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New MECA president sees
creativity market growth

Donald Tuski: "My goal is to make MECA a choice for more kids beyond New England."

By Bob Keyes bkeyes@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND — Donald Tuski, incoming president of the Maine College of Art, has a romantic attachment to Maine, a background in science and an interest in women's soccer.

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Don Tuski

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He also believes that students who are well-schooled in the arts are better prepared to face the challenges of the 21st century, and that their creative skills will distinguish them in the new world economy.

"What I like about the art process is that I really believe in creativity," said Tuski. "In the new economy, that is going to be what people are looking for. That is what is going to set successful students apart from the rest."

The art school announced Tuski's hiring on Wednesday. He will begin his duties in Portland on July 1, succeeding the school's current president, Jim Baker.

Baker announced his resignation at the beginning of this academic year to pursue his own studio art practice.

Tuski is now president of Olivet College, a private, four-year liberal arts school in Olivet, Mich., with about 1,100 students. He has spent nearly his entire academic career at Olivet.

He did his undergraduate work there, earning a degree in biology, then worked as a faculty member, as assistant vice president for academic affairs and as vice president for academic affairs before becoming president in 2001.

By comparison, Maine College of Art is small and specialized. It has about 300 undergraduate students and a singular focus on art and creativity.

Candace Pilk Karu, chairwoman of the school's board of trustees and the presidential search committee, said Tuski was chosen because of his leadership skills and vision for the school.

"We knew we needed a visionary leader," she said. "A fine-arts education looks very different in the 21st century than it did even a decade ago. Don has all the skills we need to go forward, and also has a personality that's a good fit. He got what MECA was all about. He understood the real value of a fine-arts education."

MECA is in the midst of a challenging examination of its mission and role. Its core undergraduate enrollment has dipped to about 300, from a high of about 420 in the last decade. It also has about 2,000 continuing-studies students, 30 graduate students and 15 post-baccalaureate students.

The school offers 10 studio majors for undergrads, a master's in fine arts for studio arts, and a post-baccalaureate in art education. Base tuition for full-time undergraduate students is $28,280 per year.

In December, the school announced that it was scaling back the salaries and responsibilities of several faculty members, shifting from a full-time faculty approach to one that emphasizes the role of adjunct professors.

The school employs about 100 people and operates with an annual budget of $13 million.

Under Baker's presidency, the college has consolidated its campus into a single building in the heart of downtown Portland. Nearly all college activities are now in the Porteous Building, and the school has sold other pieces of real estate.

Tuski's challenge will be to reverse the school's enrollment decline while increasing its fundraising, Karu said.

"We are a tuition-driven institution," she said. "We need students. We get no federal or state funding. We are competing for students with schools that cost less. We have to prove our value proposition to our students. We have to show them that they can get something unique at MECA."

Although he has spent nearly his entire life in Michigan, Tuski said he has felt an emotional pull toward Maine for many years. One of his favorite professors had a place at Popham Beach in Phippsburg, and Tuski first came to visit in the early 1980s.

He has come back regularly since. "From that point on, I didn't miss a chance to visit any alumni in Maine," Tuski said.

He has been a candidate for two other academic positions in the state – at Unity College and the University of Maine at Machias.

The opportunity at MECA was too good to pass up, he said.

"There are good things happening at MECA. Really, what they are looking for is some leadership, some operational knowledge and someone with fundraising skills. I also will look at the curriculum and maybe do some tweaking, and I will look at (public relations) and marketing as well. My goal is to make MECA a choice for more kids beyond New England," he said.

Tuski's background is not what one might expect of an art-school president. In addition to his undergraduate degree in biology, he earned master's and doctorate degrees in anthropology from Michigan State University.

He has found his grounding in science to be useful in his academic career, especially as an administrator, because it has helped him understand people's backgrounds and ideals.

Tuski also is interested in sports. He played soccer, and has coached women's soccer.

His wife, Louise, is a professional actor. They have two college-age children – a son, who is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee studying classical guitar, and a daughter, who is a freshman at the State University of New York-Purchase studying dance.

Staff Writer Bob Keyes can be contacted at 791-6457 or at:

bkeyes@pressherald.com