College of Fine Arts
The College of Fine Arts educates artists, scholars, designers, and art educators within a context that emphasizes artistic excellence, advanced technology, and best professional practices. The college places high priority on research and the creation of new work through its many programs and degrees offered by the Butler School of Music, the Department of Art and Art History, the Department of Theatre and Dance, and the School of Design and Creative Technologies.
Texas Performing Arts, the university’s arts presenting organization, and Landmarks, the university’s public art program, along with the Visual Arts Center a contemporary gallery space showcasing student, faculty and guest artists, are housed within the college and provide performances and exhibitions that deepen the understanding of the arts, expand audiences and develop a better quality of life in the University, community, state and nation.
The College of Fine Arts offers graduate study through the following schools and departments: The Department of Design, which is housed within the School of Design and Creative Technologies, offers graduate study in design. The Department of Art and Art History offers graduate study in art history, studio art, and art education. The Butler School of Music offers graduate study with concentrations in performance (including conducting and opera), music and human learning, musicology (including ethnomusicology), composition, conducting, and theory (a jazz emphasis is available in approved areas). The Department of Theatre and Dance offers graduate study with concentrations in directing, dance, drama and theatre for youth and communities, performance as public practice, playwriting, stage technology and integrated media, and live design. Further information is available from the graduate advisor of each program.
Programs
Art Education
Master of Arts
Art History
Master of Arts
Doctor of Philosophy
Design
Master of Fine Arts
Master of Arts
Music
Master of Music (with a major in music)
Doctor of Musical Arts (with a major in music)
Doctor of Philosophy (with a major in music)
Master of Music (with a major in music and human learning)
Doctor of Musical Arts (with a major in music and human learning)
Doctor of Philosophy (with a major in music and human learning)
Master of Music (with a major in conducting)
Doctor of Musical Arts (with a major in conducting)
Studio Art
Master of Fine Arts
Theatre and Dance
Master of Arts (with a major in theatre)
Master of Fine Arts (with a major in dance)
Master of Fine Arts (with a major in theatre)
Doctor of Philosophy (with a major in theatre)
Dual Degree Programs
The following dual degree programs are offered. More information is available from the graduate advisor in each program.
| Major(s) | Degree(s) |
|---|---|
| Medicine/Design | MD/MA |
Graduate Studies Committees
The following faculty members served on the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) in the spring 2026 semester.
Art Education
|
Christina Bain |
Art History
|
C Ondine Chavoya John R Clarke Penelope J Davies George F Flaherty Julia E Guernsey Joan A Holladay Ann C Johns Stephennie Mulder Adele E Nelson |
Moyosore Benjamin Okediji Athanasio Papalexandrou Susan W Rather Ann M Reynolds Astrid Runggaldier Richard A Shiff Cherise Smith David S Stuart Sylvia Wu |
Design
|
Tasheka Arceneaux Sutton Alexandra Kate Catterall Michael Ray Charles Tamie Michele Glass |
Carma Ryanne Gorman Karol Murlak Monica Penick |
Music
|
Gregory D Allen Jacqueline Angelina Avila Joel Braun Nathaniel O Brickens Andrew A Brownell James W Buhler JD Burnett Chelsea Burns Thomas A Burritt Charles Daniel Carson Hon Ki Cheung LEAH CROCETTO Andrew F Dell'Antonio Margarita Denenburg Eric A Drott Robert A Duke John M Fremgen James Gabrillo Donald J Grantham Marissa Guarriello Liliana Veronica Guerrero Jonathan F Gunn Robert S Hatten Adam Holzman Caleb Hudson Patrick Hughes Kristin Wolfe Jensen Jerry F Junkin Douglas Kinney |
Brian D Lewis Hannah Lewis Wilhelm Magner Robin D Moore Luisa Nardini Anton Nel Guido Olivieri Stephen C Page Andrew A Parker Tony Rasmussen Diego Rivera Michael D Sailors Tamara Sanikidze Sonia T Seeman Yevgeniy Sharlat Amy L Simmons Stephen M Slawek Januibe Tejera Ebonee Thomas Omar Thomas Susan Thomas Bion Tsang John R Turci Colette T Valentine Charles W Villarrubia Justin West Marianne Wheeldon Darlene C Wiley Satoko S Yamamoto |
