Alumni
Saccà Keeps the Peace Through Education, Research
By Katherine A.H. Pezanowski
The work of Elizabeth Saccà (’65 B.S., ’67 M.Ed., ’70 Ph.D. Art Education) is an intriguing mix of politics, technology, art and culture. She is an experienced university administrator, prolific researcher and respected figure in the fields of art education, women’s studies and conflict resolution. Saccà says she tries not to do anything that bores her, and her list of accomplishments proves she excels at taking on new—and interesting—challenges.
Saccà is currently dean of graduate studies at Concordia University in Montreal, where she oversees graduate programs in areas ranging from engineering to business to fine arts. She views the multicultural and innovative university as an ideal site for faculty and students to develop international and interdisciplinary research, which at Concordia includes artistic creation. Her own artistic creation has 
included the development of videos about the traditions and stories of the Mohawks of Kanehsatà:ke, whose territory was threatened by development in 1990. Saccà and a small group of artists received a grant to fund the project. The videos, in the language of the Kanehsatà:ke, became a supplement to the cultural work and educational materials of the community.
Although Saccà eventually earned three degrees in art education, she enrolled at Penn State as a math major and switched to psychology before finally discovering a field she found personally meaningful. When she participated in Kenneth Beittel’s drawing study and was asked about her own drawings and their meaning, she knew art education research was the direction for her. “It was the first time someone had asked what I thought, and that set off a light bulb. I was shocked and delighted, and became fascinated by Dr. Beittel’s work. He became my mentor and fostered discovery and adventure in a world of ideas.” The idea that he would consider her opinion about artwork to be so significant was freeing and also gave her direction. “From Dr. Beittel, I learned research as a stance and a way of life.”
After earning her undergraduate degree, she went to work at the General Electric Space Center, where she began training in computer programming. However, she found the developing issues in art education so interesting that she decided to return to Penn State to pursue her master’s degree, and later her doctorate. Following graduation, she taught at Ball State University and the Philadelphia College of Art (now Pennsylvania University of the Arts) before joining the faculty at Concordia University. After chairing the Simone de Beauvoir Institute and the art education department and serving as director of the master’s and doctoral programs in art education, she became associate dean for curriculum, appraisals and interdisciplinary studies in 2000. She assumed her current post in 2002
In addition to her duties as dean of graduate studies, Saccà is responsible for Concordia’s Peace and Conflict Resolution Academic Series, which includes open debates and other events for the university and local communities. The series stems from her experience with the Kanehsatà:ke, whose territory is located near the town of Oka, outside Montreal. In 1990, the mayor of Oka wanted to expand the local 9-hole golf course into an 18-hole golf course, which would have meant decimating the burial ground of the aboriginal community of Kanehsatà:ke. The “Oka Crisis” elevated to an armed conflict over land rights between the people of Kanehsatà:ke and the town, police and army, including armored military vehicles and razor-wire fences. The conflict ended after 78 days and the golf course was never expanded.
That Oka Crisis was also a part of what inspired Saccà to help start a summer project in ‘capacity building’ for conflict negotiations at Kanehsatà:ke, which is also related to her ongoing commitment to developing an Institute for Leadership and Conflict Management at Concordia University. The institute will serve people inside and outside the university who want to educate themselves and develop research in conflict management.
Saccà has published articles about her experience with the Oka Crisis, in addition to numerous publications related to art education, social issues in art, stereotypes in art and other topics. While director of research for the Canadian Society for Education through Art, she formed the Canadian Review for Art Education Research, which became the research journal for the field in Canada.
Saccà says her Penn State education, during which she was constantly immersed in other people’s perspectives through art studios, critiques and seminars, helped her see artistic and social problems in new ways. She views the empathy and imagination that arts and humanities teachers foster in their students as natural building blocks for negotiations, conflict resolution and creative problem solving within the workplace, as well as on the international level.
Saccà was named a Distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association (NAEA) in 2005, and received the June King McFee Award from the NAEA Women’s Caucus in 2000.
Architecture Alumnus Builds on Experience
By Katherine A.H. Pezanowski
Arthur Zabarkes (’65 B.S. Arch.) is a storyteller. The former architect is also a licensed real estate broker, president of his own consulting firm and the managing director of a residential complex in New York City. With his varied and impressive background, he has a lot to say—and he does it by telling stories, complete with puns, tangents and lessons to be learned.
When Zabarkes spoke with architecture students at Penn State last April, his talk, titled “There’s No Interest in Great Architecture,” addressed the financial aspects of the architecture world, primarily the cost and time implications of borrowing money for a development project. He used stories to explain the two types of architects: 
those who want to produce great architecture, and those who want to make money as an architect. According to Zabarkes, if you have to borrow money, it is difficult to produce great architecture. He says the problem is compounded in New York City, where developers are generally indifferent to architectural quality.
As the managing director of the Waterside Plaza on the East River of Manhattan since 2001, Zabarkes has generated and supervised, to date, over $46 million of construction repositioning a housing complex to appeal to an upper-end constituency. The elevators, 134 corridors, 2-acre plaza, commercial and retail space, and signage all have been or will be upgraded. There have been some challenges in managing this 3,000-resident housing complex—currently the 1,911 piles supporting the building are being reinforced because they are deteriorating. Waterside is built over the East River (actually an estuary) on the east side of mid-Manhattan, so it is carried by steel I-beams and a composite-reinforced concrete pile over the I-beam. The composite beams deteriorated faster than anticipated, and divers have begun to repair checking in the piles. While this project seems overwhelming, Zabarkes says there’s as much to learn from failure as from success, adding he realizes the gap between success and failure can be quite small.
When Zabarkes is not juggling his responsibilities at Waterside Plaza and his consulting firm, he teaches as an adjunct professor at both the Pratt Institute and New York University. Additionally, he is a board member of a not-for-profit organization that has dedicated itself to inspiring New Yorkers to become environmentally responsible urban residents.
As a student at Penn State, Zabarkes remembers that he was “intense” and so focused on his schoolwork that he rarely relaxed, spending many hours obsessively studying and completing assignments. Although he was only 16 when he arrived as a freshman, he buckled down and hardly left campus. In retrospect, he comments: “when you’re not a student, campus is quite lovely.” He returns every Memorial Day to visit his alma mater. Zabarkes says Lou Inserra, professor emeritus of architecture, made an impact on him thanks to his consistent integrity. “I have taken about 300 credits between Penn State, Columbia and New York University, and Lou was one of two professors who represented what I thought you wanted of a serious academic—the ability to appreciate a breadth of ideas irrespective of whether one agrees and who sees the idea on its own terms.”
Zabarkes admits that as he gets older, he is more interested in the engineering aspects of architecture and says he appreciates the complexity more now than when he was an architecture student. He is aware that every project includes risks, but that does not stop him from taking on new challenges. Rather, he thrives on those challenges. He combines his architectural education with his experience in real estate and housing administration to outfit buildings for the future. “I thoroughly enjoy repositioning a project—that is, deciding the potential market, their tastes and income, and then retrofitting a building or buildings to meet the prospective demand.”
While most of Zabarkes’ professional career has been in New York City, he remains true to his hometown team and is a devoted Philadelphia Phillies fan.
