College of Fine Arts News
Four Students Highlighted at 2019 Commencement Ceremony
Four students were chosen for commencement spotlight in the College of Fine Arts: Keya Patel, Department of Art and Art History; Ryan Hicks, School of Design and Creative Technologies; Q Langman, Butler School of Music; and Laura Gonzalez, Department of Theatre and Dance.
Students Share School, Teaching Experiences Through UTeach Program
Student teaching is the culminating field experience practicum for our University of Texas UTeach Fine Arts students. Although placements vary by discipline, they are required across all UTeach Fine Arts programs: Art, Dance, Music and Theatre.
In our UTeach Theatre program, students complete two eight-week appointments in either elementary, middle or secondary classrooms, which serve as their coursework for their final semester. They begin by observing the classroom and the teacher’s methods, and by the end are crafting their own lessons and leading the classrooms. UTeach Fine Arts is committed to nurturing relationships with these collaborating schools and the highly skilled fine arts teachers who serve as mentors and guides for our students.
In 2010, the Fine Arts Student Teaching Travel (FASTT) grant was created to encourage UTeach students to practice teaching in Title 1 schools and districts outside Austin in the hopes of guiding more quality fine arts teachers to lower-income schools. We sat down with two UTeach Theatre students and FASTT recipients Hannah Winkler and Wyatt Kaiser to talk about their time at UT and their student teaching experiences.
SDCT Professor Sam Lipman Scores Mini-Doc Featured in NYTimes
Sam Lipman, adjunct professor of screen scoring at UT's School of Design and Creative Technologies, recently scored El Vacío, a documentary created by filmmaker Deborah S. Esquenazi that explores one woman's experience as an undocumented immigrant in America. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is currently featured in The New York Times as an Op-Doc.
Astrid Runggaldier and Catherine Popovici collaborate with Blanton on newly revamped Ancient Americas gallery
UT PhD candidate Catherine Popovici collaborates with Assistant Director of the Mesoamerica Center Astrid Runggaldier, Blanton curator Rosario Granados, and former Blanton and now current Museum of Modern Art curator Beverly Adams to lead curatorial planning for Ancient Americas gallery at the Blanton Museum.
Sightlines Reviews St. Elmo Residency Artist Katy McCarthy's Work at Wildflower Center
Sightlines Magazine reviews Such Lonesome Country by Katy McCarthy, now on display at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. McCarthy is the inaugural fellow of the St. Elmo Arts Residency, a joint program between UT’s Department of Art and Art History and the Wildflower Center, which joined the University of Texas system in 2006. The nine month residency awards one recent MFA graduate with a $30,000 stipend, housing and studio space, as well as teaching opportunities at UT and the Wildflower Center.
College of Fine Arts Staff Member, Alumna Bring Trash-Turned-Art Exhibition to Austin Central Library
Austin Central Library Exhibit Coordinator and UT alumna Jieun Beth Kim (M.F.A., Studio Art, 2013) collaborates with artist and UT College of Fine Arts Career Services Manager Calder Kamin to install her exhibition What a Mess, which showcases trash transformed into sculptures, animations and installations.
COFA Partners With Planet Texas 2050 to Design Climate Change Escape Room
UT College of Fine Arts has partnered with Planet Texas 2050 to build an immersive climate change escape room. Students from 10 courses, including game design, lighting, fabrication, set design and more, will use Planet Texas 2050 data to create a manufactured crisis to teach, engage and inform.
College of Fine Arts Receives Historic Motion Picture Backdrops From Hollywood
The University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts recently received a donation of 45 historic scenic backdrops used in films such as National Velvet (1944),The Prodigal (1955), The Seventh Cross (1944), The Lady and the Law (1954) and a complete replica of the Sistine Chapel from The Shoes of a Fisherman (1968).
UT Faculty Member Rennie Harris, Isabella Rossellini, John Cameron Mitchell Headline at Texas Performing Arts
“Hedwig & the Angry Inch” star John Cameron Mitchell, actress Isabella Rossellini and street dance pioneer and UT Theatre and Dance faculty member Rennie Harris are among the artists coming next season to Texas Performing Arts, the University of Texas’ performing arts center.
Professor Margo Sawyer, Alumna Toni Bravo Elected to Austin Arts Hall of Fame
Studio Art Professor Margo Sawyer and Theatre and Dance alumna Toni Bravo (M.A., Drama, 1987) will be inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame during the Austin Critics Table Awards ceremony at 7 p.m. June 3 at Cap City Comedy Club.