Conrad Gleber Named Director of La Salle’s
Digital Art and Multimedia Design Program

While many college students learn from their professors, the students can also influence their teachers. This is the case with Conrad Gleber, Ph.D., the new Director of the Digital Arts and Multimedia Design (DART) program at La Salle University

“In observing the teaching of digital art, the best classes develop when students and their teachers define their relationship as a co-equal partnership. They share and explore their differences and avoid defining it by the authority that one may have over the other,” said Gleber.

For the past five years, he directed a similar program at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

He said, “The main difference that La Salle University’s DART program has from other universities is that it is not constrained by the history of one particular set of professional standards. Students are exposed to and are contributing directly to the emerging digital art profession.”

Gleber was attracted to the La Salle position for several reasons: “I love cities and the Northeastern part of the U.S. in particular,” he said. “Also, as a smaller private university, La Salle offers a closer knit community with less anonymity than one finds at large state institutions. But most importantly, it was the commitment of the faculty to teaching and learning, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

He considers freshmen to be a focus of the program’s desire to stay relevant. “I want to look at the freshmen and see what they already know and do when they come to La Salle. This is critically important in an area like digital art where the tools are always changing,” said Gleber. “In doing this we hope to develop a program that continually adapts to strengthen students’ knowledge and abilities as teachers of digital art, we have to be very aware of The Law of Diminishing Astonishment.”

As an artist, Gleber is interested in what is often referred to as “New Media.”

“This type of art represents computer arts, video projects, sound, and programming,” he said. “It is most like sculpture; it takes up space, presents itself in time, and often interacts with the audience and environment.”

Gleber has an art studio on 3 rd Street in Philadelphia, not far from his home, where he plans on presenting special events that involve outdoor video projections.

“What I like about my move to Philadelphia is that it’s an opportunity for me to do many different things that all relate to each other. It offers me the chance to work as an artist, do academic research to be involved in community projects all in the context of teaching and sharing with students.” said Gleber. “The pursuit of this kind of interaction has been consistent throughout my career.”

Before coming to La Salle, Gleber had only visited Philadelphia once, so discovering the city is a big part of the excitement in being here. “I also take pleasure in cooking and trying all the different types of food that Philadelphia has to offer,” he said.

He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Florida State in 1972, majoring in Photography. Gleber became interested in pursuing an art career through his love of photography. Growing up, he hitchhiked through Europe and found an interest in cultural diversity. “Photography caught my interest as a universal language,” said Gleber. “Anyone can look at a picture, understand it, and feel an emotion from it.”

He went on to earn his masters from the Art Institute of Chicago and later earned his doctorate from Florida State’s Department of Educational Research in 2001. He spent 10 years in Manhattan as the owner of a printing and publishing business and director of a non-profit artists’ book press.

-- Theresa Sherlock