Victoria Taylor-Gore has been appointed to serve as dean of AC’s School of Creative Arts.

The sun is pleasantly shining on the various arts programs of Amarillo College, even as they’ve been assembled under a single umbrella.

AC is pleased to announce the establishment of the School of Creative Arts, a new division in which the departments of visual arts, music, theater and mass media henceforth will thrive in interdisciplinary solidarity.

The School of Creative Arts is the brainchild of Dr. Deborah Vess, vice president of academic affairs, who named Victoria Taylor-Gore, assistant professor of art and chair of the Visual Arts Department, to serve as the School’s inaugural dean.

Vess says the intent of the reorganization is to place a renewed and distinguishing emphasis on the arts at AC, while nurturing interdisciplinary collaboration and curriculum redesign that students in pursuit of a proliferation of present-day, trans-disciplinary careers will find appealing.

“We intend to put more emphasis on the arts through creative leadership focused solely on the arts, on recruitment, and on creative curriculum design,” Vess said. “The new School of Creative Arts not only symbolizes our continued community-wide support of the arts, but also underscores our real commitment to building those programs within the College and encouraging their growth.

“We are fortunate to have Victoria Taylor-Gore as dean,” Vess said. “She is a nationally recognized artist whose reputation for excellence, passion for the arts, and creativity are widely known.”

Taylor-Gore said faculty from all four of the departments under her auspices are excited about the opportunities for collaboration that lie ahead.

“I have a lot of faith and confidence in our faculty,” Taylor-Gore said. “They are so creative and they love their students. They all have wonderful community relationships already in place on which we can build.

“By establishing the School of Creative Arts we are not only sending a message to our community that AC believes in the arts, is investing in the arts, but we’re also making it easier for our faculty to work together across disciplines in a very positive atmosphere. It’s a thrilling approach. I am humbled just to be a part of it.”

Many arts programs are candidates for overlap or interconnection, the new dean said, opening up a plethora of new avenues to explore. That exploration is about to begin as students and faculty in areas as seemingly diverse as graphic design, piano, acting, sculpting, radio and TV, photography, percussion and opera singing find ways to merge and widen their scope.

“This is the most exciting thing to happen to us in years,” said Mary Jane Johnson, professor of music and voice-artist in residence. “It shows AC is in full-fledged support of our programs and our structuring of the arts.”

In addition to naming a dean of the School of Creative Arts, Vess also announced that Jill Gibson, assistant professor of speech and mass media, will serve as associate dean.

“Jill Gibson is one of our most creative faculty members whose leadership has been pivotal in mass media and the Honors Program,” Vess said. “Her leadership and administrative skills will provide strong support to Dean Taylor-Gore.”

March 21, 2016