Studio Art
|
Paloma Barhaugh-Bordas Alexander Birchler Troy D Brauntuch John E Durst Farima Fooladi Scherezade Garcia-Vazquez Megan L Hildebrandt Teresa Hubbard Annie May Johnston |
Beili Liu Kristin Lucas Richard E McMaster Bogdan P Perzynski Carlos Adrian Rosales-Silva Michael Smith John S Stoney Jeff Williams Will Wilson |
Theatre and Dance
|
Megan Alrutz David A Arevalo Annie N Baker Raquel M Barreto Alexandra Bassett Paul A Bonin Rosemary Candelario Charlotte Canning Peter Carpenter Rusty Cloyes Eric Colleary Leah Cox Tina Marie Curran Madge Darlington Kathryn M Dawson Douglas J Dempster Lara Rose Dossett Lucien Douglas |
Sinclair Emoghene Kate Freer Erica Lynn Gionfriddo Virginia M Grise Laura G Gutierrez Michelle Habeck Kirk E Lynn Gesel Mason Francie Ostrower Josafath I Reynoso Calvillo Ramon H Rivera-Servera Rebecca Rossen KJ Sanchez Adriana Serrano Lisa B Thompson Joel Valentin-Martinez Enzo E Vasquez Toral Lucas Williams |
Facilities
In addition to specialized facilities of the Butler School of Music, the Department of Art and Art History, the Department of Theatre and Dance, the Department of Design and the Department of Art and Entertainment Technologies, which are housed within the School of Design and Creative Technologies, the College of Fine Arts includes the Fine Arts Library, Texas Performing Arts, the University’s arts presenting organization, as well as Landmarks, the University’s public art program.
The Fine Arts Library (FAL), located in the Doty Fine Arts building (DFA), is a unit of The University of Texas Libraries that serves research and instruction in the College of Fine Arts. With the inclusion of materials from the former Audio Visual Library, the FAL collections include approximately 350,000 books and scores, 400 current serial subscriptions, 48,000 compact discs, 12,000 DVDs, 12,000 video cassettes and videodiscs, 6,200 reels of microfilm, 24,000 microfiche, and over 135,000 LPs. Opened in 2016, The Foundry adds a makerspace to the FAL, offering 3D printing, gaming equipment, a textile lab, and a music studio.
The theatre and dance collections support the Department of Theatre and Dance, which concentrates on performance, especially play production, theatrical design, playwriting, theatre education, and dance. The Fine Arts Library holds texts of major plays written in English or translated into English, with contemporary plays collected most heavily. The Perry-Castañeda Library also holds texts of plays in English and other languages, with emphasis on plays as a literary form and on literary criticism. The extensive Art and Art History collections create a pivotal focus of research for graduate study.
The music collection supports instruction and research in the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music, which includes music performance, composition, ethnomusicology, music and human learning, music theory, and musicology. Most historical periods and geographical areas are covered in both classical and popular idioms. Music is represented in a wide variety of printed and recorded formats.
The special collections of the Fine Arts Library include the Historical Music Recordings Collection, the papers of the Paramount and State Theatres, and papers of Sam Shepard. The Historical Music Recordings Collection is an archive of audio recordings in all formats. Holding more than two hundred thousand items, it is one of the largest collections of audio recordings in the United States.
Texas Performing Arts presents a full season of music, theater, dance, and Broadway shows every year, with special student discounts for many productions. Located in the heart of the arts quadrant on campus, the TPA also serves as a learning laboratory for university students, providing them with opportunities to work alongside professionals in arts management and administration.
As the University’s public art program, Landmarks enriches the lives of students and visitors by presenting art that is broadly accessible and free to all. More than thirty-five works of modern and contemporary art are on view throughout the 433-acre campus. The collection not only enhances the beauty of the landscape, but also supports scholarship and learning by demonstrating significant art historical trends from the past six decades.
