Art Institute to move Manchester students to New England College's main campus

Apr. 16—New England College's Institute of Art and Design will move its classes and other programs out of downtown Manchester to the college's main campus more than 30 miles away beginning in the fall, the college announced last week.

The college says students on the Manchester campus will now study at a new "Art Village" on its main campus, but the institute will continue to have a presence in the Queen City with events at its galleries and its "premier assembly space at French Hall," according to the announcement. The college will offer Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees.

Kay Stanley, a senior at the art institute and graduating next month with a BFA degree, is disappointed with the decision as many students like to be in an urban environment. Stanley chose the school after graduating from the Manchester School of Technology, and before the merger took place.

In 2018, the New Hampshire Institute of Art merged with New England College, a private, four-year school, in Henniker.

After the merger, some courses were cut and the library at Fuller Hall, the old Indian Head Bank building located at the corner of Pine and Hanover streets, closed.

"COVID-19 depressed participation in the arts and arts education nationally. Unfortunately, NEC was not immune to this downward trend," the announcement says. "With this move to unify our academic offerings in Henniker, NEC re-doubles its commitment to its art and design students and faculty, and the arts generally, by dedicating facilities and creating new opportunities in a welcoming setting."

The college had offered instruction in animation, ceramics, comic arts, game design, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking, and other fields, at both campuses.

"By uniting in a common location, faculty will extend their contributions to the College community and make art and design even more available to the student body. Both faculty and students will enjoy new opportunities for cross disciplinary collaboration," the announcement says.

"A lot of our students right now are commuters and what they are doing is taking away our sense of community here in Manchester," Stanley said. "A lot of our connections are here in Manchester. It feels like they are ripping us away from the city to bring us up to Henniker and it loses a lot of the charm of going to school in a city."

The students taking classes in Henniker have trouble with transportation, Stanley said.

Some are worried about emails the school sent out about hate crimes and graffiti containing derogatory slurs against transgender people, the LGBTQ community and Jewish people.

"At least NHIA was known for its acceptance of the queer community, so this is scary for some of them who went to a community where they felt like they were accepted in immediately," Stanley said.

At the time of the merger, presidents of both institutions said the move would strengthen the two colleges to address upcoming challenges facing higher education.

The institute operates out of six buildings in downtown Manchester, including the Emma B. French Hall and Dining on Concord Street and the Roger Williams Studios on Amherst. A modern dormitory on Lowell Street was built alongside an older brick building in 2009.

In 2019, the college sold three buildings, including Fuller and the former St. Anne Church, where the institute had hoped to launch an art program aimed at inner city kids.

The college says it "will look to collaborate with educational institutions and other neighbors in maintaining an active presence in the neighborhood."

On Friday, the college released a Frequently Asked Questions sheet for students. One question was about equipment being offered to students now in Manchester.

"The equipment currently in Manchester for the courses in your discipline will be moved and available for you in Henniker," the sheet reads.

As of last fall, the college had 733 undergraduate students in Henniker, 127 undergraduate students in Manchester, 188 online students and 1,810 graduate students. The college offers more than 60 associate and bachelor's degree programs and 20 master's degree programs, according to its website.