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Vol. 3. No. A
North Carolina School of the Arts
September 20, 1968
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NEW LIBRARY COST ESTIMATED AT ^1,099000
STUDENT RDTS IN VENICE
by Celia Sparger
The Academy of Fine Arts in Venice is
an educational institution which the aver
age student attends for four to five years-
However, the school does not have university
status, that is, after graduating from it,
one piust go to a school of even higher
learning in order to be qualified for a pro
fession A student may work for as many as
ten to fifteen years to obtain a degree
slightly less than a Master's in the United
S tates
At the academy of Fine Arts, the exams
are difficult and time consuming. Two final
exams are given for each course, one written
and the other oral. A student may work for
two days to complete the written one. The
oral exams are given by a board, whose mem
bers question the student. If the student
fails one exam, he must repeat them both.
For five years, students attempted to
change these conditions. Their efforts were
in vain, for no one listened to their pleas.
Thus it was that last spring they resorted
to more drastic measures. Students occupied
the Academy's buildings. They carried pos
ters and shouted in the streets. With these
activities, their requests could not go un
heard. The academy promises more and better
buildings and an improvement procedure will
be reformed and a student will repeat only
the exam he fails.
There were also riots at the University
of Rome at the Faculty of Architecture. Es
sentially the same thing that occurred at
Venice tftok place there, although there was
considerable bloodshed in Rome.
The riots were prolonged because the
communists, as a professional political
element encouraged the students so as to
reach selfish goals. Among their other ac
tivities were the invasion of the Biannale
Art Exhibition in Venice. This is an inter
national art exhibit which is held every
two years. It was to have opened in early
summer, but protesting students, (backed by
communists) caused .several countries t o
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On August 6 the Advisory Budget Commis
sion made its biennial visit to the School.
On this occasion Governor Moore accompained
the Commission and thus paid his first offi
cial visit to the Sdnool. The purpose of
the Commission's trip was to inspect the
School's facilities, see the current build
ing program, and hear the School's requests
for new buildings and improvements.
After a tour of the campus the Governor
and the Commission met in the library, where
President Ward and Administrative Director
William C. Herring presented the Capital Im
provements Budget. In all the School has re
quested nearly $2,000,000 in capital project
during the 1969-1971 biennium.
The highest priority was given to the
request for a new library which is estimated
to cost $1,099,000, Preliminary designs
have already been made for this building,
which will be situated between the new dorm
itories and the new Student Center. (Stud
ents can see a big "shelf" of earth just to
the east of the new dormitory construction.
This is the library site. There is also a
rendering of the new library in the present
library.)
The library design includes two full
floors for library purposes proper, and a
third, or ground floor which will contain a
small auditorium, language laboratory and
language laboratory and audio-visual faci
lities .
The next request was for funds to ren
ovate the present theatre. This design
calls for complete gutting and rebuilding
of the present office and studio area into
a new complex of offices, classrooms and
public spaces, construction of new dressing
rooms at the rear of the building, a new
lighting grid in the auditorium, and air-
conditioning of the entire facility. This
work is estimated to cost $300,000.
The next request was for funds to pur
chase Our Lady of Mercy School on Sunnyside
Avenue. The School hopes to relocate in
the suburbs, and the modern education build-
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SIMONEL JOINS MUSIC FACULTY
Mr. Emile Simonel, violist, has filled
the position in the Claremont Quartet and
teaching Artist-in-Residence at the North
Carolina School of the Arts formerly held by
Mr. Scott Nickrenz.
Mr. Simonel, who calls Detroit his home
received a B.S. degree from the Oberlin Con
servatory and an M.M. degree from the Uni-
veristy of Michigan He has studied with
Paul Doktor and Robert Courte.
His professional experiences include:
eleven years in the Detroit Symphony, seven
years of extensive touring in this counrty
with the New York String Sextet and member
of the Chatuagua String Quartet. He spent
4 years with the New York Opera Company, and
has played in the Chira Chamber Orchestra
and the Detroit Sinfonietta, and a trio
(viola, mezzo-soprano and piano) under the
management of Columbia Concerts. Mr. Simo
nel also served as tour director and perso-
nel manager of the Montavoni Orchestra.
Mr. Simonel, originally a violinist,
Emile Simonel» Violist
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