As of yesterday, the University of Houston (UH) has a College of the Arts. Rather than falling under the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, the new College now comprises the School of Art, Moores School of Music, the School of Theatre and Dance, Blaffer Art Museum, the Cynthia Mitchell Woods Center for the Arts, Center for Arts Leadership, and the Graduate Program for Arts Management. All the programs will be under one dean and have one central administration office.
Associate professor and MacArthur fellow Rick Lowe was the first professor the College of the Arts hired, reports the Daily Cougar. “My reputation as an artist is built on my practice at Project Row houses,” says Lowe, “and I saw it as an opportunity to build a relationship between the organization and campus.” Lowe is teaching a course on social and community engaged-art, a close-knit class built on his vision that students should learn through engagement.