UNT launches art institute

by Lisa Garza of North Texas Daily

Artists of different genres have a new place to develop and present their creations.

UNT’s Institute for the Advancement of the Arts provides opportunities for artists and musicians to showcase their work through exhibits and concerts.

The 24,000-square-foot facility is on the Denton Square.

Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga is the institute’s first artist-in-residence.

“Everyone has this vision of the border being about immigration and drugs,” Arriaga said. “I wanted to tell a love story.”

Arriaga, whose screenplays include Babel and 21 Grams, recently completed his directorial debut, The Burning Plain, starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger. The story, told out of order, takes place in a small New Mexico border town.

The artist-in-residence is a person not affiliated with UNT who works on a project at the institute for an extended period of time. Arriaga is not able to talk about his upcoming projects because of confidentiality clauses in his contract.

Artists-in-residence also have opportunities to interact with students by serving as guest speakers in classes related to their expertise. The radio, television and film department hosted Arriaga as he speaks to various film classes this week.

“I am modestly sharing my knowledge with them and I’m sure a lot of people here will share their knowledge with me,” he said.

A committee comprised of Warren Burggren, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; James Scott, dean of the College of Music; and Robert Milnes, dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design, oversees operations of the institute and appoints the artist-in-residence.

“We have set a wonderfully high standard with the appointment of Guillermo Arriaga as our first artist-in-residence,” Burggren said in an e-mail. “I look forward to continue with individuals of his caliber.”

The committee also selects two applicants from the faculty and awards them an opportunity to concentrate on their artistry by relieving them from their teaching responsibilities for a semester.

The first faculty fellows will be announced at the public launch of the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts, held at 3:30 p.m. today at the Lightwell Gallery in the Art Building.

The grand opening of UNT on the Square will follow at 5:30 p.m. but is an invitation-only event.

Among the featured works on display are by 2009 Hunter Art Prize-winning artist Robyn O’Neil. The exhibit, P.R.I.N.T. Press: Selections from the Print Research Institute of North Texas, includes three of O’Neil’s works.

O’Neil made the lithographs in July in the UNT P.R.I.N.T. Press, said Rachel Biggerstaff, a P.R.I.N.T. program and project coordinator.

O’Neil’s usual medium is graphite on paper so she worked with Jon Lee from P.R.I.N.T. to create the pieces for the exhibit.

“It’s a collaborative process, an artist and a printer working together, to create a work of art,” Biggerstaff said.

The institute is supported financially by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development. The institute hopes to eventually secure an endowment fund from private donations.

The Institute for the Advancement of the Arts is at 109 N. Elm St.

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