From the SoM Dean's newsletter published on May 29, 2012
****The Visual Arts Service Center Comes to an End*****
I was asked to share the following announcement with you regarding the closing of the Visual Arts Center -- which has been operating at Stanford since the Medical School first relocated to the Stanford campus. This is truly the end of an era -- a part of broader transition in technology and information services. Here's the announcement.
It is with much sadness that we announce the end of an era. Due to intense pressure to create/carve out additional academic and research space on campus for the growing cadre of faculty, researchers, and academic programs, we have determined that the time has come to disband the Visual Arts Service Center effective Aug 31st, 2012. The space currently occupied by this Center in MSOB has been programmed for other purposes that via a domino effect similar to the relocation of other central Dean's units to offsite locations will allow for growth/consolidation of other key academic programs into that space.
Despite intense efforts to identify alternate locations for this service center both on and off campus, within the School and alternately as part of the central University, these many efforts did not prove successful. The additional reality is that as time passes and technology continues to evolve more and more of the Visual Arts services have become accessible and competitively so through external vendors. The historical archives of images maintained by Visual Arts Service Center will be transferred to another location, which will be announced at a later date.
Visual Art Services was organized in 1958 offering imaging services to Stanford. As new technology emerged, Visual Arts Services incorporated those new technologies into a comprehensive set of high quality services including Photography, Electronic Imaging, Graphic Art, Medical Illustration, Design, Printing support, Training programs and Workshops to the benefit of the entire University.
The Visual Art Services team consists of six talented and highly specialized individuals to whom we owe much appreciation for their many contributions to the School and University over these many years. Jim Taskett is the Director of Visual Art Services and has been working at Stanford University for over 30 years. Jim Day is the Business and Operations Manager and has been with Stanford for 28 years and in 2007, received the School of Medicine Dean's Spirit Award. Steve Gladfelter, Photographer, has been working at Stanford University for 25 years. Karen Johnson, Graphic Artist, has been working at Stanford University for over 20 years. MaryAnn Wijtman, Digital Imaging Specialist, has been working at Stanford for 20 years. John LeSchofs, Photographer, has been working at Stanford University for 19 years. To each we express our gratitude and best wishes as they explore other opportunities.
Although the Visual Art Service Center will cease operations at the end of this fiscal year, in the interim they remain open for business and are eager to continue to help you with your needs. The leadership of the Visual Arts Service Center in collaboration with Stanford University's Associate Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer are working diligently to identify alternate vendors and these will be announced at a later date. We recognize that by losing the expertise of the Visual Arts Service Center staff and thus requiring a transition to new vendors, it will require additional forethought and planning on your part to ensure that you are able to obtain the highest quality result that will meet your needs.
Samuel G. Zelch
Associate Dean for Fiscal Affairs,
and Chief Financial Officer
Stanford University School of Medicine
MC: 5567
301 Ravenswood Ave,
Menlo Park, CA 94025
O: 650.498.7807
F: 650.721.2628
szelch@stanford.edu