1. Jeff Beekman selected as new School of Art director

    Jeff Beekman will take over as director of the University of Arizona School of Art on July 1, bringing nationally recognized leadership and “energy” as the school nears its centennial. Coming from Florida State University, Beekman has chaired the Department of Art in Tallahassee since 2023 and held other leadership roles since 2013, including associate chair […]

    read more
  2. Pete Froslie: New leadership at the intersection of Art and AI

    The University of Arizona College of Fine Arts has announced the appointment of Pete Froslie as the new associate dean for research and graduate studies. Froslie, a scholar and artist recognized for his work at the vanguard of technology and culture, will officially join the campus community July 1. “We are thrilled to welcome Pete […]

    read more
  3. Chris Zatarain takes an interdisciplinary approach to art 

    Photographer, 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 more
  4. Bringing people together with the art of upcycling

    Art 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 more
  5. Two art students selected as ‘AI Horizons 2.0 Fellows’

    Two 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 more
  6. Ashley Martin-Casler’s research into community health with music

    For 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 more
  7. Arts students join “Roots for Resilience,’ building data science skills

    Graduate art students Lori Hennessy and Andrés Cabellero joined the “Roots for Resilience” cohort to build capacity in data science and AI skills at the University of Arizona. The 13-person cohort will learn best practices in open science, computational infrastructure, and artificial intelligence for research and discovery. The initiative aims to increase the University of […]

    read more
  8. Music faculty join global research effort with France-Arizona

    Three School of Music faculty are part of a new international research effort focused on the human dimensions of climate change. A first for College of Fine Arts faculty, this project is supported by the France–Arizona Institute for Global Grand Challenges, a partnership between the University of Arizona and France’s Centre National de la Recherche […]

    read more
  9. “Kelli Connell: Pictures for Charis” opens at CCP

    Over the last 10 years, American photographer Kelli Connell immersed herself in the archives of the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, researching the lives and relationship of writer Charis Wilson and legendary photographer Edward Weston.  That research led Connell and her previous partner Betsy Odom to retrace Wilson and Weston’s journeys through California and the American Southwest, […]

    read more
  10. Hasan Elahi named dean of Arizona Arts at the University of Arizona

    Artist, educator, and academic leader to oversee one of the nation’s most integrated arts divisions starting July 1, 2025 TUCSON, Ariz. — The University of Arizona has appointed Hasan Elahi as the next dean of Arizona Arts. He will begin his tenure on July 1, 2025. Elahi is an artist and higher education leader whose […]

    read more