Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer

Principal of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Burchell Duhaney (centre), goes over plans for the college with Paul Issa (left), the college chairman, and businessman Stephen Facey, who made a donation to the college's development fund at a banquet for the college on Monday at the Hilton Kingston hotel. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

A fund to reposition the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMC) as "a centre of excellence" to serve Jamaica and the wider Caribbean was launched at the Hilton Kingston hotel on Monday night. Conducting the official ceremony was the executive director of the Inter-American Development Bank, Mr Winston Cox, who after making a personal donation, urged corporate Jamaica to contribute financially.

Mr Cox flew in the island just hours before, specifically for the banquet and launch, and was scheduled to return to the USA on Tuesday.

Details of the fund's aim were given by EMC Principal Burchell Duhaney, who also announced plans for postgraduate programmes and the establishment of a film school.

Plan for the fund

He said that the plan for the fund, some three years in the making, was "to ensure that the college was adequately prepared to deliver a diverse and sound education product and to certify art practitioners, art educators, art managers and cultural agents at all levels to take advantage of every opportunity for services in the creative and cultural industries".

He said the planning was done "against the background of the growing demands for a more educated workforce in the cultural sector and with the consciousness that the creative economy is the fastest growing in the world".

Five developmental areas were targeted, he said:

"Strengthening the intellectual capacity of the college, through staff training, among other things.

"Improving the physical plant and establishing satellite facilities to increase access to arts education and training.

"The establishing of a first-class students' services programme.

"Improving and increasing the technology, multimedia and technical operation services of the college, and

"Establishing income-generating enterprises to facilitate sustained development.

Those measures all require "significant funding," Mr Duhaney said, pointing out that originally the institution was built as a cultural training centre and not specifically for the purpose of delivering tertiary education.

"Consequently," he said, "there are many deficiencies which have to be addressed as we move towards creating this new institution we call a college of the arts."

Mr Duhaney told the larger-than-expected audience who partook of the $7,000 a plate dinner that since 1976 when the then Cultural Training Centre - encompassing the Schools of Art, Drama, Dance and Music - was opened, the institution had expanded to accommodate a diverse range of programmes, including undergraduate degree programmes in all schools.

Same space

"Our vision is to begin graduate work in the arts by 2014," he announced. Unfortunately, he said, "While all these plans are in place, we are bounded by the same space we started with in 1976 and [there has been] very little difference in the physical capacity to provide the training in the arts."

He said specific needs of the EMC include: additional studio space for all schools, additional practice rooms for music, a multi-purpose performance theatre, digital music recording studio, a sound engineering studio, a lighting technology studio, additional equipment for all schools and resources for research, workshops, exhibitions, conferences and scholarships

He also announced that there is a plan to establish a faculty for design and production and a school of film and digital art. Pointing out that the college can create income streams in goods, services and intellectual property for the island generally and the private sector specifically.

"The fund will be managed by the Arts Foundation of the Edna Manley College which will be opened for grants, endowment and contributions," Mr Duhaney said.