Peg Faimon will be the founding dean of the School of Art and Design.
The Board of Trustees gave their approval of Faimon at a business meeting Friday. Faimon, a professor and chair of the Department of Art at Miami University, is also a graphic designer by profession.
“There were over 100 applications for the dean of the new school,” said Stephen Watt, associate dean for the School of Art and Design. “The candidate had to be outstanding as an artist, designer, scholar and administrator. Professor Faimon exceeds our high expectations in all of these areas.”
Watt said a committee of about 20 faculty and staff members conducted an international search for the inaugural dean. Jean Robinson, associate executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, was chair of the committee.
The search yielded some exemplary candidates, Watt said. He said the committee was looking for a strong intellectual and artistic range, because the new school’s transitional phase will require adaptability.
“We wanted the selected candidate to bring a new side of expertise,” Watt said. “We are confident Faimon has the kind of vision that will benefit the school and all of its departments.”
Faimon graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from IU in 1987 and a Master of Fine Arts from Yale University two years later.
During her time as an arts chair of Miami University, Faimon was responsible for implementing a graduate degree program in fine arts as well as a concentration in graphic design.
While at Yale, Faimon was given the Norman Ives Memorial Award, which recognizes an outstanding master’s candidate in graphic design. She also manages a studio, Peg Faimon Design, where she showcases and creates her personal and professional design work.
The School of Art and Design, which combines the Department of Studio Art and the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design, will open July 1, according to an IU press release.
The school will begin collaborative efforts with other departments on campus and inhabit the newly renovated Kirkwood Hall. There will also be several new majors, minors and certificates offered through the updated programs.
A new curriculum, the “Creative Core,” will combine the traditional and the experimental for incoming students. Aspiring designers and artists will explore the technological and conventional skills necessary for an arts degree in the 21st century, according to the press release.
Larry Singell, executive dean of the College, said Faimon is the ideal candidate to encourage a multi-disciplinary study of the arts. Because the new school will be in the College, there will be several opportunities to link several parts of the liberal arts with formal training in creativity and design, Singell said.
“It is exciting to imagine faculty and students teaming up to explore the ways in which art and design might interact and respond to human needs, and then finding ways to offer creative solutions to the marketplace through merchandising,” Singell said.
