Alumni Activities
Laura August becomes 2021 Mellon Arts + Practitioner Fellow
Yale RITM
Laura August (Ph.D., Art History, 2012) is a 2021 inaugural Mellon Arts + Practitioner Fellow at Yale's Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity and Transnational Migration. She will be developing new writing that expands upon one of the exhibitions she curated in 2020. The work, To Weave Blue: poema al tejido, on view from January to April in the Fogelman Galleries of The University of Memphis, was the first exhibition in the United States to center contemporary Maya art and philosophy.
Carlos Rosales-Silva featured in first solo exhibition
Ruiz-Healy Art
Carlos Rosales-Silva (B.F.A., Studio Art, 2017) will be featured in his first New York City solo exhibition at Ruiz Healy Art in Manhattan. The exhibition, Sunland Park, uses landscape and architecture to express changes in artistic and cultural histories throughout time along the border of Texas, Mexico and El Paso.
Emily Edwards promoted at Dallas Contemporary
Dallas Contemporary
Emily Edwards (B.F.A., Art History, 2015) has been promoted to assistant curator at the Dallas Contemporary. Her latest curatorial project opens in late January alongside a video, titled Doubt & Imagination, created by alumna Ariel Rene Jackson (M.F.A., Studo Art, 2019). Photo by Ariel Rene Jackson
Shaun Lane featured in virtual seminar
National Art Education Association
Shaun Lane (B.F.A., Visual Art Studies, 2014) was featured by the National Art Education Association/Professional Learning Through Research Committee in their webinar, Equitable Access: Removing Barriers to Learning in Digital Spaces.
Mary Paynter launches site to provide income relief
The New Yorker
Mary Paynter (B.A., Art History, 2007) launched the site ILostMyGig.com in the wake of SXSW's cancellation due to the pandemic. The site is a peer to peer mutual aid space that documented the individual losses of gig workers, creatives, freelancers, and contractors from Austin dependent on SXSW for income. The site was profiled and I was featured in the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and CNN, among others and has provided $750M in funds. Photo by Ben Sklar
Carlos Rosales named artist in residence at Abrons Arts Center
Abrons Arts Center
Carlos Rosales (B.F.A., Studio Art, 2017) was named an artist in residence for 2020-2021 at the Abrons Arts Center in New York City.
Barbara Zabel continues to teach and curate exhibitions in retirement
Barbara Zabel (M.A., Art, 1971) continues to teach courses at museums in Connecticut, despite retiring 10 years ago. She also curates exhibitions, most recently "Art of the Anthropocene" at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum and the exhibition "Fire and Ice," co-curated with artist Timothy McDowell for the Art Department at Connecticut College.
Miguel Aragon awarded 2020 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship
NYFA
Miguel Aragon (M.F.A., Studio Art, 2012) has been awarded the 2020 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in the category of Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts by The New York Foundation for the Arts. In addition, Aragon has also been named a New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Fellow. Photo by Xavier Minguella
Joni Zavitsanos creates new work to memorialize lives lost to COVID-19
ABC
Joni Zavitsanos (B.F.A., Studio Art, 1986) is creating an art memorial for the City of Houston, depicting more than 160 lives lost due to COVID-19. Photo by Diamantis Zavitsanos
Andrew Hinderaker creates new Netflix series
Thrillist
Writer Andrew Hinderaker’s (M.F.A., Playwriting, 2013) new series, Away, is now streaming on Netflix. The space drama follows a woman on the first human-led mission to Mars after leaving behind her husband and daughter. Photo courtesy of Netflix