ART & ART HISTORY / DIGITAL MEDIA & DESIGN / DRAMATIC ARTS / MUSIC

We balance innovative learning with creative practice. Our teaching philosophy is based on creating

fluid connections among disciplines and providing professional opportunities for our students.

We offer a vast array of creative specialties in four departments—Art & Art History, Digital Media &

Design, Dramatic Arts, and Music—that prepare our students for success.

We reach out to our entire student body, and to the larger community, both nationally and

internationally. We are committed to reflecting the cultural of our world through our educational

philosophy and our creative practice.

We engage entrepreneurially with the arts. As a community of energetic theorists and practitioners,

our faculty and students actively produce art in all its varieties, for commerce and for culture.

We map the past, create the present, and visualize the future of the arts.

sfa.uconn.edu

“

THE ARTSWE ARE

“The School of Fine Arts fosters artistic and cultural

legacies with innovative approaches and techniques of

contemporary art to serve University of Connecticut

students in both their educational and professional

development. Our teaching philosophy emphasizes various

forms of experiential learning and creates intersections

between our classrooms and the creative industries crucial

to today’s economy. Not only do we offer professional

opportunities to students on our Storrs campus, but our

location between two of the east coast’s major cultural

hubs supports faculty and institutional engagement with

the professional arts world beyond the university.”

Bríd Grant

Dean, School of Fine Arts

publishers such as SEGA, Electronic Arts, and Activision. His video games have earned multiple popular and critical awards.

Samantha Olschan (Assistant Professor, Animation) received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

She has designed, animated, and composited commercial and creative projects for national clients and taught at Pratt Institute, Wesleyan University, Quinnipiac University, Columbia College, New York Film Academy, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She continues to experiment with all forms of storytelling through short films, animation and interactivity, with recent exhibitions and screenings at film festivals and arts foundations around the world.

DRAMATIC ARTSGreg Webster (Assistant Professor, Movement) focuses on teaching Movement Theatre and the pedagogy of the renowned French

theatre master Jacques Lecoq. Greg is also the Movement coach and the resident fight choreographer for the Connecticut Repertory Theatre. As a performer, choreographer, and teacher, Greg has worked from Broadway to the West End. He is a founding member of the Split Knuckle Theatre Company, an intentionally acclaimed company that creates dynamic, physical, and visually striking theatre from simple materials.

Dale Edwards (Assistant Professor, Arts Administration & Marketing Director of the School of Fine Arts) has a BS in Communications from

Ohio University, and an MFA from Brooklyn College. His career in New York City began in the marketing department of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater before moving to Disney Theatrical Productions, Manhattan Theatre Club, entertainment advertising agency SpotCo, and most recently as the Associate Director of Marketing and Advertising for the Metropolitan Opera.

MUSICDionne Jackson (Associate Professor, Flute) received her bachelor’s degree in flute performance from Indiana University, and went on to study at

Julliard and the Paris Conservatory of Music, where she won the prestigious First Prize in Flute.

She comes to UConn from Chicago, where she was Assistant Principal Flute of the Lyric Opera for fourteen years, held a one-year position with the Chicago Symphony, and was a frequent guest artist of the Chicago Chamber Musicians. Dionne served on faculty of Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of the Performing Arts from 2005 to 2014.

Solomiya Ivakhiv (Assistant Professor, Violin and Viola) graduated from the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and

holds a DMA from Stony Brook University. She currently enjoys an international career as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, North America, and China.

Prior to joining UConn, Solomiya taught at Ohio University and collaborated with prestigious universities in the US and China. She taught at Mannes College of Music, and has served as Artistic Director of the concert series MATI (Music at the Institute) for the past three seasons.

NEW FACULTY FACESThe School of Fine Arts is always eager to recruit the best and brightest faculty members from a wide range of experiences and expertise. Here are few of our more recent members.

ART & ART HISTORY Alison Paul (Lecturer, Illustration/Animation) is known for two widely-acclaimed books for children, The Crow (A Not-So-Scary Story) and Sunday Love. She is also

a noted animator who has exhibited stop-motion animations, including “The Rabbit Hole,” an original take on Lewis Carroll’s classic, at national film festivals.

