Welcome to the fall semester!
This is an exciting time for our college and we want you to be part of the excitement!
NEW FACULTY This fall we are welcoming three new tenure-track faculty to the college. Dr. Jeffrey Broome in Art Education, Michele Wong Kung Fong in Communication Design, Elaine Pawlowicz in Drawing and Painting, and a new lecturer, Christi Egeland in Fashion Design. CVAD is truly a collaborative environment with students and faculty engaged in new art forms, new scholarship, and new ways of helping people and communities live better, more creative lives.
NEW CLASSROOMS AND LABS New drawing facilities and new computer labs will greet the students and faculty this fall as we continue to enhance the facilities to meet and exceed national standards. We are now planning for a new Art Building on the Denton campus and new facilities in Dallas to meet the needs of future students.
NEW ACCREDITATION Last year, we were visited by an evaluation team from the National Association of Schools of Design. We were admitted as institutional members of NASAD in October, 2007.
NEW SCHOLARSHIPS At the spring Scholarship ceremony, CVAD gave out over $50,000 in scholarships. I am delighted to announce that this fall, all new CVAD MFA students will join the university's PhD students in receiving a $1000 scholarship, making out of state students eligible for an out of state tuition waiver. We hope this makes it easier for students from outside Texas and the US to consider making CVAD their site for PhD and MFA studies. MFA and PhD students are also eligible for the $500,000 we award annually in fellowships and assistantships. The Priddy Fellowships in arts leadership offered through NTIEVA nearly double this amount! You can find out about all of the CVAD programs under Academic Programs or Student Services, as details become available.
NEW AWARDS We are so proud of our faculty, students, and alumni! This year, CVAD students and alumni received major prizes through the annual Dallas Museum of Art awards for students and emerging artists. Design students took the majority of awards in national competitions in Houston and Dallas. As you look through the website, please look at the work of the faculty and students, the many exhibitions and special programs, and explore the opportunities that await you here as we continue to create the best educational opportunities possible.
NEW CONFERENCE This summer, CVAD hosted an international conference, "From Power 2 Empowerment: Critical Literacy in Visual Culture" coordinated by Keith Owens, Eric Ligon, Michael Gibson, and Jack Sprague of the Communication Design program. Participating scholars, journalists, artists, and designers came from Great Britain, Central, and South America, and all over the United States for the exciting, three-day event held at the Universities Center of Dallas. Paho Mann, of CVAD's Photography program, curated an interactive exhibition which was highlighted on KERA's innovative new arts website www.artandseek.org, along with interviews with Keith and Michael.
This was part of an ongoing series of focused conferences that we sponsor annually. Watch this site for announcements of this coming year's conference, as well as the annual Nasher and Gough lectures, the Medieval Art History Symposium and the many exhibitions sponsored by the UNT Art Galleries coordinated by our Gallery Director, Tracee Robertson!
NEW FRIENDS OF CVAD Last year, we hosted a reception at the annual College Art Association meeting in Dallas for CVAD alumni. Receptions for alumni were also held in Sante Fe and in Dallas this summer, along with the very well attended Senior Shows of the Communication, Interior, and Fashion Design programs. The CD show at the African-American Museum in Dallas drew members of the design community, students, and their families from all over the area. It was standing room only at the Annual ArtWear show, too! We look forward to seeing our alumni at the CAA meeting in Los Angeles in February.
NEW SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES Please visit our Support CVAD page and find out how you can help us in creating the next generation of great artists, designers, educators, and scholars we know they can and will be.
I hope you will visit our site often, ask any questions you have, and if you are not a member of the CVAD family already, join us. We look forward to working together!
Robert Milnes, Dean
College of Visual Arts and Design
University of North Texas