After a national search, Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA) announced the selection of two department heads to lead the school’s theatre and visual arts programs. Rosiland M. Cauthen will head the theatre department and Archie Veale will serve as acting head of the visual arts department.
“The Board is convinced that the selection of these candidates through the search process represents an important step in the implementation of the BSA’s strategic plan. We are delighted to welcome both into their new positions,” said Lee H. Ogburn, Chair of BSA’s Board of Overseers who sat on both Search Committees. The committees were comprised of BSA board and faculty members as well as alumni of the school.
Cauthen comes to BSA from Center Stage where she has served as the director of Community Programs & Education. In this position, Cauthen worked to develop many youth theatre programs, such as Camp Center Stage, in-school playwrighting residencies, after-school programming, a discussion series and community partnerships.
Cauthen is a graduate of the MFA in Theatre program at Towson University. In addition to her work at Center Stage, she teaches theater courses as an adjunct professor at Towson University, where she has also directed for their Mainstage. Before coming to Baltimore, she was a corps member of Teach For America, a national corps of young, innovative teachers working in the nation’s underserved schools. Cauthen is also a director and producer, whose work has been featured at The Creative Alliance, Baltimore Theatre Project, The Arena Players, Center Stage and The Kennedy Center.
BSA Director Chris Ford said, “Rosiland’s exceptional work in a variety of venues, from Center Stage to the Kennedy Center to the Creative Alliance, will exemplify the diversity that is possible in the professional theatre world for BSA’s students. We believe her interest in helping students develop their individual artistic voice will build our community and enrich the lives of our young people.”
For over 25 years, Veale has worked with Baltimore’s youth as a teacher, mentor and advisor everywhere from the Bright Starts (Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Art and Culture), to ACTSO, to Portfolio Preparation Courses at MICA. He has been recognized several times, twice nationally, for his teaching and received both individual and collaborative arts grants. For more than 20 years, Veale has served as the drawing instructor at Baltimore School for the Arts.
A Baltimore native, Veale is a graduate of BSA (’85) and the Maryland Institute College of Art (’91). He is also a working illustrator and graphic artist, whose clients have included Johns Hopkins, Laureate, Scholastic and the MLB Negro League Hall of fame. He has created murals for several local arts organizations around Baltimore, and served as a program advisor for community arts groups on the east and west coasts.
“Archie has been an important part of the BSA community for years and has touched the lives of hundreds of TWIGS and high school students through his mentorship. He is the ultimate connector — connecting students to their artistic potential and to their best selves. We are confident that he will shepherd the visual arts department thoughtfully and with the best interests of our young visual artists in mind,” said Ford.
Current department heads Donald Hicken (theatre) and Stephen Kent (visual arts) are retiring after more than 70 years of collective service to BSA. During that time, the two have indelibly shaped the school and created its curricula in theatre and visual arts. They have also taught thousands of young artists. The community will gratefully celebrate Hicken and Kent on June 18, 2016 at an event that is open to the public. The school has also established Endowed Funds in both of their names to support student development.
