Dean Nancy J. Uscher recently shared a presentation with the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees unveiling an exciting vision for the College of Fine Arts building of the future, and how it will transform UNLV and the lives of our students and community. Also a part of the presentation were art department chair Dave Rowe and current BFA student McKenzie Easter.

Below is a transcript of Dean Uscher's speech and introduction video. 

I am delighted to be with you today at the Board of Trustees meeting to share with you our vision for the future of the arts at UNLV and in Nevada. I am in my eighth year as dean of the College of Fine Arts at UNLV and I can tell you that there is no university quite like ours. It is really an astonishing place. I have served four institutions in four different states over the last 30+ years—and I have served in every position – president, provost, associate provost, department chair, director of a center and professor. UNLV, with its deeply important access mission, its ability to transform the lives of students and their families, and -- equally significant -- with the highest level research and superb teaching as an R1 university – makes UNLV a truly great university with a remarkable future ahead.

Great universities need great buildings on their campuses. Our students deserve to have the most exceptional learning environments. We need not only to build a great building for the arts -- but also create such buildings in engineering, business, an interdisciplinary STEM building – we need them ALL for a brilliant future that will ensure that our students are competitive and visionary change-makers in this world. I am here today to say that that art needs to be celebrated in the outstanding holistic future vision of UNLV.  I want to thank our leadership and all of you for supporting this vision. We are so excited to be part of imagining what the years to come can be for our students and community. Meaningful engagement with the arts is increasingly being recognized throughout the world as a fundamental part of the wellness, health and well-being of society. 

It is through our UNLV buildings of the future– and I am saying buildings for the next 100+ years – that we will educate thought leaders for the next generations.  It is critical that we acknowledge a sense of urgency in getting this accomplished. These magnificent learning centers will hold within them the future aspirations of our students, their families, our state and the global society. We at UNLV will continue to be distinctive as knowledge creators in the world – and passionately student-centered in all of our decision-making. The rich possibilities in store for our students as they navigate their lives post-graduation are profoundly exciting.