Dear Friends and Colleagues,
The fall semester is off to a fantastic start — our exhibition spaces are opening, and our performance venues are gearing up for an exciting season of live music, theatre, dance and more. I wanted to highlight a sampling of some of the incredible work that we will have the opportunity to experience this fall.
The Visual Arts Center opened a brand new slate of exhibitions this fall, including Una Luz: Photography Under Confinement in Venezuela by fall artist-in-residence Violette Bule. The Visual Arts Center also launched COMMONS, a new community space open to the UT community — students, staff, faculty and the Austin public — as a place for educational activity, meetings, workshops, decompression and leisure.
In the Butler School of Music, the UT Wind Ensemble is celebrating their 50th anniversary. They performed at Carnegie Hall in June, and the celebration continues with an ambitious schedule, including a performance at the Long Center in January.
Texas Performing Arts kicks off with Twyla Tharp Dance this month, and next month jazz legend Branford Marsalis will be in residence to perform both with the UT Jazz Orchestra and the Branford Marsalis Quartet. This residency will be an incredible learning opportunity for our students.
The Art Galleries at Black Studies has a solo exhibition by former Associate Professor of Painting Nicole Awai. While Awai departed last year for a new position in New York, I’m excited to see her solo exhibition In the thick of it available to the UT community.
The College of Fine Arts is privileged to be in a city and university that values the arts and embraces all the different kinds and wealth of creative expressions that abound in our community. I’m energized and heartened by all that’s in store in the coming year.
Sincerely,
