A Message from Dean Jake Pinholster
When I began as dean less than a year ago, I expected to find excellence. What I found was a community in motion—transforming itself, transforming its fields, and transforming the ways creativity connects with the world. In FAA, the arts and design are not side notes to history; they are engines of change, alive in every studio, classroom, and performance space.
We live in a time defined by disruption—climate crisis, social upheaval, economic uncertainty. In such moments, creativity is not a luxury. It is a necessity. Our students, faculty, and alumni are showing what that looks like: designing for accessibility, pushing institutions toward equity, and creating performances and projects that refuse to accept the world as it is. Their work is not only about expression; it is about building new systems, new possibilities, and new ways of living together.
Crucially, this transformation extends to how we engage with communities. FAA is not content to present work to the public from a distance. We are rethinking what it means to create with and alongside others—whether through partnerships with schools and neighborhoods, collaborations with civic organizations, or projects that invite the public into the creative process itself. These efforts are not outreach; they are co-creation. They remind us that the power of the arts lies not only in what we produce but in the relationships we transform along the way.
The stories in this issue of Dimension capture that energy. They reveal how creativity can dismantle barriers, spark justice, and expand who gets to participate in shaping the future. They testify that the arts and design are not simply responding to crisis—they are leading us through it, illuminating paths we could not see before.
Transformation, however, is not the work of a college alone. It is a collective endeavor. It requires students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners all stepping forward, refusing complacency, and insisting that imagination belongs to everyone. I invite you to read these pages—not only as a celebration but as a call to join us in the ongoing work of building a more just, resilient, and creative world.