This year, four Arts Research + Resilience projects were awarded funding through a continuing partnership between the Arizona Institute for Resilience and the College of Fine Arts. Each project uses the tools of arts research to address pressing challenges in Tucson and beyond—from reimagining how we prepare future healthcare workers to listening for resilience in the city’s arid […]
read morePhotographer, musician and environmentalist, Chris Zatarain is interested in how art and music enter into dialogue with people and the planet. He is a first-year PhD student in Applied Intercultural Arts Research. He earned his master’s in the same discipline from the University of Arizona along with bachelor’s degrees in music and environmental studies. When […]
read moreArt fell into the picture by chance for Niko Sanchez, a member of the 2025-26 JustArts Fellows cohort. Biking through his old stomping grounds of San Diego, Sanchez stumbled across an array of murals in a Chicano park– and along with them, a muralist stood. “There was this old man standing under three levels of scaffolding […]
read moreTwo graduate students from the College of Fine Arts were selected for the 2026 AI Horizons 2.0 – Fronteridades Fellows program, an interdisciplinary initiative led by the Confluencenter for Creative Inquiry supporting creative, ethical and community-centered explorations of artificial intelligence in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. Alexis Joy Hagestad and Andrés Caballero, both School of Art graduate students, join eight other fellows […]
read moreThrough a series of line breaks and stanzas, powerful diction and a purposeful rhyme scheme, an important message rises to the surface. For poet Nagasriya Ramisetty, a member of the 2025-26 JustArts Fellows cohort, poems are a means of creating awareness for a cultural stigma that resonates with her. Ramisetty is a junior in the W.A. Franke […]
read moreI am delighted to announce that Chelsea Farrar has been appointed Director of the University of Arizona Museum of Art, effective February 16, 2026. Chelsea is an accomplished arts leader whose extensive experience, institutional knowledge, and deep ties to both the University and the broader community make her exceptionally well suited for this role. Chelsea, […]
read moreOver the past decade, School of Dance alumnus Brandon Coleman has cultivated a multifaceted career– both on stage and off. From performing and choreographing on New York City stages to educating up-and-coming dancers, Coleman’s diverse skillset provides an exceptional example of alumni success to students across the College of Fine Arts. Now, his stellar career […]
read moreWhen you start a music degree, it can feel like there’s only one “right” outcome: performing, teaching, or doing music full‑time forever. But as many creatives sometimes learn, some careers don’t always follow a straight line, and that doesn’t mean you’ve failed, often times, it means you’re growing! Thomas McDonald’s journey began in the University of Arizona School of Music with a clear plan; he had entered the program as a music education major, fully expecting to become a band […]
read moreFor Ashley Martin-Casler, music is more than performance—it is a public health tool. A doctoral student in the Applied Intercultural Arts Research Graduate Interdisciplinary program, Martin-Casler’s research explores how music can function as a mental health intervention, particularly for communities that lack access to traditional therapeutic resources. Her work sits at the intersection of music, […]
read moreArizona Arts presents a 2026 spring semester of arts experiences to engage audiences on campus at the University of Arizona and in the community. Arizona Arts and its units produce over 700 events each year, most of them free. The division integrates the arts throughout the university experience; gives all students – regardless of major – access […]
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