On Monday, the first day of fall semester, work began in earnest for the school's eight - yes, eight - new faculty members and its interim dean.
Rarely does a department have an opportunity to hire so many professors at once, but because of retiring faculty and others who have moved on for personal reasons, the School of Fine Arts is awash in new talent.
“This really represents a great opportunity for new changes and wonderful collaborative work,” Kalm said. “To have two or three teaching positions is the norm, but to have eight such openings is pretty unusual. We have 50 full-time faculty in the school, and eight represent about 20 percent.
“It is particularly huge when you break it down and five of the eight are in the Drama/Dance Department - that's a third of their department.”
The changeover ushers in a new era for the school, which is the flagship for arts education in Montana and has a long and impressive supporting role for guiding and shaping artistic and cultural leadership in the region.
It is home to the Montana Repertory Theatre, a professional touring theater company; the Colony, a summer playwrights' workshop; the Montana Transport Company, a touring dance company; and the Gallery of Visual Arts.
Rudy Autio, Carroll O'Connor, J.K. Simmons, John Lester and Beth Lo are just a few in the cast of thousands of professors and students who honed their craft at UM's School of Fine Arts and have since made indelible marks in the greater world.
The newest additions to the school's impressive arts tradition include music professor James Smart, art professors Kevin Bell and Trey Hill, and drama/dance professors John DeBoer, Heidi Eggert, Jere Hodgin, Ezra LeBank and Ann Wright.
For the Drama/Dance Department, the coming year quivers with the thrill of new beginnings, said Mark Dean, department chair.
“We are in the process of reinventing ourselves,” he said. “We want to get things stirred up a little bit.”
As proof of that new outlook, Dean explained the Drama/Dance Department is holding a “Renaissance Retreat” to talk about rebirth.
“We are so excited about it,” he said. “It's a little scary and daunting - but it's really thrilling.”
Department chairs within the School of Fine Arts all agree they lucked out with the new hires.
Dean put it this way: “We got the A-list all the way around.”
Maxine Ramey, a music professor, nodded in agreement.
“Having high-caliber faculty is a huge component in recruiting the best students in Montana, the region, the United States and Canada,” Ramey said. “It's a tradition that has been growing here, and the result is we've got the best students.”
With his first day of painting and design classes nearly over, Kevin Bell said he was even more pleased with his decision to join the fine arts faculty.
The swarm of students, the high energy of the campus, and the magnitude of it all was a welcome change from the quieter, smaller academic environment he left behind at Fort Lewis College in Colorado.
“I'm really excited to be in a larger academic and intellectual community here on campus and in Missoula as well,” Bell said. “I have a lot of respect for the people I am working with.
“It seems like this department has a lot of support and a lot of really nice people in it - people who are able to work seriously without big egos or attitude or a lot of posturing.”
Bell said he also came to another conclusion about UM.
“These are engaged, interested students,” he said. “It's a good thing. It's really exciting.”
Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at bcohen@missoulian.com.
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