UF College of the Arts

This fall, longtime School of Music professor and director, Dr. Kevin Orr, steps into a new role as dean of the College of the Arts. In his first fall welcome message to the COTA community, he shares what the college means to him and what he’s looking forward to in the year ahead.

Read his message at the link in the post comments and UF College of the Arts bio.

Welcome to Fall 2026, Gators 🧡🩵

The University of Florida Alumni Association honors outstanding young alumni for their stellar strides in self, skill, and service. Are you that Gator? Or do you know a UF College of the Arts grad who is? Applications are now open to join this year's class of distinguished Gator alumni.

Apply here: https://connect.ufalumni.ufl.edu/events/40gatorsunder40

Applications close October 5.

Call to Artists: University of Florida Art in State Buildings
UF-675 Disability Resource Center

The Art Selection Committee seeks qualifications from artists interested in creating a new, site-specific artwork that is welcoming, accessible, and engaging for a wide range of users and experiences at the UF Disability Resource Center. Preference may be given to disabled artists and artists with lived experience of disability. The artwork should provide a meaningful multisensory experience and may incorporate tactile, auditory, and braille elements. Color, texture, and opportunities for interaction are encouraged. Artists may also choose to explore themes related to disability culture, disability justice, accessibility, or significant moments in disability rights history, including the ADA and the Capitol Crawl.

Location: Gainesville, FL
Art Budget: $76,250 for site specific art

Honoraria: Up to 3 finalists (artists or artist teams) will receive a $1,250 honorarium to meet virtually, and to create and virtually present a site-specific proposal. The honoraria are separate from the art budget.

Application Deadlines:
Stage 1 (10 images) due: August 28th, 2026 11:59 p.m. EST
Stage 2 (full applications) due: October 2, 2026 11:59 p.m. EST

More Information and Apply at: https://monochronicle.com/property/uf-675-disability-resource-center/

Criteria to Apply:
Artist has met at least two (2) of the following:
• The artist’s works are included in private, public, corporate or museum, collections;
• The artist has received awards, grants or fellowships;
• The artist has completed other public commissions on a similar scale;
· The artist has participated in exhibitions at major museums or galleries.

Questions? Contact: Oaklianna Caraballo (352) 240-4080 or [email protected]

Agroecology blended with puppet-making last week at UF Field & Fork in a workshop led by visiting artists from Puerto Rican theatre collective, Y no había luz with UF COTA's associate dean of research and strategic initiatives, Dr. Colleen Rua, and UF Imagining Climate Change director Dr. Terry Harpold.

This is just one highlight from a marvelous week of artmaking workshops and pupeteering tutorials that took place across Gainesville, culminating in the premiere of Y no había luz's newest play, "Comparsa del Tiempo" (Parade of Time) and a processional parade at Depot Park.

Check out Y no había luz's page for more work-in-progress photos and videos from the making of "Comparsa Del Tiempo" characters and props, hand-made by community members of all ages -- and stay tuned for more as we reflect on this memorable splash of summer in Gainesville!

Many thanks to workshop and artist talk hosts UF Field & Fork, The Lynx Books, Curia On The Drag, Hippodrome Theatre, Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center, Inc. and Bazaar47 🤲☀️

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Many in the University of Florida College of the Arts community already know Kevin Robert Orr as a professor, concert pianist and longtime director of the UF School of Music. This summer, he's taking on a new role: dean of the college.

In his first month as dean, COTA In the Loop News caught up with Dr. Orr to talk about the people and experiences that have shaped his approach to leadership and what’s on his mind as he envisions the future of the college.

Read our conversation with Dean Orr at the link in the comments.

The University of Florida University Galleries and the UF School of Art + Art History at the UF College of the Arts, University of Florida, join in mourning the passing of Trinidadian-Venezuelan artist Valerie Brathwaite.

We had the distinct honor of presenting her work as part of the exhibition "Vital and Veiled: Valerie Brathwaite and José Gabriel Fernández" hosted at University Galleries from October 2023 to January 2024. The exhibition, which traveled to the American University Museum in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, was accompanied by a publication featuring a comprehensive essay on Brathwaite's oeuvre by our colleague and professor, Dr. Rachel Silveri.

Dr. Silveri masterfully navigated the inherent vitality that Brathwaite transferred to her art, capturing it in this eloquent passage: "The work's title references a folk song made by Peter, Paul and Mary, whose lyrics are explicitly antiwar, suggesting that the cycles of nature will outlast humankind's folly. In its use by Brathwaite, the title announces the disappearance of the world's flora only to reimagine a new species in the outcrops of this chromatically rich sculptural form."

As beautifully demonstrated in the exhibition co-curated by Kaira M. Cabañas and Jesús Fuenmayor, Braithwaite's dynamic, colorful forms brought an urgent liveliness to the afterlife of modern sculpture. It is this profound energy that so many of us will carry forward whenever we remember Valerie and her enduring legacy.

Join artists from Puerto Rico for a week of community art-making, performance and celebration across Gainesville, July 18–25!

Theatre collective Y no había luz will host a series of free workshops culminating in a celebratory processional and performance at Depot Park featuring theatre, music, dance and visual art.

In the days leading up to the celebration, gather with y no había luz at your favorite spots around town for collaborative art-making workshops and conversation. Participants of all ages will help create the artwork that brings the final processional to life — no prior arts experience needed! Locations and collaborators include:

• HOW BAZAR
• Pulp Arts
• The Lynx Books
• Curia On The Drag
• Hippodrome Theatre
• UF Field & Fork
• UF Center for Arts in Medicine
• UF Center for Arts, Migration + Entrepreneurship
• UF ICC 🌿

👉 Visit YNHL.eventbrite.com for the full schedule of events and FAQ.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.