Welcome!
As Dean of the College of Fine Arts and the university’s inaugural Vice President for the Arts, I’m delighted to share my excitement about the centrality of the arts at the University of Arizona.
The College of Fine Arts is a vibrant, world-class community of artists, designers, musicians, singers, actors, dancers, filmmakers, and theorists and scholars of the arts. Deeply embedded in the extraordinary natural and cultural landscapes of the Borderlands, our professional training programs and liberal arts degrees equip our students to be creative changemakers who transform the world in and through the arts. With Tucson and Southern Arizona as our ‘laboratory,’ students and faculty play a fundamental role in realizing the university’s land grant mission of community partnership and engagement.
In addition—as part of the broader division of Arizona Arts—the College provides all University of Arizona students, regardless of major, with meaningful experiences in the arts. In any given year we present and produce over 700 performances, exhibitions, and events that are fundamental to the creative and cultural vibrancy of our campus and region.
In sum, this is an exciting time for the arts at the University of Arizona. You can read about some of the latest accomplishments of our students, faculty, and alumni in the 2023 State of the Arts Impact Report.
If you are a prospective student, we’d love to talk with you further about the exciting prospect of welcoming you into our extraordinary creative community.
Warm regards,
Andy Schulz
Vice President for the Arts
Dean, College of Fine Arts
Q&A with Andy Schulz
What advice do you have for incoming students?
We have incredible opportunities in the arts. That’s been a huge priority of the university over the last several years. It’s not just about going to darkened spaces, whether those are theaters or galleries, but you’ll find the arts are present all over campus. We’re really excited to see you seize those opportunities and to think about the arts in unexpected ways. There are so many values in having those experiences. The arts provide us with a sense of wonder. The arts open up new horizons. The arts create a sense of empathy. And whether you are coming here to study in one of our professional training programs in the arts, or never been to a live play, we really hope that you’ll see the arts as fundamental to your experience here.
Be open to everyone. Be curious. There are so many opportunities to learn beyond the classroom and really what the experience of the four years of college is all about — whatever modality you’re doing that in — is really asking questions, admitting you don’t know, and learning from everything and everyone around you.
What does it mean to be a Wildcat?
The Wildcat family is so richly and beautifully diverse. There are students from all over the world, from every race, gender, ethnicity, studying everything you can imagine. But I think what binds all Wildcats together is a belief in our core values. And the one that I find most characteristic of what it means to be a Wildcat is determination, which I think is summarized in our motto, Bear Down.
What that means to me is a sense of finding your way through overcoming obstacles, solving problems. And I think ultimately that’s what characterizes us as Wildcats.