COLLEGE OF THE ARTS

Dear Friends,

The arts play a critical role in bringing order, beauty, culture, and civility to our world. They challenge us to think critically and inspire our imagination, both of which foster our creative energies. Throughout human history, the arts have brought people together by providing a common language of experience and expression. From the cave dwellers who first put graphic images on rock to today’s social media scribes, humans have used the arts to both enhance their lives and to be a living transcription depicting the emotions and understandings that bind us together. Simply put, the arts matter.

The College of the Arts at Columbus State University is poised to build upon a foundation of excellence developed from its nationally accredited programs in art, music and theatre to its communication program’s Non Profit and Civic Engagement Center (NPACE), which leads the university in service learning hours required of its majors. Our goal is to help Columbus State become a first choice institution by fully enhancing our position as a college of international distinction.

Over the next few years, with leadership and assistance from generous donors, we will achieve our aspiration by attracting and retaining the best possible students and faculty members, constructing the Bo Bartlett Center, and establishing the RiverPark Arts Library and Archives. We will transform the creative space at our RiverPark campus as well as on our primary campus. As you review the key initiatives within this document, my hope is that you will become excited about our aspirations and make a decision to become meaningfully involved.

I believe the arts matter. They matter to the children in our schools, to our families, our community, and to our world. The time has come to seize this opportunity to bolster our legacy of international distinction for the College of the Arts at CSU.

You are invited to join us on this exciting journey to international prominence.

Forward Together,

Richard L. Baxter, Ph.D. Dean, College of the Arts

College of the Arts at Columbus State University

Columbus State University’s College of the Arts is comprised of:

Four Academic Units:

• Department of Art• Department of Communication• Department of Theatre• Schwob School of Music

Three Educational Outreach Centers:

• Bo Bartlett Center• Pasaquan• Non-Profit and Civic Engagement (NPACE) Center

Located in Uptown Columbus on the university’s RiverPark campus, the college features world-class facilities and historic downtown charm. Our facilities, along with the faculty and hundreds of university students now living in Uptown Columbus, have fueled the synergy of an emerging cultural district in Columbus while contributing $21.6 million in annual economic impact.

In the midst of this energetic environment, the College of the Arts is poised to strengthen its international recognition as a leader in arts education—developing performers, artists, scholars, communicators, and educators who are influencing the arts and arts education around the globe. CSU’s College of the Arts stands out for its:

• Community impact, with concerts, performances, exhibitions and the work of the Non-Profit and Civic Engagement (NPACE) Center.

• Student diversity, including student enrollment from 30 different countries. • Nationally accredited programs in art, music and theatre.• Faculty who perform and exhibit internationally.• Unparalleled public/private partnerships that have endowed faculty chairs,

created scholarships and provided program enhancement funds supporting exceptionally strong arts programming. Just one example is a 2008 gift that made Schwob an all-Steinway school.

Our funding priorities to accomplish our strategic vision are to invest in:

First-Choice Places

• Bo Bartlett Center – $9 million As the cultural centerpiece of a rapidly expanding RiverPark Campus creative community, the Bo Bartlett Center is positioned to bring national and international attention to the College of the Arts. The center’s interactive learning experience will serve as a catalyst for creating a major tourist destination for art enthusiasts. Featuring exhibits of Bo Bartlett works, master classes and exhibitions by internationally recognized artists, educational outreach to local schools, and research materials which will draw art scholars from around the world to our campus’s proposed Arts Library and Archives, the center will enhance Columbus’ reputation as a cultural center in the Southeast.

Plans designed by AIA national award winning architect Tom Kundig call for an 18,425-square-foot interactive gallery space on the entire second floor of CSU’s Corn Center for the Visual Arts, overlooking the Chattahoochee River in downtown Columbus. Named for the famed American artist who was born in Columbus, the Bo Bartlett Center will emerge as a distinguished educational destination with dynamic programming designed for students, scholars, artists, collectors and people seeking to learn more about the power of art. It also will house more than 300 paintings and drawings as well as the complete archive of sketch books, correspondence, journals, recordings, photographs, artistic notes, memorabilia, objects and objects d’art relevant to the production of Bartlett’s work.

Our Campaign Vision: Building on our strengths, the College of the Arts will help make Columbus State a first-choice institution by enhancing its programs of international distinction.

• Faculty/student engagement, in and out of the classroom. The College of the Arts has one of the lowest student/teacher ratios on campus. Collaborative teaching and personal instruction are our hallmarks.

• Study abroad opportunities for students and faculty to expand their vision and reach.

Planned Bo Bartlett Center

• RiverPark Arts Library and Archives – $2 million To better serve our students and our community, we must expand library services

on the RiverPark Campus. Our plan is to create a College of the Arts Library and Archives at One Arsenal Place, allowing CSU Libraries to relocate collections and services for all of the College of Arts disciplines into a single library facility that supports communication, music, theater, and the visual arts. These collections would be made accessible to the public for research on all aspects of the arts, catering to the more than 20 public arts organizations, performance venues, and galleries in Columbus that could potentially benefit from access to a library research facility. The College of the Arts also envisions that the library could become a repository for sketchbooks, journals and other significant memorabilia of the Bo Bartlett collection as well as archival documents of nationally and internationally acclaimed visiting artists.

Currently the CSU Libraries operates a facility in the Schwob School of Music that provides support for learning and information resource needs. It is an integral part of the university’s music program. The library is important to every facet of the performing arts and an expanded research center lies at the heart of the university’s mission and can also serve as a vital community resource for the Uptown Columbus area. The new library would free space in the extremely busy Schwob Music Library, and serve as a reminder to students that the performing arts are very much about ideas and the creative process as well as artistic performance.

First-Choice Programs

• CSU Fund – $2 million Ongoing support of the College of the Arts through the CSU Fund (often via our support groups) provides critical funding for the college’s merit-student scholarships, 250 concerts, theatre performances and art exhibitions annually, its academic programs, equipment and faculty travel for the departments of art, music, theatre and communication. This support also allows us to take advantage of unplanned opportunities such as when Schwob School of Music students were invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Summary of Campaign Priorities:

• Bo Bartlett Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . $9 Million

• RiverPark Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2 Million

• CSU Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2 Million

$13 Million

College of the Arts at Columbus State University

Making Our Vision a Reality

The College of the Arts at CSU, has an international reputation made possible in large part by a community of generous supporters. Their support helps fund more than 200 scholarships, 27 graduate assistantships and nine endowed faculty positions that have attracted to Columbus some of the world’s most gifted artists.

This campaign will honor our legacy as a strong college and continue to propel our programs into international-relevance. When we invest in the most creative people, the most creative places, and the most creative programs we will achieve our goals.

In short, fulfilling our campaign goals will allow Columbus State University’s College of the Arts to achieve a new level of preeminence and will continue a tradition of adding significantly to the cultural vitality of Columbus.

We hope you will join with us as we make our vision a reality.

College of the Arts at Columbus State University 4225 University Ave Columbus, GA 31907 706-507-8040