Yan Geng (Assistant Professor, Art History & Asian American Studies) received her BA from Peking University in China and MA from Northwestern

University. She completed her PhD in East Asian Art History at Heidelberg University in Germany in 2012. Her research focus is on modern and contemporary Chinese art, with particular emphasis on political discourse and transcultural studies.

Currently, she is completing her book manuscript on the representation of Mao Zedong in the early People’s Republic of China, examing the turbulent careers of modern Chinese artists and their diverse responses to the historical transition to the communist period. Her next research project concerns liminal space, urban architecture, and politics in modern China.

DIGITAL MEDIA & DESIGN

Ken Bowen (Assistant Professor, Game Design & Mechanics) earned two BS degrees, in Management and Electronic Media, Arts, & Communications, and an

MS in Human Computer Interaction from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Before joining UConn, Ken worked in the game industry for eight years, using game development tools, directing projects, and working on blockbuster franchises with

Majors Communication Design

Illustration/Animation

Individualized Study

Painting

Photography

Printmaking

Sculpture & Ceramic Art

Art History

Performance Units

The William Benton Museum of Art

Contemporary Art Galleries

Counterproof Press

Visual Arts Installation Space

ART &ART HISTORY

The Art & Art History Department

offers the best of both worlds:

the creative excitement of an art

school and the intellectual energy of

a major research university. Whatever

you’re interested in—

literature or history,

physics or animal

science—you can

pursue that interest

and combine it with

your passion for art.

Our faculty has won

major international

honors and awards,

from Fulbright

Scholarships to

Getty Foundation

Fellowships to

National Endowment

for the Humanities

Grants. They

exhibit in major art

centers globally

and publish with

premier academic presses. All of their

knowledge, creativity, and professional

expertise are available to students in

and out of the classroom.

We have expanded and improved our

facilities over the past two years. The

new Bishop Center Studios include

stellar printmaking and book arts

facilities and labs for Communication

Design, Illustration and Animation. In

the main Art Building,

we have established the

Digital Arts Services

Lab to support digital

photography and other 2D

digital arts with state-of-

the-art equipment. We’ve

installed a large gas kiln

in the ceramics studios

and opened a Digital Arts

Materials Lab to support

digital work in sculpture,

printmaking, and other

media.

Our alumni experience a

high degree of professional

and creative success. They

go on to leading graduate

and professional programs.

They work in museums and

galleries, animation studios, design firms,

fashion labels, and publishing houses.

They teach at colleges and universities

across the United States, and exhibit their

artwork nationally and internationally.

“Our students are able

to lay the foundation

for a successful career

in the arts and grow as

individuals—creatively,

intellectually, and

personally.”

Anne D’Alleva

Head of Art & Art History

“

Deborah Dancy (Professor, Painting/Drawing) is a painter whose abstract work describes unusual invented spaces and structures. She exhibits

regularly in New York City, as well as nationally and internationally. Her work is included in numerous private and public collections, including museums in Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, and Birmingham. She has received numerous honors and awards, including a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, an NEA Artist Grant, and a Nexus Press Artist Book Project Award.

Alexis Boylan (Assistant Professor, Art History & Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) specializes in art and gender in the United

States at the turn of the twentieth century, and contemporary art and popular culture. She edited Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall (Duke University Press, 2011), and has a forthcoming book, Man on the Street: Masculinity, Urbanism, and Ashcan Art.

Edvin Yegir (Associate Professor, Design) directs Design Center, the main studio that serves as a professional training ground for our undergraduates. As a

designer, his specialty is strategic visual communication for culture and commerce, and his clients include Amnesty International, GE Foundation, Harvard University, Tufts Medical Center, and UNICEF. His work was recently included in the national traveling exhibition “We the Designers: Reframing Political Issues in the Obama Era.”

