Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1888 [PAGE 178]

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EEPOETS OF DEPAETMENT OF INSTEUCTION.

SWUNG TERM.

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ichool of mechanical engineering ichool of mining engineering ichool of civil engineering chool of architecture ichool of chemistry ichool of natural history ichool of modern languages

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The arrangement, as shown above, may in the future prove a lindrance to the progress of the art department instead of an aid is intended. No inconvenience has thus far been experienced, ;hough better results could, doubtless, be attained if all students >f the same grade were to receive their instruction in one term as n other departments. With the approval of the Regent, a plan of instruction 1 extendng over three terms has been adopted whereby the students may icquire the use of materials and mediums and a primary knowledge of perspective, light and shade, color and designing. The nstruction is by means of illustrated lectures, object lessons, and criticisms. 3 T h e duty assigned my assistant is to give individual attention io the minor needs of students while they are working out the 3roblems. When a fair degree of aptness in the use of materials las been reached, the problems are varied according to the course ;he student has selected; for instance, natural history objects serve is motives for the students in the natural history course; while ;tudents in mechanical engineering find geometrical models and mrts of machinery the most profitable subjects. I n this connecion, the use of a few simple machine models, such as could, periaps, be spared from the shops, would be a desirable addition to ,he equipment of the department. The classes in advanced drawing, designing, clay modeling and >ainting become larger each year. To most students art has a ascination. They consequently study not only to profit but also o enjoy. I t is safe to believe that no parents grumble because heir boys can show a plaster cast of a clever piece of their own landiwork or because their daughters bring back from college a : ew cheerful pictures showing their artistic training. I t is not iimcuit to convince a man that it requires a cultivated brain and i trained hand to design and execute these relief panels, capitals, md medallions in common soft clay, and transform the same into i harder substance. I t is accomplished by manual skill, but not >y manual skill alone. So, too, in the still more attractive exercises in tempera and in oil colors, no one can hope to succeed vithout an educated eye nor to excel without a dexterous hand. The refining influences that the mind derives from the study of trt are now everywhere in our higher institutions recognized as ndispensable to a liberal education. Says Schiller, in his poem iddressed to artists:

"The bee may teach thee an industrious care; The worm, in skill, thy master thou must own: With higher spirits, wisdom thou dost share But Art, O man, hast thou alone."