Professors and students alike are excited about the recent merge of the College of Design with Raleigh’s Contemporary Art Museum.
The Contemporary Art Museum, an Initiative of the College of Design, focuses on education in art and design. In addition to education, CAM will showcase the art of visiting artists, design students and others as a way to interact with the public.
“CAM-ICD explores the role of creativity in everyday life to inspire understanding and appreciation of our changing world,” Marvin Malecha, dean of College of Design said.
Sherry O’Neal, director of communications, said the merging of the College of Design with the Contemporary Art Museum was sensible.
“The two missions [of COD and CAM] were very similar, so it was a logical merging. It allows the college to expand its K-14 outreach beyond just the Design camp,” O’Neal said.
Students enrolled in the art and design, and graphic design programs this semester participated in a studio which required them to visually provide an answer to the question, “What is CAM?”
“I answered the question ‘What is CAM?’ by looking at contemporary art, education, the fundamentals of art and design and CAM as an institution,” Lauren Broeils, a senior in graphic design, said. Britt Hayes, a senior in graphic design, also participated in answering the question.
“There is not one way to easily sum up everything that we in class have been investigating, but we have been thinking about CAM in relationship to the Raleigh/Triangle community, as well as education,” Hayes said.
Dean Malecha believes the merging of COD and CAM is the University’s version of a “teaching hospital.”
“This merger will significantly increase our realm of influence and will increase exposure to the work that CAM does. It further enhances our ability to get beyond the boundaries of the traditional university — to show the value of design to the community,” Malecha said.
The goal of the merger is to engage the public in the investigation of ideas that are relevant to the community.
As of now, the Contemporary Art Museum building is being renovated on Martin Street. For the short term, the staff of CAM-ICD will be located at the College. Once the CAM building is finished, the plan is to move CAM-ICD to this location, with support from the Contemporary Art Foundation.
Hayes is ready and excited about the renovation.
“The anticipation of just having this museum back up and running in Raleigh is extremely exciting. I see it as being a place where people who are not necessarily knowledgeable about art can go, learn and understand,” Hayes said.
“The main goal is to reach out to all N.C. citizens,” O’Neal said, but the merging will also recruit new students to the College.
There are already approximately 700 students enrolled in the College of Design, but the Contemporary Art Museum may encourage even more to enroll.
“It may help in recruitment in the sense that a student who has a creative talent may not receive the encouragement or nurturing they need to pursue this talent beyond elementary or middle school, or know the resources that are available to them. Through our programming, they can be educated, nurtured and encouraged in their talent and the opportunities in the world,” O’Neal said.
Students who participated in this semester’s studio found the work to be both challenging and fun.
“I have learned a lot about design studio practice, business strategy and communication models this semester. It has been really challenging to take a design studio where I was in charge of my own projects, guiding my own development as a communicator and designer, but I feel as though I have progressed enormously in these areas,” Broeils said.