The William Benton Museum

of Art is the Connecticut

State Art Museum and brings

the history of art to life at

UConn, featuring over 6000

works in its permanent

collection and eight special

exhibitions each year. Its work

is interdisciplinary, addressing

themes and issues of interest to

many departments on campus.

Through student jobs and

internships, the Benton is an

important training ground for

budding art historians and arts

professionals.

The Contemporary Art

Galleries bring cutting-edge

contemporary art and culture

to the Storrs campus with four

exhibitions each year, plus

symposia and visiting artists.

CAG’s reach is global, with

recent visiting artists from

Sweden, Australia, and New

Zealand.

Year-Round Study Abroad

Programs offer students a

chance to engage with art in a

global destination.

• Each Fall, our Florence

program immerses students

in art and its history in a city

where culture has been at the

center of civic life for centuries.

• Every Spring, our Design

faculty work alongside our

counterparts at Central St.

Martins in London, engaging in

practice and study in a center of

contemporary design.

• Each Summer, Professor

Jean Givens brings students to

Copenhagen for a short-term

focus on architecture and urban

environments.

• Over the brief Winter term,

Fulbright artist and Professor

Kathryn Myers shares her

knowledge of India’s creative

traditions and contemporary

artists with students.

ONLY AT UCONN

FEATURED FACULTY

Majors 2D Animation – Motion Graphics, Animation & Visualization

3D Animation & Visualization

Digital Game Design & Development

Digital Media Strategies for Business

Digital Humanities

Web Design & Development

Performance Units

Digital Media Center

Digital Humanities

-ATION, Student Agency

DIGITAL & MEDIA DESIGN

The Digital Media & Design

Department is a dynamic

department focused on preparing

students to become makers of the

revolution in communication and the

arts. Digital media

is the result of the

creative convergence

of digital arts,

science, technology,

and business;

which has opened

a dazzling array of

previously unimagined

communication,

visualization,

entertainment, and

social interaction

possibilities. It has

become vital for

presenting complex

ideas with simplicity,

and for crafting highly

original messages with

exceptional impact.

The department is

committed to all areas of digital education

and research.

Under the guidance of faculty who

are all experienced professionals and

practitioners, students work in our

state-of-the-art labs and studios using

leading-edge hardware and software

systems. The department’s experiential

learning model makes classrooms into

collaborative workspaces.

Each of our concentrations

fosters collaborations with

outside business leaders

to address creative,

intellectual, technological,

and production challenges

as part of our outcome-

driven commitment to

education. Within this

cooperative learning

environment, students,

faculty and third-party

companies come together

to tackle creative

challenges, leading to

the development and

implementation of new

ideas and methodologies.

The combination of

classroom study and real-

world experience prepares our students

for challenging and rewarding careers in

one of the fastest-growing employment

sectors in the United States.

““DMD’s strong

curriculum,

experiential learning

opportunities, and

research initiatives are

establishing UConn as

a state and national

leader in this evolving

industry.”

Tim Hunter

Head of Digital Media & Design

Tom Scheinfeldt (Associate Professor, Digital Media and Design & Director of Digital Humanities in the Digital Media Center) received his AB in

History and Science from Harvard, and his graduate degrees from Oxford. Formerly Managing Director of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, Scheinfeldt brings more than a decade of leadership in digital humanities research and management to UConn. Scheinfeldt’s award-winning, grant-funded research projects include groundbreaking experiments in digital scholarly open-source software projects, generative web events, and efforts in scholarly communication.

Perry Harovas (Associate Professor in Residence, 3D Animation & Visualization) studied Film & Television at Emerson College, and began his career when

legendary producer Roger Corman hired his company to create digital visual effects for several of his films. He then started working as a VFX supervisor for television and film features for studios such as Universal, Trimark, and Capital Arts. He’s directed animated children’s shows, co-authored the best-selling book Mastering Maya, and speaks regularly on the subjects of animation and visual effects across the country.

Bill Congdon (Assistance Professor in Residence, Digital & Social Media Strategies) graduated with a BS in Marketing from UConn and an MBA in Marketing/Finance

from Cornell. He worked as an account manager and a marketing manager at Golf Digest before joining the Hearst Corporation, where he was promoted to Publisher/Chief Revenue Officer of the Popular Mechanics brand. In 2013, Bill returned UConn.

