Alumni in the News

Jelisa Jay Robinson's (Theatre and Dance 2014) play The Stories of Us premieres May 16 at the fifth annual Austin Latino New Play Festival. The Stories of Us is a collection of stories examining the intercultural conflict between African Americans and Latinos. Visit Teatro Vivo ATX for more information.

Pulitzer Prize-finalist Lisa D'Amour (MA Theatre, 1996) was featured in Vanity Fair for her Broadway debut with Airline Highway, a new play that centers around a community of misfits in D'Amour's hometown of New Orleans. The feature was written and illustrated by D'Amour's former classmate Michael Arthur (PhD Theatre, 1999). Airline Highway premieres at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on April 23. 

Shelley Wood (BFA Studio Art, 1986) is exhibiting her photographic work at Photo Méthode Gallery in Austin, TX in a two-artist show titled, "Between the Aether." The exhibition will be on view through April 24.

Lisa D'Amour's (MA Theatre, 1996) play Airline Highway and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's (MA Play Writing, 2009) play The World of Extreme Happiness were finalists for the 2015 Susan Blackburn Prize, an international award for women playwrights given annually to recognize those who have written works of outstanding quality. 

Jason Kendall (MA Acting, 1996) joined Al Roker and Stephanie Abrams this past month on the morning TV show "Wake Up With Al" on the Weather Channel. This series served as the only live astronomy program on national television. Check out videos of Kendall chatting about the stars here!

Erik Parker (BFA Studio Art, 1996) was featured in the Huffington Post yesterday for his massively colorful nature-scape paintings. His new series, titled "¿What About Now?" is currently on view at Madrid's Galería Javier López. They will make their U.S. debut this fall at New York's Paul Kasmin Gallery. 

Phil Ladeau (MFA Studio Art, 2014), Erik Shane Swanson (MFA Studio Art, 2014), and James Scheuren (MFA Studio Art, 2014) have a group exhibition, Pitch, at SOIL Artist-Run Gallery in Seattle, Washington. Pitch revels the extraordinary within common objects and occurrences through sculpture, drawing, and photography. The exhibition will run from March 5 through March 28. 

Soloist Mela Dailey (M. Music, 2003), won a Grammy this week for Best Choral Performance as part of the ensemble The Conspiraire Symphonic Choir and their performance of "The Sacred Spirit of Russia." Dailey is a faculty member in the Department of Theatre and Dance as well as a Butler School alumna.

In 2010, after Francis Tsai (BS in Chemistry 1990, MA in architecture 1993) had established himself as a successful freelance artist, he was diagnosed with ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. As his movements became more and more restricted, Tsai worked doggedly to adapt his drawing techniques — at first using his toes and an iPad to sketch, and now, most remarkably, his eyes. With the “Eye Gaze” technology, which uses infrared cameras to track eye movements and translate them into commands on a computer, Tsai can manipulate various softwares, allowing him to speak, write, and of course, draw. 

Barry Stone (MFA Studio Art, 2001) opened his exhibition "New Weather Weaves New Garments" at the James Harris Gallery in Seattle, WA. His exhibition will be on view until February 14.