Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As we near commencement this week, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the work of our students in exhibitions, showcases, performances and more. I wanted to share a sampling of the incredible student projects this spring that I’ve been able to experience.
- Thesis works by our M.F.A. and B.F.A. students are on view through Saturday in the Visual Arts Center. All Else features work by M.F.A. in Studio Art students, Against the Current features work by M.F.A. in Design students and Sincerely, Everything features work by B.F.A. in Studio Art seniors. The range of works — from painting and photography to video, sculpture and installation — is simply impressive, and I was moved by the nuanced ways our graduating artists bring our world into view.
- I visited the Advanced Painting C.U.B.I.C.L.E. Show, the showcase for the undergraduate advanced painting studio, and the advanced photography open studio, featuring books produced by Professor of Practice Alexander Birchler’s class. Always a beautifully celebratory scene, these showcases are also opportunities to learn directly from the artists about their intentions and approach to art making. Professor Birchler’s class worked toward books as their final project format, and this led to a particularly rich exploration of story through image.
- Dance Repertory Theatre’s spring performance, Points of Intersection, featured beautiful and powerful pieces by guest artist Jennifer Archibald, Associate Professor Joel Valentin-Martinez, M.F.A. in Dance student Angel Blanco and Fulbright-Robles Fellow Claudia Lavista. Our student performers were powerful and elegant in their movement.
- The M.F.A. in Theatre UT Live Design and Production Showcase in Winship shared the creative process of costume design, lighting design, set design and more by graduate students in the Department of Theatre and Dance. The event was partly an opportunity to review the design work that went into so many of the experiences in our theatres this season, but it was also an opportunity to witness how our designers’ work moves into other media, including film and installation art.
- Inside Out, the showcase event for the School of Design and Creative Technologies, featured interactive experiences and projection design from students in Arts and Entertainment Technologies, including the first student-designed drone show.
- Earlier this spring, I had the pleasure of seeing the premiere of undergraduate Music student Josíah Garza’s one-act opera Maria, inspired by his own family. Last week, we learned that he was selected to receive the 2024 UT Co-op George H. Mitchell Award Grand Prize for his project. This highly competitive award recognizes undergraduates for superior scholarly or creative achievement.
- On June 2, I look forward to seeing the UT Wind Ensemble celebrate their 50th anniversary with a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. Under the direction of Professor Jerry Junkin, the esteemed ensemble will perform works by Professor Donald Grantham and Assistant Professor Omar Thomas, as well as Dmitri Shostakovich and others.
A significant number of our students are about to reach their biggest accomplishment: receiving their diploma from The University of Texas at Austin. I look forward to honoring and celebrating them at our undergraduate commencement this Friday and through the weekend with our master’s and doctoral ceremonies and at the university’s main commencement event in the stadium.
Sincerely,