The Digital Media Center, the

research unit of the digital media

program at UConn, allows faculty

and students to collaborate in the

rapidly expanding discipline of

digital media ideation, production,

and new product development.

By partnering extramural digital

industry leaders with faculty and

students, we are able to address

a broad landscape of creative

challenges in a unique, holistic

fashion yielding new artifacts,

instruments, and processes for

the digital community.

Paid Internship Programs

are a required component of our

eight-semester plan of study.

The department recognizes the

value of cooperative learning

through paid internships, allowing

students to acquire real-world

experience, and companies to

meet high-achieving innovators

of tomorrow. One of our most

high-profile collaborations is with

Cigna, which engages students

in the development of health-

oriented communication game

and digital marketing strategies

they then deploy in support

of their partners and clients.

Relationships built through

internships during an academic

career can, and often do, lead

to career opportunities with the

hosting companies following

graduation.

Special Projects place

students and faculty at the

forefront of creative research

and development. Together, they

have collaborated on the concept,

technology, programming, and

creative content for a motion

media-based experience for

children with emotional and

physical challenges at Boston

Children’s Hospital. This two-story

high interactive LED video wall

will premiere in the hospital’s

lobby in October 2014.

ONLY AT UCONN

FEATURED FACULTY

Majors Acting

Arts Administration

Design & Technical Theatre Set Design Costume Design Sound Design Technical Direction

Puppet Arts

Theatre Studies Theatre History Playwriting Directing Dramaturgy Stage Management

Performance Units

Connecticut Repertory Theatre Harriet Jorgensen Theatre Nafe Katter Theatre Studio/Mobius Theatre

Nutmeg Summer Theatre

Ballard Institute & Museum of Puppetry

DRAMATIC ARTS

The Department of Dramatic Arts

brings together celebrated theatre

faculty, professionals, and students

from all over the world to prepare student

practitioners for professional careers in the

theatre and related entertainment fields,

as well as to prepare

young scholars for an

intellectually rigorous

life devoted to research

and new knowledge. The

department is student-

centered, dedicated

to hands-on learning

experiences in our

studios, classrooms,

and our three stages.

Our academic programs

and production

activities provide the

finest preparation

through classroom

instruction in a dynamic

research university,

conservatory-style

studio training, and

professional level production experiences.

The department is in the design phase of

a new, state-of-the-art production facility.

Slated to open in 2016, the new building

will house shops for scenery, lighting,

props, paints, and costumes. Our three

theatres are the 500-seat Harriet S.

Jorgensen Theatre, the 100-seat Studio-

Mobius Theatre, and the 235-seat Nafe

Katter Thrust Theatre, new in 2004. Other

facilities include design

studios for graduate and

undergraduates, a lighting

design laboratory, and a

suite dedicated to Theatre

Studies students. The Puppet

Arts program occupies a

recently renovated space

on our Depot Campus with

specialized labs, shops,

studios, and rehearsal rooms.

Our alumni find

employment worldwide in the

highest levels of the industry,

and in top-ranked graduate

programs. Recent alumni

of note include Emmy-

winning lighting designer

Dan Rousseau, actor Brooks

Brantley (War Horse), and

puppeteer Ulysses Jones (Spiderman:

Turn Off the Dark). We are committed to

supporting our students and alumni in their

transition into the profession.

““By training the next

generation of theatre

artists alongside the

professionals at CRT, we

know that our students

gain a competitive edge

when entering the job

market.”

Vincent J. Cardinal

Head of Dramatic Arts & Artistic Director of Connecticut

Repertory Theatre

Michael Bradford (Associate Professor, Playwriting & Director of Theatre Studies) is an award-winning writer, director, and designer

whose work has been produced Off-Broadway as well as across the nation. The recipient of multiple awards, writing fellowships, and residencies in New York, he is considered one of the most promising African American playwrights today.

