Rochelle Steiner Appointed Dean of USC's Roski School

Rochelle Steiner has been named dean of the University of Southern California Roski School of Fine Arts, effective August 1, 2010. Formerly Director of the Public Art Fund in New York from 2006 to 2009, Steiner has commissioned 35 public art projects with established and emerging International Artists including Olafur Eliasson's The New York City Waterfalls, which is one of the most ambitious works of public art to have been realized. Steiner has also held curatorial positions in major museums in the United States and London, and she is currently a consultant for the Miami Art Museum.

The announcement was made by USC President-Elect C. L. Max Nikias on behalf of President Steven B. Sample.  Steiner will be replacing Ruth Weisberg, who has been the dean of the school since 1995.

The University of Southern California Roski School of Fine Arts offers Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees at the undergraduate level, and Master's degrees in Fine Arts (MFA) and Public Art Studies (MPAS). Approximately 275 students are currently enrolled as undergraduate majors, and 50 students are enrolled in the two graduate programs.The school currently employs 21 full-time faculty and 42 part-time faculty.

The school was founded by artist William Lees Judson as the College of Fine Arts in 1895, making it the oldest art school in the region. Originally located in the historic Pasadena Arroyo on the site now occupied by the Judson StaiNed Glass Studios, the school moved to the USC campus in 1919, further enriching students' education within the inspiring and stimulating context of downtown Los Angeles.

Today the school is dedicated exclusively to the visual arts, offering courses in painting and drawing, design, photography, digital media, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, and theory and criticism. Approximately 75 students graduate each year with 15 of those receiving their graduate degrees. 

For more information about the Roski School of Fine Arts, visit http://roski.usc.edu/