Not so Great, not so Fine

Yesterday we received word from the University of Rhode Island that Judith Tolnick Champa, director of URI's Fine Arts Center Galleries, and Roxana Tourigny, director of URI's Great Performances, will be laid off, and that the galleries and concert series will be terminated. Administrators say that the move, which goes into effect on July 4, was required as part of a university-wide $17 million reduction this year. Winifred Brownell, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, said that Academic Affairs is absorbing $12 million of that figure, with $2.7 million coming out of Arts & Sciences. Both Great Performances and the Fine Arts Center Galleries have already been eliminated from the college's Web page. On Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center's Main Gallery, Wakefield artist and activist Marc Levitt will facilitate a brainstorming session on the cuts and their impact on the state's cultural landscape. A Facebook group of alumni and current students has been created under the heading "Save the galleries!!" We'll have more tomorrow on the Independent Web site and in next Thursday's editions of the South County and North East Independent newspapers.