Ohio Wesleyan University | Connect2 OWU | November 13, 2009: Someone You Should Know

About OWU

Academics

November 13, 2009: Someone You Should Know

Linda Earle Heads New York Arts Program
Building a student-alumni arts community

Linda Earle.

Photo courtesy of Linda Earle

From her office at the New York Arts Program headquarters within a historic, four-story, Civil War-era townhouse in Chelsea, Linda Earle, the program’s new executive director, is just minutes away from a myriad of art galleries, theatres, Chelsea Market, and Madison Square Gardens for starters. A native New Yorker, Earle is thrilled with her new job, and equally happy to be working in her home state.

“I see that as a great advantage,” says Earle, whose lengthy track record of experience—30 years—in the visual, performing, and media arts includes her executive directorship of program for the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, one of the nation’s leading organizations for emerging visual artists. Earle also was senior program director for the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), where as she explains, the multi-disciplinary Individual Artists Program was established under her direction in 1984. Earle’s work portfolio also includes teaching, writing, lecturing, curating visual arts and film exhibitions, and serving on many advisory boards. Earle received her bachelor of arts degree in film studies from Hampshire College, and her master of fine arts in film from Columbia University. Higher education—particularly liberal arts learning—is important to Earle.

Established in 1967, the New York Arts Program is managed by Ohio Wesleyan. Through hands-on experiences as interns in a variety of arts-related organizations, students have the opportunity to gain valuable insights into such areas as acting, directing, designing, playwriting, and stage managing, while earning academic credit.

“We want students to discover their interests while making tie-backs to the liberal arts,” says Earle, a strong proponent of theory to practice learning opportunities. Most students participating in the program, live in the house in Chelsea, an area in New York that once was the garment and flower district. Earle’s more immediate goal is to foster more community spirit within the house and its 33 students now staying there. Featuring laundry facilities, computers, and a TV area in the lower level, the house offers space for faculty and administrators on the first floor, and three floors of residential space for students, plus lounges and a kitchen.

“I’ve been hearing from many students and alumni who have participated in the New York Arts Program, how their lives have been changed by their experiences,” says Earle. “I’d like to reach out to more of our alumni, and build a strong community.”

For more information, please visit the New York Arts Program Web site.

– Pam Besel