New deans take over at two of FSU's

Written by, Doug Blackbur, Democrat senior writer

Marcus Roberts is arguably the world’s premier jazz pianist. He also is a member of the faculty at Florida State University’s esteemed College of Music.

But as influential as he is, Roberts knows that he is not the one who calls the shots for FSU’s music school, regarded as one of the finest in the country. That honor and responsibility belong to the dean.

“The dean sets the agenda for the school, what the goals are going to be. Are we going to be more concerned with curriculum, are we going to be more concerned with raising money, are we going to be more concerned with collaborative efforts with other schools,” Roberts said. “The dean is obviously very important for the determination of the entire program.”

This week marked a changing of the guard for Florida State’s performing arts programs as, coincidentally, new deans settled into their offices at both the College of Music and the College of Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance. Both colleges have internationally renowned faculty — Urban Bush Women dance troupe founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, for example — and both regularly produce graduates who are influencing the cultural conversation in concert halls, museums and theaters from New York to Los Angeles.

Patricia Flowers is returning to her alma mater to lead the music school, while Peter Weishar, previously the dean of Savannah College of Art and Design’s School of Entertainment Arts, is now overseeing FSU’s vaunted visual arts and dance programs.

Both administrators stressed during separate interviews that they are not intending to implement sweeping changes to thriving colleges, but each also gave a glimpse of what we can expect to see and hear in the months to come — and how it could affect the greater Tallahassee arts community.

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