Laura Crow (Professor, Costume Design) designs costumes seen in more than 300 productions around the world. Best known to New Yorkers through

her designs for Lanford Wilson’s Broadway productions and as the resident designer for Circle Rep, her work has won dozens of national and regional awards. She has represented American Theatre Design at the Prague Quadrennial five times. Recognized as a Distinguished Professor by the School of Fine Arts in 2011, she has also been rewarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bart Roccoberton, Jr. (Professor, Puppet Arts & Director of the Puppet Arts Program) has a BA from Monclair State College and a MFA from UConn. He has worked as

professional Puppet Artist since 1972 and has toured with his own troupe, The Pandemonium Puppet Company, and UConn students for 15 years. Recognized worldwide as a leading advocate for Puppet Arts, he serves as a counselor for the Professional Training Commission of the Union Internationale de la Marionenette, and was recently elected to the Board of Trustees of UNIMA-USA.

ONLY AT UCONN

Connecticut Repertory Theatre

is the professional producing arm

of the Department of Dramatic Arts

and connects with our classroom

instruction as institutional partner.

CRT, an Actor’s Equity Regional

Theater, stages an array of the

best in theatre, from classic plays

and musicals to premieres of the

latest contemporary work, with

the highest professional standards.

In production, the department’s

most promising students work

side-by-side with the nation’s finest

theatre professionals, forging career

alliances that last a lifetime.

Summer Nutmeg Series is

CRT’s summer series, and draws its

company from the most talented

university students as well as

professional actors like Terrence

Mann, Leslie Uggams, Jerry Adler,

Richard Kline, and Liz Larsen.

The Ballard Institute and

Museum of Puppetry is an

international center for material

performance, with an extensive

collection of puppets, artworks, and

audio-visual materials. Directed

by internationally recognized

puppet scholar Dr. John Bell, the

institute hosts rotating exhibitions,

performances, lectures, workshops,

symposia, and forums. BIMP

offers a vibrant public extension

of departmental studies and

performance, with numerous

internship opportunities for

puppetry studies, museum studies,

and arts management.

Study Abroad Programs offer two

distinct opportunities for students:

• Each Fall, third-year BFA actors

travel to London to study with

leading teachers from the Royal

Shakespeare Company, the National

Theatre, and the Globe.

• During the Winter Term, students

focus on the thriving theatre culture

of Cuba. Students work directly with

Cuban master teachers in all areas

of the dramatic arts.

FEATURED FACULTY

Majors

Composition

General Music

Jazz Studies

Music History

Music Theory

Music Education (Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s)

Performance Instrumental Vocal

Performance Units

von der Mehden Recital Hall Instrumental Ensembles Marching Band Jazz Ensemble Percussion Ensemble Symphonic & Concert Bands Symphony Orchestra Wind Ensemble Vocal Ensembles Choirs Collegium Musicum Earthtones

MUSIC

The UConn Department of Music

has a proud tradition of preparing

future performers, composers,

and teachers while also enriching the

life of the campus and wider community.

Students are UConn’s first priority, and

individual advisement

informs each student’s

academic and musical

progress. A competitive

audition process allows

the best and brightest

to learn with and from

each other, and small

class sizes permit

faculty to devote careful

attention to students’

abilities and needs.

More than 40

outstanding faculty

educators, performers,

and scholars create

an unmatched

environment for musical

study and performance,

and our facilities

include ample practice rooms, an electronic

music lab, a recording studio, and multiple

performance venues. All of our programs

stress the development of fundamental

skills necessary for all musicians, as well as

the discipline and rigor for advanced study

and performance.

The department’s public performances

present exciting new music as well as

re-examinations of the musical tradition

in light of current

practices and research.

Professionally engaged

faculty members ensure

the availability of scholarly

works, performances, and

discussions that stimulate

and enlighten. Guest

artists, master classes, and

lectures bring additional

awareness of and exposure

to the “real world” of

music, as does working

with other learners—older

and younger—in UConn’s

Community School of the

Arts and in Connecticut’s

public schools.

