Artwork improperly stored in Brodie Hall: What this means for the future of Geneseo

“Everybody should care,” said SUNY Distinguished Professor of Art History Lynette M.F. Bosch. “How many people are not coming to Geneseo because we don’t have studio [art], and because we don’t have computer design? [They may] not necessarily [have] intended to be artists, but they like doing art. So why not go somewhere else that has art?”

In our final installment of this series exploring Geneseo’s neglect of the arts, we will focus on the long-term impacts of this neglect—how it impacts Geneseo’s students today, and how it impacts Geneseo’s future. For more information, check out the first two parts of this series on The Lamron website.

Though a studio department might be of more direct interest to students who want to integrate studio art into their academic career, the retrenchment of a studio art program is one that impacts all of the Geneseo community. One of the biggest consequences Bosch spoke to is one that we are already experiencing at the college—lower enrollment rates.

“I have had three or four students tell me the same thing—that they are transferring because there’s no studio here. So, you don’t need to have the idea that you want to be an artist to want to go somewhere that has studio art,” Bosch said. “Studio art contributes creativity and problem-solving ability that’s important.”

In Fall 2017, Geneseo’s enrollment was 5,652 students, according to a Geneseo 10-year enrollment trend; in Fall 2019, the year after the studio art and computer design programs were dissolved, the enrollment dipped down by roughly 300 students to a total enrollment of 5,398. Since then, enrollment has continued to decline—in Fall 2022, 4,210 students enrolled in Geneseo.

Bosch, reflecting on these sobering statistics, commented: “It is not an accurate narrative to say that our numbers dropped because of COVID.”

“Maybe not every student would be concerned about this, but isn’t every student concerned if we don’t get enough students?” Bosch continued. “Missing some departments causes us to limp because there are SUNYs that have everything. How are we going to be competitive? ... You need never go into the gallery here; you need never take a studio course here if we had these things. But you will be interested if students don’t come here in enough numbers to keep the place going.”

Of course, these numbers do not exist in isolation—Bosch reflected, too, on how directly the past administration’s decisions have influenced declining enrollment rates.

“Actions have consequences, often unforeseen, and so you take out…these big pieces because you’re trying to save money down the road, [but] the money you saved can come back and kick you in ways that will be far more serious than if you had cut something else and kept those pieces,” Bosch said. “So, okay, our enrollments are declining—that’s data. How much does that have to do with the pieces we took out a while back? Everyone should care because I don’t have the answer to that question—I only have the questions. But I can objectively tell you that the data is that since those programs were taken out, our enrollments began to decline.”

Bosch ended our interview on a sobering and honest note: “Now, what I don’t have is a direct connection—I didn’t go interview every single student who didn’t come to say to them, “Why’d you not come?” But…when you’re looking at data, interpreting the data, understanding what is behind what is causing the data, this is a whole other area.”