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Gay program chairs at Charlotte Art Institute talk school, local art, culture
by Matt Comer :: matt@goqnotes.com
Above; Ron Crider, Charles Easley and Richard Withem.
Photo Credit: Art Institute of Charlotte
It's not uncommon to see LGBT people involved
in art. We are, after all, a creative bunch. Take just a
quick glance at the art world: in every genre, we're
there. And, you can't really have a good art school
without some gays, can you?
Ron Crider, Charles Easley and Richard Withem
have each worked with the Art Institute (Al) of
Charlotte or at other Al locations for several years.
Each chairs a particular program area, having
worked their way up from faculty. In all, four of the
school's seven programs find these three gay men
at their helm. Crider heads up the school's fashion
marketing and management program. Easley chairs
the digital filmmaking and video production pro
gram. Withem leads two: graphic design and web
design.
The Art Institutes, a system of more than 45 arts
schools nationwide, specializes In several focus ar
eas ranging from fashion and culinary arts to adver
tising and TV and film media. The Charlotte school
was founded in 1973 as the American Business &
Fashion Institute; in 1999, It joined Al and changed
Its name. It now has about 1,200 enrolled students
each year.
The three program chairs each say Al is unique
in its almost singular focus on career and success.
"The number one difference between our
school and traditional four-year campuses is that
we have a much more blended program of theory
plus practicum; by that I mean we have a much
more hands-on approach to learning," says Crider.
"Graduates from our programs leave with a portfo
lio that evidences they actually know how to create
industry-standard material."
WItham agrees that Al has a unique difference
with traditional colleges.
"We are an arts school," he says. "That's
our demographic. That's our people. That's our
faculty. It's about the fine and applied arts. We're
all like-minded people; you're not going to find a
cheerleader or a football team here. If you do find
an Arts Institute with a sports team, you let me
know."
Like Crider, Easley thinks Al's nature is specifi
cally beneficial to students.
"We don't have a liberal arts education," he
explains. "We're specifically career-based, in that
students who come here
will learn specific skill sets
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