St. Joseph, Mo. -May 16, 2012-In a cost-cutting move, the Western Institute at Missouri Western State University is reducing the size of its Center for Community Arts.

“Scaling back the center will let us focus on core programs that impact children and youth, instilling in them a lifelong appreciation of the arts,” said Dr. Gordon Mapley, dean of the Western Institute. “To do that, we will unfortunately have to eliminate the personal enrichment courses we’ve offered to adults.”

Martha Greer, director of the Center for Community Arts, recently accepted a full-time position as executive director of The Best of Missouri Hands, a state wide non- profit organization that serves fine artists and artisans throughout the state. She will continue to serve as the Community Arts director in a part-time capacity, overseeing programs like the Griffon Junior Singers, the Symphonic Youth Orchestra and Artscape, a weeklong day camp for students entering grades 3 through 10. The Center will also continue to coordinate private music lessons, although this coordination may be phased out.

“Programs like the Griffon Junior Singers and Symphonic Youth Orchestra offer unique opportunities for children in our community,” Greer said. “I’m pleased that these enrichment programs will continue to provide long-term arts education opportunities to the community.”

Eliminated are adult classes offered in areas such as yoga, pottery and social dance. Those classes are important too, Dr. Mapley said, but less central to the university’s mission, and many are available from other area entities.

“Unfortunately, budget realities require us to make difficult decisions, and because of my love of the arts this one is especially painful for me,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president. “Missouri Western remains fully committed to seeing the arts flourish on campus and in the community, but this is a necessary step toward meeting the budget realities we face.”

Last year, the university invested more than $107,000 into the Community Arts program to balance its budget, Dr. Mapley said. The Western Institute has taken a number of steps to address the shortfall, including relocating the center from the Scottish Rite Temple to campus, reassigning the center’s administrative assistant, raising tuition for most classes and raising money to provide scholarships to families needing assistance. But even with these changes the program will end the current fiscal year substantially in the red, Dr. Mapley said.

“The newly created Western Playhouse, a summer professional theatre company hosted by the Western Institute, was designed to be self-supporting,” he said. “However, for many years adult arts classes have been heavily subsidized by the Institute as a community service. As much as we value these classes and their positive impact on the community, current fiscal realities preclude this level of investment.”

Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu. Missouri Western is an equal opportunity institution.

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