Digital Arts Initiative brings different media together in classroom

Rather than canvases, musical equipment and screenplays adorning every fine and performing arts classroom, there is a new space within the Hixon-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts that is filled with power cords, brand new Macintosh laptops and projectors.

The intent is to better equip students for careers in today's digital media world.

In the renovated, newly equipped space inside Richards Hall, students with music, theater, art and other majors across the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus will come together in collaboration to learn about their specific interests and how they are relatable to other forms of art and technology.

The new program is called the Digital Arts Initiative.

"When you look at the arts today, there is a considerable amount of things happening," said Giacomo Oliva, dean of the Hixon-Lied College. "The digital sorts of items are being used much more pervasively."

The digital arts classes are for the trumpet player who dabbles in filmmaking on the weekends, Oliva said as an example.

"In the real world, the arts converge," he said. "We wanted to create an environment that would be welcome to all regardless of major or minor."

In addition to bringing the majors together under one roof, the initiative also hopes to better educate students in modern technology and how it relates to artistic careers.

"Part of it was the fact that we needed more opportunities … for students to explore the digital arts," Oliva said.

Jeff Thompson, an assistant professor of art and art history, came to UNL specifically to teach Digital Arts Initiative classes. He went to art school, but also has a background in music.

"This is the reason why I came to the university – to be able to work this kind of way," Thompson said.

Currently he is teaching Digital Literacy: Static Image, a class that has students exploring art in a theoretical sense and not just strictly in one program.

"For me, it's more important that my students be thinking artists opposed to being technical," he said. "It is not so much about technical mastery as much as artistic thinking."

Thompson's hope is that his students will learn to adapt and use many programs rather than just being trained on one specific program. For example, if in 10 years Photoshop is an outdated program, the students will be able to take their knowledge of digital media art and apply it to whatever the market demands easily.

"Especially with things like technology, it's always changing, so we do not want to be locked into any particular program," he said.

This is the first semester that classes like this are being offered. Next semester, Thompson will teach another digital literacy class that is aimed at art in motion in a digital setting. Other course curriculums are still developing.

With a limit to how many classes are being offered, there is also a limit on how many students will be able to enroll. Oliva expects that about 16 students will be allowed to enroll in each course, with four seats given to each major in the college as well as four to majors outside of the fine and performing arts.