College of Fine Arts 

• Our annual Arts Bash celebration filled the library plaza with bustling creative energy as students discovered campus arts organizations, explored non-major courses, screen-printed T-shirts with original designs and enjoyed live performances.
• At the CFA Gala in Kingsbury Hall, we honored distinguished alumni Claybourne Elder, Tauna Hunter and Jonathan Hale. It was a night filled with intergenerational mingling, performances, reflections and dessert.
• The Arts-In-Health Innovation Lab hosted the 2019 Arts in Health Symposium at the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts and Education complex. This exciting afternoon incorporated keynote addresses by nationally recognized art-in-health leaders Jill Sonke, Lora Gooding and Debra Burns.
• FAF Grants were awarded to several student-led organizations and initiatives including Sculpture Club, Great Salt Lake Low Brass Society, Modern Dance Student Concert Committee, Animation Crew, CNAfME, Under Pressure and more.

Department of Art & Art History 

• Student work was publically exhibited in the Howard Clark Scholarship Exhibition, MFA open studios, Kathryn Wingard’s “A Loving Struggle,” the Holiday Art Sale, This Is Not A Furniture Show Pop-up and “Objects of Desire and Disgust.”
• Many of our faculty and alumni were featured artists in the inaugural Wasatch Studio Tour that showcased 100 registered artists over 20 mediums.
• Students discovered contemporary works on paper at the Paperwest Exhibition and explored new techniques and innovative directions at the 5th Rocky Mountain Printmaking Alliance Symposium, “Transposing Attitudes.”
• The department hosted wonderful guest artists Erik Brandt, Carmen Winant, Shaye Remba, Ashley Eliza Williams and Amy Irvine.

School of Dance 

• Visiting artists Charles O. Anderson and Omar Carrum set choreography in collaboration with School of Dance students, presented in the fall concert of Performing Dance Company with works from Satu Hummasti and Daniel Clifton.
• Student-led performances “Middleground,” “Triumvirate” and the Modern Student Concert featured the voices of our student artists.
• At the School of Music’s Camerata Awards Gala, School of Dance students performed a flash mob as attendees entered the concert hall.
• Repertory Dance Theatre’s “Sounds Familiar” featured original choreography from department chair Luc Vanier,  assistant professor (Lecturer)Sara Pickett, faculty emeritus Stephen Koester, faculty emeritus Sharee Lane, assistant professor Molly Heller and several dance alumni.

Department of Film & Media Arts 

• The College of Fine Arts welcomed Andrew Patrick Nelson, Ph.D. as the new chair of the Department of Film & Media Arts.
• In an exciting new report, College Factual ranked the Department of Film & Media Arts in the top 20 film programs nationwide and 5th for value.
• The annual F&MAD Fest at Tower Theatre featured ten handpicked student films for the public to enjoy. The jury awarded Stepp Chatterly for Winning Script, Summer Florence for Best Undergraduate Film, and Bethany Joy Burr for Best Graduate Film.
•  Students enrolled in Producing and Directing (Capstone course) pitched their projects to an amazing panel of judges.  The Best Pitch – Jury Award went to Sam Raines and The Best Pitch – Peers Award  to Jacob Greene.
• Producer-in-Residence Emelie Mahdavian screened her award-winning documentary “Midnight Traveler” on campus, followed by a Q&A with attendees.

School of Music 

• Students from Wuhan University joined Utah Philharmonia in a special evening of cross-cultural music traditions, directed by Robert Baldwin.
• School of Music percussion students were featured at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in Indianapolis, IN, performing a student composition.
• “Composing Community in Late Medieval Music: Self-Reference, Pedagogy and Practice,” a monograph by assistant professor of musicology, Jane Hatter was published by Cambridge University Press.
• The annual Camerata Awards gala featured many student performances and honored Bruce W. Bastian and Loel T. Hepworth.

Department of Theatre

• The Department of Theatre kicked off the 2019-2020 season with three fabulous productions: “Dracula, The Musical,” “Macbeth” and “The Odyssey.”
• Students, faculty and professionals from all over the state of Utah participated in the first statewide Intimacy Directing Workshop hosted by the University of Utah Department of Theatre. Through the guidance of Intimacy Directors International instructors Jessica Steinrock and Rachel Flesher, the workshops explored choreography techniques and broad self-care strategies to introduce and integrate intimacy practice with an emphasis on consent in the rehearsal and performance space for all who participate.
• Students from all different disciplines collaborated to build original puppets for “She Kills Monsters,” opening in January at Kingsbury Hall.
• Alumni and broadway actor Claybourne Elder worked with students one-on-one in a special workshop.

From all of us at the CFA, we celebrate this fantastic semester and eagerly look toward the spring. Happy New Year1