Earlier this month, West Virginia University confirmed its decision to cut 28 majors and more than 140 faculty positions.
Today, more than 40 university professors, students and alumni from the ceramics, printmaking and sculpture departments are gathering at a local art gallery to present an exhibition of their work called “Deep Cuts.”
Reporter Chris Schulz spoke with Eli Pollard, WVU professor and owner of Morgantown’s Galactic Panther art gallery, to discuss the exhibit and the effects of the university’s budget cuts.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Schulz: Can you tell me a little about your teaching at university?
Tadpole: Well, it’s changing rapidly, as it has for some time now. I’m currently teaching at the university, but it looks like this will be my last semester. I started here in 2008, in the humanities department. I had about 300 students a year teaching Western Civilization. Unfortunately, all the professors in that department were laid off, which was pretty mind-blowing considering the number of students I had for about $23,000 a year. We made a lot of money for college, but it wasn’t really enough, I guess.
I was able to move into the design department, which was great. I taught them fashion design. I also gave interior design classes for them. Landscape architecture, I do a lot of drawing, basics and portfolio classes for these departments. And I taught and designed community development and also developed study abroad courses, which were great for the students. We went everywhere.
I started in Central America, then things got a little difficult working in Central America, I wasn’t allowed to go there anymore. So I started working more in Europe, I took students all over Europe and we had some amazing experiences there. It looks like my last one will be Greece this winter. If any students are listening, you have until October 1st to register for this program. But I learned last night that I will no longer be able to lead them either, which represents, once again, a huge loss for the students.
Schulz: Western civilization and design are two subjects, at least in my opinion, quite disparate. How did you get there?
Tadpole: Doing backflips to survive here is kind of the short answer. But in more detail, the humanities and Western civilization have a lot to do with the history of art. We had people in this department who had backgrounds in history, and we had people who had backgrounds in fine arts and literature. And because there is so much content covered in the humanities, in Western civilization, each of us was able to develop the course with our own perspectives. This fine art perspective, of course, transfers very well into design work, which is also a big part of what I do.
Schulz: How has this impacted your role? Will you receive any of these potential RIF notifications in the coming weeks?
Tadpole: Yes, in the last few days, maybe four or five days ago, I was told that my teaching position was over. And I had always understood that there was a possibility of continuing my studies abroad if my regular education had to end. They have apparently changed their position and now I won’t be able to teach them since last night or the night before, I was told. So they’re both done.
So now I’m focusing on the gallery, which is great. I’m still trying to get by, I’ve been teaching here for 15 years now. It will take me a while to adjust, but I have received many warnings, as I said, my first department has been completely downsized. And then I experienced the impact of a previous budget reduction where I went from a full-time position to an adjunct staff position. So, I was kind of grappling with this before all this news hit the headlines. It’s just unfortunate now because I see so many people I know and respect facing the same kind of future, basically.
Schulz: Are you from West Virginia?
Tadpole: No, I was born in Florida, but I moved here when I was three, my family is from here. So, pretty much everything except the one born here. My parents, mother and stepfather had to leave the state for the same reasons. They were teachers in the school system, well, teachers and school psychologists, and everyone gets pink slips in education. So they left the state. I ended up coming back to school. So I went back and forth several times.
Schulz: You obviously know that this has a much broader effect, which is why we’re going to talk about this event that’s happening later this week. But before we get into that, can you tell me a little bit about the history of Galactic Panther and this space? I understand this isn’t even exclusive to Morgantown.
Tadpole: I started Galactic Panther, working on renovating this space just before COVID hit. So we pretty much opened our doors here in Morgantown during COVID, which has been tricky, of course. It’s already difficult to have an art gallery. To make things even trickier. I’m on the outskirts of Morgantown and to make things even more difficult, it was open during COVID. So it’s kind of a dreamer’s story, I guess. But it worked to a certain extent, the gallery is still here in Morgantown. And because of my efforts here, I had a partner who was willing to help me open a second space in the Washington DC area.
Of course we focus on art exhibitions as a gallery, but we have events there with live music, and a friend of mine does sound baths if you’re familiar with that, which is a lovely form of meditation. , where he brings his Moog synthesizer and does all-analog sound baths where you just let the sound wash away all your problems. So some healing and music and art events are kind of the real focus.
Schulz: So tell me a little more about this week’s event, Friday.
Tadpole: This Friday the 29th from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m. we will have an event.
Schulz: And what is the event? I understand it’s called “Deep Cuts.”
Tadpole: It is. “Deep Cuts” is an exhibition from WVU’s printmaking, sculpture and ceramics departments. This includes faculty, students and alumni. So it’s a pretty large group of artists, we have about 40 visual artists involved. Many are, in the region, well-known names, I would say, a lot of talent is arriving. I also had music booked for the evening by alumni from these departments.
Schulz: How did this all happen?
Tadpole: It was something I came up with, it just felt like a need. There was a need for this to happen, I felt it, and I didn’t see that anyone else was proposing this. So I contacted the art department. Their reactions were very positive and played an important role in the organization of this exhibition. They reached out to many students and alumni to expand our voice, so to speak. Everyone seemed to really like the idea, so we all got together. And I need to start running now and make sure we’re all ready for Friday.
Schulz: Many exhibitions are often very focused on one subject, topic or medium. I think it will definitely be interesting to see so much variety in one show. What are you hearing from people who contribute to the show about the need to do this now? Because it seems a little bittersweet to bring together such a plethora of local artists simultaneously, but the reason behind it is obviously a little heavy-handed to say the least.
Tadpole: Yeah, it’s bittersweet. And I’ve heard a lot of frustration from artists when they present their work. This is simply a blow, not just to the university’s students and faculty, but to the community. As I mentioned, these artists do things like Morgantown Studio Tour. If this faculty has to go, then it will probably go with them. One of these artists designed our state quarter, one of these artists teaches to BOPARC for everyone’s children in summer. So there are huge impacts here, culturally, beyond what happens at the university.
These cultural impacts will of course have possible economic impacts, which allows us to close the loop. So one wonders why this is happening if those making these cuts are doing so for economic reasons. They are wrong. They are deeply mistaken, because they are the ones who build the economy of a community. They build community and they build the economy, so if you get rid of people who do that, you’re ultimately shooting yourself in the foot. This is part of the message we are here to convey.
Schulz: Is there anything else about this situation, about this process in general, that I haven’t given you a chance to discuss?
Tadpole: This is a free event, it’s Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Donations are greatly appreciated for snacks, musicians and things of that nature. Purchasing artwork is strongly encouraged, we accept payment plans as this supports the artists. Additionally, since day one, Galactic Panther, we have donated a portion of all sales to local food banks, and that’s no different than any other event. You therefore support the artists of the gallery as well as the local population in need. So please come out. Be respectful of the neighborhood, but be numerous and be heard.
I don’t know if I’m the spokesperson for the whole process of what’s happening at WVU. I’m just sort of a modest voice for the artists in the neighborhood and the affected community as a whole. I think it’s a great opportunity this weekend to get together and talk about it. We may be past the eleventh hour, but there are a lot of smart people here. If our voices can be heard, we may be able to find a positive solution.
“Deep Cuts” will run through November by appointment at Galactic Panther, 462 Dunkard Ave. To make an appointment to view the exhibit after Friday, contact Eli Pollard at 304-276-7721 eli@galacticpanther.com
