News
Video: September 25 Virtual Meeting
October 5 Spotlight Series Details
Dear Advisory Council Members,
Thank you again to those of you who joined us Friday for our first fall virtual meeting of the season. As I mentioned on the call, to supplement those meetings, we are introducing a new Spotlight Series for this academic year, with each session highlighting one of the college’s departments or programs.
I am pleased to invite you to the first session on Monday, October 5, at 10:30 a.m. CST, which will feature Chair Susan Rather of the Department of Art and Art History.
As you know, the Department of Art and Art History is one of the largest and most diverse in the country, with programs in Studio Art, Art History, and Art Education, as well as projects like the internationally renowned Mesoamerica Center and the popular long-running Learning Tuscany summer program. Susan Rather has served for nearly three decades on the Art History faculty and was named chair this February. Some of our San Antonio members had a chance to meet her this spring and hear about her vision for the department as well as her own research.
As always, we appreciate your RSVP to cofarsvp@austin.utexas.edu so we know to expect you. Please also send any questions you may have for Susan.
I hope you will join us for this special opportunity to learn more about the Department of Art and Art History, its programs, and its faculty.
Warm Regards,
Sondra Lomax
Executive Director of Development
September 25 Virtual Meeting Details
Dear Advisory Council members,
In a typical year, this would be my letter formally inviting you to gather as a group on campus for the council’s annual business meeting. However, this is anything but a typical year.
I am grateful for your attention, engagement and support this spring and summer, as we have seen each other—albeit through a computer screen—on various occasions. And since we cannot gather in person this fall, we will continue to host regular online meetings to keep you up to date and to seek your advice and input during these challenging times.
So, I do invite you to join us for the first of three virtual fall meetings on Friday, September 25, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CST. In addition to my state-of-the-college update, we will be welcoming John Yancey, our newly appointed Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as well as MacKenzie Stevens, the director of the Visual Arts Center, as guest speakers.
Check your email for detailed instructions on how to join the meeting via Zoom, and please contact Sondra Lomax or Natalie Schuessler with any questions.
I look forward to seeing you online on September 25. And my continuing thanks for all you do in support of the college as a member of our Advisory Council.
Excelsior!
Doug Dempster
Dean
August 6 Virtual Meeting Recap
Dear Advisory Council members,
I continue to be grateful for the time and attention you’ve given to the college over the last several months, especially now as so many of you are navigating the complexities of safe summer travel or are preparing to send your children back to school.
My thanks again to everyone who was able to attend our third videoconference call last Thursday. What in April felt strange and challenging about gathering online now feels like a new normal routine. Features like the live poll you took are exactly what our professors are using in their online courses to keep students engaged in the material, so look for more of those techniques and tools in our future meetings.
If you could not join us, please take some time to watch the recording of the meeting. Roxanne Schroeder-Arce gave an excellent presentation on our UTeach Fine Arts program and all of the ways she, our faculty, and our students are leading the conversation about innovation in arts education in the state of Texas.
Announcing John Yancey as Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Dear Advisory Council Members,
I’m pleased to announce that Professor John Yancey, who has long served as the chair of the Fine Arts Diversity Committee, has accepted an executive appointment as the college’s first Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In this position, he will lead efforts to advance diversity and inclusion in our student recruitment and admissions, in faculty and staff hiring and retention, and the college’s cultural climate.
Many of you met Associate Dean Yancey at the fall 2018 council meeting. He teaches painting and drawing in the Department of Art and Art History, which he joined in 1993. He’s held numerous leadership roles in the department and the college, including serving as department chair from 2005 to 2011.
Continue Reading Announcing John Yancey as Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Important Update on 2020-2021 Advisory Council Events
Dear Advisory Council members,
I write with two important updates to the council’s schedule for the 2020-2021 academic year.
First, to protect the health and safety of you, our members, as well as our students, faculty, and staff, we will not be gathering in person for our usual on-campus meeting this fall. Instead, we will host a series of short virtual meetings, similar to our popular sessions this summer. Please mark your calendars for the first virtual Advisory Council meeting on Friday, September 25.
This decision is in compliance with the policies announced last week by UT’s Interim President Jay Hartzell as part of the new Protect Texas Together initiative, in which university officials are advising against large in-person gatherings in favor of online events.
However, we do expect to see you in person in the spring! Please save the date for a special, spring meeting as we gather together on campus on Friday, March 5, 2021. This meeting will be in conjunction with several other special university events, and we will have more information about those spring festivities in the coming months. We will also hold our usual regional meetings next spring to give you the opportunity to celebrate and say farewell to Doug before he retires.
Continue Reading Important Update on 2020-2021 Advisory Council Events
Remembering Meredith Long
Dear Advisory Council Members,
I am writing with the sad news that Meredith Long of Houston, a member of our Advisory Council since 1979, died yesterday at the age of 91. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, Cornelia, and their family.
Meredith and Cornelia have been most generous, dedicated supporters of the College of Fine Arts. He and they, over the years, have also become personal friends, opening and sharing their homes, and family, and many loyal puppies with me. I hope you will have a chance to read my Dean’s Insider devoted to him.
Meredith leaves a wonderful legacy in our college through his generous endowments, beginning with his first, the Cornelia and Meredith Long Centennial Scholarship, in 1982. In more recent years, he created the Meredith and Cornelia Long Chair in Art and Art History and the Meredith and Cornelia Long Internship Fund. Their generosity has provided a hand up to many generations of our students and graduates.
Meredith was a model Advisory Council member. He unselfishly and steadfastly offered his time and talents to help with fundraising, advocacy, and advice. He educated me, as a new dean, about the art world in Texas, and he never faltered in his devotion to our college and to The University of Texas at Austin, his alma mater.
We’ve lost a great friend.
Sincerely,
Doug Dempster
Dean
May 20 Virtual Meeting Recap
Dear Advisory Council members,
We are facing difficult challenges created by COVID-19, but I’m finding that there are also silver linings. Just a few months ago, the Fine Arts Advisory Council had never held a virtual meeting, and now, we’ve completed our second Zoom meeting where we once again had nearly a third of our council join us. I think the days of only connecting with you once or twice a year at meetings are gone, and that is a change I can embrace enthusiastically.
For those of you unable to attend, I hope you’ll take some time to watch the recording of the meeting, especially the presentations by Robert Ramirez, our chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, and Julie Schell, our assistant dean for instructional continuity and innovation. The surprise video message from Renee Fleming to our opera students is not to be missed, and here are links to the other student work we featured:
Spring 2020 Update from Sondra Lomax
Dear Friends,
I hope you are staying safe and well during these unprecedented and challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since our campus was closed on March 13th, the COFA development team has been working hard—albeit from our homes—to continue reaching out to our alumni and friends to check on their well-being and to continue conversations regarding their philanthropy to support our academic mission.
Due to the amazing loyalty and dedication of the Longhorn Nation and our COFA friends, we have been able to help the university raise over $1.3 million for UT’s Student Emergency Fund. In addition, fundraising for the college has increased by $500,000 during the past two months. We have surpassed our fundraising goal of $15 million for this fiscal year and are on track for even more donations. For all these gifts, we are extremely grateful.
