SFSU College of Creative Arts dean sees great potential in The City
By: Beth Winegarner
Examiner Staff Writer
October 27, 2008
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| (Courtesy photo) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Kurt Daw, former School of Fine Arts dean at State University of New York, New Paltz, took over as dean of San Francisco State University’s College of Creative Arts this school year.
When did you first realize you needed to pursue a career in the arts? I went to college to be an agriculture major, but I encountered a professor who changed my life. There was this theater professor who believed the plays of Anton Chekov contained all the answers to all the questions of the universe. He was right. So I changed my major.
What attracted you to the College of Creative Arts? I arrived here to see large banners on light posts saying, “San Francisco State: The City’s creative spark.” It seemed a perfect setup, and so I wanted to be here. My mantra is, “Creativity is the new literacy.” And the first university that gets how important creativity is to the economy is going to be the national model. I think San Francisco has a shot at that.
What’s different about the San Francisco’s college arts scene versus, say, New York? The students here are extraordinarily sophisticated, but without any kind of socioeconomic bias that being in the arts somehow makes them better. And it’s much more ethnically diverse than anywhere I’ve ever been. San Francisco is truly the world in microcosm, and because of that the arts here have an entirely different flavor — in that way, it’s also more sophisticated.
bwinegarner@sfexaminer.com
