Member Departments
The School of Art
The UH School of Art offers the best of two worlds in studio art, design, and art history training. With a student population of over 1,000 art and art history majors, we are large enough to sustain the insularity of an atelier environment. We are also embedded in a premier research institution, with access to the expansive expertise and resources; a significant asset in emerging and hybrid art practices. Our faculty, alumni and students have exhibited in prestigious institutions worldwide, are represented in the most important public and private collections, and have received the professions most distinguished awards. For the past three decades, The School of Art has provided the bedrock community of creative thinkers, makers and supporters essential to sustain the major arts institutions, design industries, and grass-roots organizations that collectively define Houston as a world-class visual arts center. It is impossible imagine one without the other.
We offer the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree with concentrations in Painting, Photography/Digital Media, Sculpture and Graphic Communications and; and the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Art History and Art (which leads to an all-level teaching certification) degree. We offer the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) with concentrations in Interdisciplinary Practice and Emerging Forms (IPEF), Painting, Photography/Digital Media, Sculpture and Graphic Communications. We are able to redefine interdisciplinary study and expand our areas of expertise in seemingly limitless ways through a cooperative network within the university. A student with an interest in sociology, anthropology, biology, computer sciences, or poetry (to name a few), would have access to some of the finest scholars and fully developed programs in those fields. This extends the potential reach of each student, so that he or she is working within a fundamentally dynamic, multidisciplinary environment, with the ability to hybridize research to address unique interests and areas of investigation. Other assets that support our academic structures include The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, a leader in the field of interdisciplinary programming and the Blaffer Gallery, one of the country's most influential university art galleries. Both organizations present innovative, challenging exhibitions and programs that bring the university and the extended community into closer engagement with important cultural issues of our time.
Blaffer Art Museum
Operating on the cutting edge of contemporary culture, Blaffer Art Museum, is Houston's premier venue for open and ongoing engagement with the ever changing nature of the art of today, the recent past, and the near future. As a contemporary art museum, Blaffer embraces experimentation and creative acts of daring originality and vision, and promotes a spirit of investigation and discovery in the field of visual art and culture. Blaffer's ambitious program includes six to eight exhibitions and publications a year, many premiering at the museum before traveling the world. Combining strong local ties with a global outlook, Blaffer exhibitions feature regional, national, and international contemporary art, presenting artists of diverse backgrounds, ages, and ethnicities with a special focus on work by emerging or under-recognized artists. The museum is also dedicated to original scholarship in the arts. Capitalizing on the museum's location on the campus of Houston's largest institution of higher learning, Blaffer's public programs build on the intellectual force of the University community and serve as an active resource for the study of art and art history.
Creative Writing
The Creative Writing Program is one of the leading cultural institutions in Texas and the Southwest, and offers poets, fiction writers, and non-fiction writers intensive training in both creative writing and literary studies. The Program offers two graduate degrees: the M.F.A. (with thesis) in a 3-year course of study; the Ph.D., Literature and Creative Writing, normally takes five years. With renowned faculty, excellent students, distinguished alumnae, and generous financial resources, the Program continues its 30 year tradition of offering an exhilarating creative and intellectual experience in Houston, Texas the nations fourth largest and (we feel) most fascinating city. In the late 1970s, poets Cynthia MacDonald and Stanley Plumly were named co-chairs of the Southwests first graduate writing program, one that received an even greater boost when New Yorker writer (and UH alum) Donald Barthelme joined the faculty in 1983. Over the years many more internationally acclaimed writers have made the Program their home, including Mary Gaitskill, Richard Howard, Howard Moss, Linda Gregg, Adam Zagajewski, Daniel Stern, David Wojahn, Edward Hirsch, Alan Hollinghurst, Mark Strand, David Wagoner, Philip Levine, Charles Wright, Claudia Rankine, and Kimiko Hahn. In the late 1990s US News & World Report ranked the Program second only to Iowa, and recently Poets & Writers listed UHs Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writingone of the first in the nationas a top five Ph.D. program.
The Moores School of Music
The University of Houston's Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music is one of the premier music schools in America. Its remarkable faculty of internationally recognized performers, composers, and scholars; outstanding student body; state-of-the-art facility; and comprehensive programs make the Moores School of Music a natural choice for nearly 600 students annually. The schools commitment to academic excellence and the highest performance standards has ensured its role as a vital resource in the educational and cultural life of Houston and the state of Texas.
School of Theatre & Dance
The mission of the School of Theatre & Dance is to is to educate and prepare students for successful and meaningful careers in theatre, dance and related professions. We train actors, dancers, choreographers, dramaturges, playwrights, technicians, designers, directors, stage managers and teachers. Admission to our program is by audition or portfolio review.
We are located in building 507, formerly called Wortham Theatre on the campus map. Our building is now called the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts. It houses three performance spaces:
Wortham Theatre a 566 proscenium
Quintero Theatre a 190 seat black box
Studio 208 a 50 seat laboratory/rehearsal studio
We have the largest theatre department in the city of Houston, with 250 full-time graduate and undergraduate students. It is a high-energy program with a focus on new work and community partnerships. The theatre program emphasizes:
Study - To understand the foundations of theatre practice, theory and technique. Classroom work provides students with a context to discuss theatre and improve in their chosen specialization.
Application - To make theatre that builds upon classroom work. Our numerous productions challenge students and serve as a laboratory environment for exploration, problem solving, and creative expression.
Mentorship - To connect students with working professionals and build a network. Faculty and staff in our School get to know each student and provide guidance to prepare them for the job market.
The Center for Choreography produces two shows each year; Emerging Choreographers Showcase is created and performed by UH dance students and the Spring Dance Concert, which is choreographed by local guest artists and performed by the UH Dance Ensemble, the pre-professional dance company of the School. Our dance classes are open to non-majors and require auditions for placement.
We offer the only dance degree in the city of Houston. The dance program has three components:
Athletic - To develop disciplined bodies and minds by integrating physical strength, flexibility, stamina, coordination, with retention and speed of comprehension.
Intellectual - To encourage creative and thoughtful individuals, fostering students as innovative choreographers and teachers with the ability to clearly articulate ideas. To analyze movement within the contexts of tradition, history, art, music, and dance theory.
Human Interaction - To balance individual thinking with collective collaboration, and develop individuals who are able to effectively work with others to realize their potential in dance and in life.
