By Kevin Murphy Wilson Photos by Marty King
Just before the new year, and after a rather long and eventful journey, Kentucky College of Art + Design (KyCAD) learned that it had been granted institutional accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). According to KyCAD President Moira Scott Payne, that announcement capped off an unprecedented period of growth and transformation for the Old Louisville-based school which recently increased its student population, received significant funding from both the City and State Governments, and added two new pathways within its interdisciplinary BFA program structure: one in Experimental Fashion + Performance, the other in Digital Fabrication. This major accomplishment was also notable for other reasons, Payne said, including the fact that it had been nearly 30 years since any new college of art and design in the U.S. successfully navigated the rigorous demands of achieving institutional accreditation. We talked to President Payne about her own studies and the space that now exists in arts higher education for a new spirit of possibility.
VT: What can you tell us about your own background and education?
MSP: “My childhood was filled with change. New challenges, new countries, new perspectives, new people. My parents were intrepid explorers, entrepreneurial to the core. They left Scotland for India as teenagers. I was born in India on a tea plantation and was sent to a missionary boarding school in the Nilgiri hills in South India at the early age of five. From there we moved back to the United Kingdom to the remote Outer Hebrides islands off the Northwest of Scotland where I was plunged into the moody darkness of the Northern hemisphere. There I was immersed in the beauty of my mother’s home landscape, culture and language. As the other children learned English I learned to read Gaelic. Many moves throughout Scotland and the north of England carried me through 9 different schools. When I finally landed in Glasgow School of Art, the blissful five years I spent there as I completed undergraduate and postgraduate study, represented the longest I had ever stayed or studied in one place. Glasgow School of Art is an internationally renowned leader in the field of arts education. This college experience brought a new understanding of the world to me. I studied Drawing and Painting in the famous Mackintosh Building. The studio practices, libraries, museums, culture, film, music. My world was blown open and I would never be the same. I think this transformation created my deep understanding of the power of both education and the arts to shape a life experience.”
VT: You joined KyCAD at a critical point in its evolution. What was appealing about the challenge of steering this fledgling institution towards its ultimate mission of being a fully independent and accredited art college here in Kentucky?
MSP: “I came to the U.S. in search of the American Avant Garde…innovation and education, an interdisciplinary approach to arts and learning, and the development of the linguistics of practice at the intersections of multiple areas of knowledge. I was ready to take on a leadership role and became the Provost of Cornish College of Art in Seattle. Cornish is a college with an important place in the history of experimental approaches to art practice and education. It was not, however, until I came to the city of Louisville that I found the open collaborative energy that would sustain the building of new ideas around a contemporary arts education. A group of people: artists, musicians, curators, faculty, staff, donors, city leaders, were promoting the building of a new college of art and design and I knew that I probably had the combination of structural experiences that might support the realization of their vision. I was ready for the challenge.”
VT: This seems like it must have been a tedious, nearly impossible task. What did the process look like?
MSP: “Yes, it was nearly an impossible task! However, it was never tedious. Courage, humor, energy, and resilience were all needed all of the time. Everyone involved has continued to develop their own area of expertise, and the perfect team has evolved, learned and grown in response to the goals. It has taken six years to achieve accreditation [as an independent entity] and now we will build on this success.”
VT: Outside of your internal faculty, staff and leadership team, who were some of the key supporters that helped you get there?
MSP: “SACSCOC was a steady resource. Dr. Belle Wheelan, Dr. Anne Chard and Dr. Crystal Baird provided us with the guidance and encouragement we needed all the way. They supported us forward as we tackled uncharted territories. The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, led by Dr. Aaron Thompson and Travis Powell, maintained a firm oversight of all our operations as they expanded and developed over the last six years. The Gheens Foundation and multiple members of the wonderful Brown Family stood by us with steady support. The Rounsavall Foundation and other local donorsconsistently came behind the college. Our very committed Board of Trustees, led at various times by Todd Lowe, Fred Davis, and most recently John Birnsteel, have been an enormously positive source of enthusiasm, strength, resolve andadvice. The Mayor and many City Council members, along with the Governor, Lt. Governor and a bipartisan group of State Legislators, have also come behind the college in an unbelievably prescient move.”
VT: Many folks remember when this project first emerged from the basement of 21c Museum Hotel and then landed for a time at Spalding University. How would you describe the Kentucky College of Art + Design in its present form?
MSP: “Solid, organized, with a generous and positive culture. KyCAD remains ready for growth and change. It is flexible and responsive, a fine example of a brand-new small college. Everyone working in KyCAD has embraced change, risk and is excited for the future of the college.”
VT: What comes next for the school?
MSP: “We are now carefully thinking about what kind of college of art and design Kentucky needs. The context within which we work is important to consider. How can we bring value and inspiration to the Commonwealth? How can we build the very best future-focused college? AI and VR and emerging digital technologies are creating a workplace ready for the creative thinker and the problem solver. The world is changing so fast that the usual career pathways are not enough. Students need adaptable skills and the ability to apply their practice to many challenges. Only about 1% of our graduates will go on to be [conventional] artists, the others will take everything they have learned into many new fields.”
For more information, visit kycad.org.