NVCC to shut down the ceramics program in Annandale
Students and faculty at Northern Virginia Community College are protesting NVCC’s decision to close the ceramics and sculpture studio at the Annandale campus.
“Although the administration calls this a ‘consolidation’ into the ceramics studio at the Alexandria campus, Alexandria does not have the space to absorb all the current students,” said Sheila Avruch, a volunteer in the studio who is taking classes as a senior auditor.
“There are no plans to replace the ability to provide sculpture classes that teach the techniques that are taught at Annandale, including lost wax bronze casting,” she said.
NVCC President Anne Kress got a “no-confidence” vote from the faculty in October. “One of the faculty complaints was making decisions with poor or incorrect data and without consulting faculty. This appears to be another one of those decisions,” Avruch said.
According to Avruch, Kress indicated that Diane Mucci, the provost of the Alexandria Campus, and the Arts Pathways Dean were reviewing the program. “But I think they have a clear idea about what their decision should be.”
A petition on Change.org urging NVCC to keep the studio at the Annandale campus says, “Getting rid of these classes will basically gut the associate in visual arts degree program on this campus.”
The Annandale campus has four ceramics classes enrolling about 66 students and a sculpture class with 17 students. The Alexandria campus has just one ceramics class.
Avruch worries that Annandale students without reliable transportation won’t be able to get to the Alexandria campus. She notes that after NVCC closed the ceramics studio at its Loudoun campus, most of those students didn’t transfer to Annandale.
