Group May Coordinate Art, Design Instruction

A six-member faculty committee has been formed to establish a liaison between the Graduate School of Design and the Department of Fine Arts, John P. Coolidge '35, associate professor of Fine Arts, announced yesterday. Although the committee's projects are still tentative, the group will probably consider plans for joint courses and instruction in the two schools.

The committee includes three men from each of the two faculties: Leonard Opdyke '17, chairman of the Department of Fine Arts, Coolidge, and Theodore L. Feininger, lecturer on Fine Arts; and Jean P. Carlhian, assistant professor of Architecture, Constantine Nivola, instructor in Design, and Joseph Zalowsky, instructor in Drawing.

Although the group has not met formally, Coolidge anticipated that it would discuss possible coordination of courses and exhibitions when it meets next month.

"Both the Design School and the Department of Fine Arts do elementary and studio work in painting and design," he said, "and we wonder to what extent this work in the two schools is parallel." If the committee decides that the courses are similar enough in content and objectives, it may recommend establishing joint instruction.

although Kenneth J. Conant '15, professor of Architecture, is now the only faculty member who gives courses in both schools, Coolidge said that "there might be a good deal of work done in working out both combined courses and combined appointments."

"Joint appointments have proved extremely unstable, however," he added.

The committee will also consider offering joint artistic and architectural exhibitions, besides those now held independently in Fogg Museum and in Robinson Hall.

Simultaneously with the work of this committee, another group, headed by John Nicholas Brown '22, is investigating the facilities for the Visual Arts in the University.

Serving on the committee under Brown and Lane Faison, Jr., Chairman of the Art Department of Williams College; Dean Francis Keppel '33 of the School of Education; Donald Oenslager '23, prominent stage designer and member of the staff of the Yale School of Drama; Charles Sawyer, Dean of the Division of the Arts at Yale University; Wolfang Stechow, professor of Art at Oberlin College; George Wald, professor of Biology; and John Walker '30.