UNLV Art Department Community,

To begin our semester, we must first acknowledge the terrible events of December 6th. Nothing will erase the sense of loss we all feel following the abrupt end of the fall semester. Our community was forever changed with the loss of our colleagues. We have to face the fact that we live in a time when this sort of violence is far too common. It’s easy to become lost in stress, anxiety, or fear. We can choose to give in to these feelings, or we can learn from them and move forward, and I firmly support the latter. There is, and has been, time to grieve. We lost treasured colleagues, mentors, and friends. Sitting in attendance at the memorial on campus last month, I was amazed at the contributions of my fallen colleagues. The roles they played in the lives of our communities, the commitments they all had toward creating a better society for their students and families. In large and small ways they were some of the best that the University had to offer. We will continue to celebrate their accomplishments and mourn their passing. There is no timeline for grief, and we all process it in different ways. 

This does not, however, mean that we lose hope. We must support each other as we work through our feelings, and we must take time for self care- whatever that looks like for you. Sometimes it is watching a movie with friends, sometimes it’s reading a book, or sometimes it’s making art. Good art, bad art, funny art, absurd art. All artists create work responsive to their time and place. And we must foster resilience. This is one of the most important aspects of a career in the field of art. We will always encounter tragedies, rejection, heartbreak. But the true test lies in how we respond. As we begin our semester, keep this in mind. Support each other, challenge each other, and grow together.

Our semester looks bright. We have some fantastic shows this spring, from graduate students, BFA students, and more. We are a growing department, welcoming a few new faculty members. Many of our classes are in very high demand, with great credit to our amazing and talented faculty members. This February we have a major visit from our accrediting body, NASAD, and I will be reaching out to many of you to assist with this. The UNLV Art Department is a very busy place, and I am excited to see what the semester will bring. I wish you all the best on this first week of class, have a wonderful spring 2024!

Dave Rowe, Chair of the UNLV Department of Art