Alumni in the News

Marian Kansas (B.A., Directing, 2016) and Nicole Oglesby (B.A., Theatre and Dance, 2016) launched a new feminist theatre company in Austin called The Heartland Theatre Collective. They will premiere their first show, Dust by Oglesby and directed by Kansas, Oct. 6 -10, 12 - 15 at The Pony Shed at The VORTEX. Dust is a full length play about three sisters fighting to stay alive in the Texas panhandle during the dust bowl in the shadow of a dying farm and a miraculous apricot tree. Photo by Daniel Berkowitz.

Art Therapy Austin, as SIMS Foundation providers, will host a "Make A Record!" fundraiser for this local organization that supports Austin area musicians, music industry professionals, and their families. During the East Austin Studio Tour, Art Therapy Austin will exhibit vinyl "Art Records" for sale at their studio/gallery space. In addition, Art Therapy Austin founder Deanna Miesch (B.F.A., Studio Art, 1991), and art therapists Deann Acton (B.F.A., Studio Art, 1991), and Shannon Mekuly (B.F.A., Studio Art, 1997) will exhibit and sell their own inspiring works during the tour.

Mary Stengel Bentley (B.F.A., Studio Art, 2007) will present the solo exhibition “The Downtown Series” at Four Barrel in San Francisco, California, through Oct. 27.

Austin's Dougherty Art Center presents “Valerie Fowler: Nature and Other Stories,” Dec. 1 through Jan. 7, an exhibition of the complex, nature-themed, oil paintings and large works on paper selected from a survey of work spanning 20 years from artist Valerie Fowler (B.A., Studio Art, 1985). Also included will be Fowler’s original illustrations for the musical project and book “Ivy and the Wicker Suitcase,” written by her spouse, Brian Beattie. 

John Steffa (D.M.A., Composition, 1985) will present a recital of new, original, chamber music for the students in the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina-Asheville on Sept. 30. A repeat program will be presented that evening for a general audience. The recital precedes a program on Oct. 7, in the Music Room of the Strathmore Mansion in Bethesda, Maryland. 

James Welsch (D.M.A., Orchestral Conducting, 2016) was recently appointed Music Director/General Manager of the El Paso Symphony Youth Orchestras and Assistant Conductor of the El Paso Symphony.

Stephanie Chiarello Noppenberg (B.A., Dance, 1998) will direct, produce, write for and host a live political comedy satire show at Austin’s Institution Theater called “Over the Lege” running Sept. 9 through Oct. 1. “Over the Lege” exposes the shenanigans of the Texas Legislature through song, dance, sketch and improv. She also performs in the musical improv troupe "That Racket".

Jonas Criscoe (B.F.A., Studio Art, 2006) has work featured in The 3rd Coast National juried exhibition at K space Contemporary in Corpus Christi. This year’s juror Sharon Kapriva reviewed 611 images submitted by 193 artists and selected 59 works of art by 59 artists for the 2016 exhibition. 

Erin Cunningham (M.F.A., Studio Art, 2007) has work featured in a two-person exhibition at ICOSA Collective in Austin. The show, "Figure/heads" features the work of Cunningham and David Bae. In their respective media, the two artists present their own distinct interpretations of the physical/psychological aspects of the figure. The exhibition runs through Sept. 23.

Khristaan Villela (M.A., Art History, 1993; Ph.D., Art History, 2001) was appointed director of the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Prior to this he was professor of art history at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design (2011–2016), and the Eugene V. Thaw Professor of Art History and Director of the Thaw Art History Center at the College of Santa Fe (1998–2009).