The University Fellows Award is offered to the highest-ranked incoming graduate students at the University of Arizona. Four students from the College of Fine Arts joined the 2022-2023 cohort.
- Maria Fatima Corona del Toro, School of Music
- Jenna Green, School of Art
- Mary Monaghan, School of Music
- Claire Taylor, School of Art
Recipients of the fellowship receive a competitive financial package, professional development programming, mentoring and community engagement opportunities, and a richly interdisciplinary cohort. The prestigious program’s goal is to prepare graduate students to be the next generation of leaders and promote collaborative innovation on campus and the surrounding communities.
The University Fellows program is the flagship initiative of the University’s Graduate Center that launched in 2014.
Maria Fatima Corona del Toro
Originally from Nayarit, Mexico, Maria Fatima Corona del Toro is a PhD student studying orchestral conducting in the School of Music. Fatima earned her BA in violin performance from the Autonomous University of Baja California.
She was inspired to study conducting from the changes she observed and nurtured as the artistic and musical director for the Esperanza Azteca Nayarit program and as a professor for the Autonomous University of Nayarit. She started studying conducting at the Catholic University of America for her artist diploma and later at Michigan State for her MA.
Her motivation in choosing the University of Arizona for her graduate studies came from the cultural diversity and inclusion, the excellent music program, and the opportunity to engage with the Hispanic community.
Fatima said she is committed to communicating the power and benefits that music has on the formation of a healthier society both culturally and spiritually. In addition to music, she enjoys exploring new places, spending time with her family, reading, watching documentaries, cooking, hiking, and biking.
Jenna Green
From the ancestral land of the Akimel O’Odham, Hohokam, and O’Odham Jewed, later colonized as Phoenix, Arizona, Jenna Green is a PhD student in Art History and Education-Art and Visual Cultural Education.
Green earned her BA in Anthropology at Arizona State University, focusing on social and cultural factors that influence health and well-being. She earned her MA in Museology at the University of Washington, where she studied museum education and evaluation.
Green is also an artist, museum professional, and yoga instructor. In 2021, she earned a 200-hour and 300-hour yoga teacher training certificate. Her classes interweave movement, mindfulness, and creativity; often involving coloring, drawing, collage, and block out poetry.
She is passionate about exploring the intersections of art, well-being, and education in individual and community-based programs. Her goal is to integrate art, meditation, and movement into museum programs and other community art spaces.
Green enjoys traveling, making art, finding coffee shops, and going to museums.
Mary Monaghan
Mary Monaghan is a horn player and a PhD student in the School of Music. She received her BA in music performance from Oklahoma State University and her MA from Illinois State University.
Her research interests are in accessible music education and diversity in classical music. When she has free time, she enjoys hiking, archery, and her cats.
Claire Taylor
Claire Taylor is pursuing an MFA from the School of Art. She holds a MS and BFA in Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah.
Taylor’s artwork reflects her psychological attachment and experiences with the landscapes and wildlife she encounters during her walks, runs, and bike rides. Her art-making process incorporates visual reflections of her thought process into her imagery and invites the viewer to see themselves as participants in the ecosystem.
In addition to her degrees, Taylor has held artist residencies at the Natural History Museum of Utah and the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. Her art has been featured in multiple exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at the Utah State Capitol, titled Snail Snake City (2022). She has also worked with underserved populations in teaching self-artist residencies that focus on ecology and art.
Past CFA University Fellows
2021-2022
Anupam Singh
Gloria Ines Orozco Dorado
2020-2021
Emmy Tisdel (music)
Mariel Miranda (art)
2019-2020
Raven Moffett (art)
Lucy Mugambi (art)
2018-2019
Jared Baker (dance)
Rebecca Thompson (art, AIAR/GIDP*)
2017-2018
Matthew Crosby (music)
Maria del Mar Navarro (art, AIAR/GIDP)
2016-2017
Khaled Jarrar (art)
Juan Mejia (music)
2015-2016
Misha Burstein (art)
Stephanie Hoeckley (music)
2014-2015
Terrence Pitt-Brooke (music)
Danielle Sheather (dance)
* Applied Intercultural Arts Research / Graduate Interdisciplinary Program