Solutions for Arts & Culture
The University of North Texas has an undisputed reputation for artistic and musical excellence, with students and faculty known for their high-caliber artistry. Faculty in many disciplines are working to preserve, promote and advance culture and the arts.
Documenting Global Rivers
Born in part from a collaboration between UNT professors Melinda Levin and Irene Klaver, the Global Rivers project brought together film-makers from three universities to explore how some of the world’s most recognizable rivers sustain, divide and define local cultures. Levin, associate professor and chair of the radio, television and film department, was one of three executive producers, while Klaver, associate professor of philosophy, served as a consultant and co-directed the Rio Grande portion. A 30-minute version of the documentary premiered in Beijing in November during a meeting of the Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de Cinéma et de Télévision, which provided initial funding. The full 60-minute documentary is expected to come out in fall 2009.
Sculptor Jesús Moroles (’78) earned the 2008 National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the U.S. president. A College of Visual Arts and Design alumnus, Moroles is one of many outstanding artists the University has nurtured. The college produces nearly half of the university-certified art educators in Texas and is home to award-winning programs in design, as well as studio arts, art education and art history. Its reputation for excellence has helped the arts program become the largest among public universities in the Southern region.
(Photo by Frank Ribelin)
Chronicling Texas History
One of the country’s pre-eminent state history organizations, the Texas State Historical Association, settled into its new home at UNT in 2008. Its publication At the Heart of Texas: 100 Years of the Texas State Historical Association, 1897-1997, written by UNT history professor and chair Richard McCaslin, won the Philosophical Society of Texas Award of Merit for 2007.
Protecting Hearing
As director of education and research at UNT’s Texas Center for Music and Medicine, Kris Chesky works to preserve one of a musician’s most important assets: hearing. Chesky, who plays the trumpet, studies the dangers of noise-induced hearing loss and provides tips on how to avoid exposure to loud noises. He has taken his message to musicians in the rehearsal room and to students in the classroom. As a result, the dangers of hearing loss are now part of the discourse in UNT’s music classes, and the Texas Academy of Audiology is partnering with Chesky to promote hearing conservation among school musicians in Texas.
Preserving Culture
"UNT's College of Music is one of the most important institutions in the country. An opportunity to work at UNT doesn't come around every day."
David Itkin, director of UNT orchestras
To preserve the nation’s cultural history, the UNT Libraries’ Digital Projects Unit is digitizing music, audio, newspaper and photograph collections to make them accessible online. The Digital Projects Unit received a grant to digitize Texas’ early newspapers, which will be available through UNT’s Portal to Texas History. Chosen as one of the best online resources by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the portal will soon include 100,000 pages of Texas newspapers. The current preservation focus of the UNT Music Library is to digitize archived recordings of UNT concerts and recitals dating back to 1953, as well as special collections such as 88 rare and never-released performances by Duke Ellington.
Making Music
UNT’s jazz studies program has been leading the pack since its 1947 inception as the nation’s first degree program for this American art form. It has helped the College of Music stand out as one of the leading music schools in the world. Six decades later, UNT jazz still is known as a beacon of excellence. In summer 2008, the Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band toured Europe and performed at many major jazz festivals. Thanks to donors, UNT’s impressive collection of jazz history now includes the music of Maynard Ferguson as well as Stan Kenton and Willis Conover.