Additional Facilities
Art Education
Students have access to a range of high-quality facilities for study on the University campus, as well as in the greater Austin community. There are many dynamic museums and active community-based art sites and programs that students can use for research and internships. Of particular note are the University’s Blanton Museum of Art and Harry Ransom Center. Public school districts in Austin and the surrounding area also provide research and internship opportunities for students. Students have access to the University’s comprehensive library system, including the Perry-Castañeda Library with more than 2.5 million volumes, and the Fine Arts Library, which contains a substantial visual and sound collection. Both the Department of Art and Art History and the College of Fine Arts offer access to state-of-the-art computer facilities.
Art History
Facilities for study and research include an open-shelf fine arts library containing more than 125,000 volumes and periodicals; extensive digital-image databases; and the Blanton Museum of Art, which has an active exhibition program and can provide training in the various aspects of museum work.
The Fine Arts Library is supplemented by the Perry-Castañeda Library, with holdings of more than 2.5 million volumes; the rare books and manuscripts of the Harry Ransom Center; and the specialized libraries of the School of Architecture, the Department of Classics, and the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies.
Visual resources on campus include the Mari and James A. Michener Collection of American Painting; the Duncan Collection of Latin American Art; the Suida-Manning Collection of Renaissance and Baroque Art; an encyclopedic print collection; the Battle Collection of casts after ancient sculpture; and additional drawings, paintings, prints, sculptures, silver, and furniture. Visual resources in the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center include rare books, manuscripts, photographs, film, and art.
Design
After completing required safety training, graduate students in design may use the woodshop, computer lab/digital printing lab, risograph lab, in-house fabrication lab (equipped with ABS-plastic and thermal 3D Printers, large-scale CNC router, laser cutters, and vinyl cutters), and letterpress printing lab (featuring platen presses, proofing presses, bookbinding equipment, and an extensive collection of metal and wood type), housed in the ART Building and Anna Hiss Gymnasium (AHG).
Graduate students in design also have ready access to the book and periodical collections of the Fine Arts Library (FAL), where they may also check out photographic, video, audio, computer, and robotic equipment. The FAL is also home to the Foundry, a staffed maker space equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, VR headsets, sewing machines, mills, soldering guns, large-format printer, vinyl cutter, video wall, recording studio, and workstations with game development software.
Music
The Fine Arts Library has excellent facilities for research in its collection of books, scores, periodicals, microforms, and sound recordings. In addition, the Harry Ransom Center houses many special collections of importance, including the Kraus Libretti Collection, the Bachmann Collection, the Carlton Lake Collection, and the Theodore Finney Collection. The Butler School of Music also maintains a collection of authentic early instruments, non-Western instruments, and folk instruments that are available for performance.
Studio Art
Studios for all areas are housed in the Art Building, and graduate students generally have access to these facilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Graduate students are assigned an individual studio workspace; all students have access to a fully furnished wood shop that is also open evenings and weekends. Students have access to the 3D Fab Lab featuring equipment for three-dimensional milling, scanning, and printing. The studio art computer lab features fully equipped Macintosh graphics workstations and auxiliary hardware and software. Students also have access to the holdings of the Fine Arts Library, housed in the E. William Doty Fine Arts Building. Additionally, students have access to the cultural materials available for study at the Harry Ransom Research Center for the Humanities, to the circulating materials available at the Materials Lab in the School of Architecture, and to the exhibitions and collections of artworks housed at the Blanton Museum of Art.
The area studios contain the following facilities: for painting, well-ventilated, well-lit, individual studios within a communal suite; for photography, individual studios and access to the wet black-and-white and digital darkrooms with their attendant equipment; for printmaking, individual studios and access to the well-equipped print studio including presses for lithography, intaglio and serigraphy; for sculpture, private studios and access to fabrication facilities for casting, welding, and moldmaking; and for transmedia, a group studio with access to the performance facility with green screen and the computer lab with image processors, video cameras, video mixers with chroma-key functions, 16-mm film and digital multimedia equipment, and audio equipment.
Theatre and Dance
The rare and unique materials in the Performing Arts Collection of the Harry Ransom Center, along with the collections in the Fine Arts Library and other units of the University Libraries, constitute one of the most extensive research facilities in the country. The Department of Theatre and Dance also maintains a collection of historical clothing for research purposes. The theatrical production facilities of the Performing Arts Center, described in in this section, are unsurpassed.