented.
—Rhonda Shumaker
Director, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI