Cultural and intellectual expansion of the college campus is the future goal of Fayetteville State University. The growing school has been working hard to expand this goal with positive growth of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts.

Dr. Ernest Lamb, chair of the Performing and Fine Arts Department, discussed new changes and the future goals that the art department has in store for the university’s current student population and those to come.

“This is my third year at the university, though we have faced some challenges along the way, we are working towards our accreditation,” said Lamb.

His department is made up of studies which lead to degrees in visual, music, theatre and dance.

“We just received accreditation in the music department from the National Association of Schools of Music,” he explained, noting that it was “an amazing accomplishment,” adding that the department is working on improvements across the board.

Lamb said that changes in the current curriculum are going to be made in order for the instituion to receive proper accreditation.

“Since we have applied for accreditation, we just need to go ahead and work towards making the proper changes and getting it done,” Lamb said.

Accreditation plays a vital role in the overall success of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts. It helps with the recruitment process and it allows future students to know they are getting the proper education. For those unaware of what accreditation means, it is simply a process where a certificate for the competency or credibility of the institution is presented. Within the department, accreditation focuses on a status bring granted for an educational institution or a program that has met or exceeded state criteria of educational quality. This particular accreditation would apply to the actual department and would be considered specialized or programmatic.

“We are receiving more support from the administration and it is a great feeling,” Lamb said. “They have come out to events and been overall engaged in the department.”

Lamb is looking forward to having more events within the department to let the community become engaged in all that the arts have to offer. He was most pleased to discuss his future plans with playwright and television producer Walter Allen Bennett.

“We are planning to have Walter Allen Bennett come out again and speak with the students about the movie industry,” Lamb says, “They can receive insight from an African-American man in that particular industry.”

This can be very benefi cial for students wanting to pursue a career in the television and movie industry. Bennett has been to the school before and his recent visit was a reading of his new play that was inspired by Loraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun.

Lamb plans on having more visual-arts events at the university to help expand the growth and mission of the department, which is producing graduates in the performing and fine arts field as well as building the community through the arts and being a resource for performing and fine-arts pedagogy. Engaging the community with fine arts is vital to the overall success of the department.

There are several events that the Department of Performing and Fine Arts have in store for the Fayetteville community, its students and faculty including the Senior Exhibition, North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, and a performance by Dianne Reeves.

Reeves makes her appearance at the university on April 27 at Seabrook Auditorium. The Grammy-award winning jazz vocalist is sure to give the crowd a magnifi cent performance.

“Definitely having an artist of her caliber coming to the university fits into what’s happening at FSU,” Lamb said.

For more information about up coming events at Fayetteville State University visit www.uncfsu.edu/arts/index.htm.

Photo: Dr. Ernest Lamb.