Music alumni credit

their success to the start

they received at UConn, prizing both the

focus given to their specialties and the

opportunities to experience new, often

path-changing instruction and events.

““Our comprehensive

program lays the

ground work for

a career in any

aspect of music

and also explores

intersections with

other disciplines.”

Eric Rice

Head of Music

Louis Hanzlik (Associate Professor, Trumpet & Coordinator of Applied Instrumental Studies) has established himself as an accomplished chamber musician,

orchestral player, and educator. He is a member of the Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and the American Brass Quintet. As an educator, he promotes chamber music as an important component of a musician’s education. His research examines chamber music’s unique social attributes and suggests that chamber music classrooms foster artist-citizenry in addition to advanced musicianship.

Alain Frogley (Professor, Music History & Director of Research and Creative Practices) is a specialist in the music of the late nineteenth and twentieth century, particularly

in Britain and America. He has also worked extensively on Beethoven. His research centers on sketch studies, reception history, and the cultural contexts of musical nationalism. His most recent work includes research into the reception of British music in Nazi Germany, racial Anglo-Saxonism in music, and post-colonial issues in musicology.

Jamie Spillane (Associate Professor, Music & Director of Choral Studies) directs numerous choirs and teaches undergraduate and graduate choral

conducting and choral literature. He is an active festival conductor, adjudicator, and clinician who enjoys working with choirs of all ages. He has conducted All-State or honor choirs in Connecticut, Colorado, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Indiana, Missouri, Arizona, North Dakota, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Iowa, and has presented interest sessions at state and divisional conventions.

Music Education IB/M Program

is an integrated bachelor’s/

master’s degree program in

music education offered in

collaboration with the Neag

School of Education. Graduates

of this program earn a BA in

Music, a BS in Education, and

a MA in Education with a focus

on Curriculum and Instruction.

Graduates are certified to teach

vocal and instrumental music for

K-12 students.

Our Metropolitan Opera

Program offers students the

opportunity to interact with

performers and technicians, tour

backstage, and attend rehearsals

and performances. Thanks to our

special affiliation with the Met,

trips from the Storrs campus

occur four times each academic

year, and UConn students

have been regularly awarded

prestigious internships at the Met

after graduation.

ONLY AT UCONN

FEATURED FACULTY

The Metropolitan Opera

The Raymond and Beverly

Sackler Prize in Composition

is the largest prize for music

composition offered by an

institute of higher education in

the US. The winning composer

creates a piece for one of UConn’s

student ensembles, which then

performs and records the work.

Students have an unparalleled

opportunity to interact with

composers during the rehearsal

process, and to observe

collaborations between composers

and faculty conductors.

We invite you to learn more by visiting sfa.uconn.edu, where you can link to all our departments, venues, and programs. We hold open houses every

Fall and Spring semesters, and we welcome your visit.

For inquiries, please email one of the following departments:

art.info@uconn.edu

dmd.info@uconn.edu

drama.info@uconn.edu

music.info@uconn.edu

Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry is an international center for material performance, with an extensive collection of puppets, artworks, and audio-visual materials.

William Benton Museum of Art is the Connecticut State Art Museum and brings the history of art to life at UConn, featuring over 6000 works in its permanent collection and eight special exhibitions each year.

Community School of the Arts is an interdisciplinary arts education program focusing on linking the University to the communities of Eastern Connecticut.

Contemporary Art Galleries bring cutting-edge contemporary art and culture to the Storrs campus with four exhibitions each year, plus symposia and visiting artists. CAG’s reach is global, with recent visiting artists from Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre, the professional producing arm of the Department of Dramatic Arts, is an Actor’s Equity Regional Theater. CRT stages an array of the best in theatre, from classic plays and musicals to premieres of the latest contemporary work, with the highest professional standards.

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, the largest college-based presenting program in New England, presents 25-30 nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles annually.

UConn School of Fine Arts830 Bolton Road, Unit 1128, Storrs, CT 06269-1128

sfa.uconn.edu /UConnSFA @UConnArts #wearethearts

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