Institute created, screenwriter Arriaga is first artist-in-residence
Posted by: Carolyn Bobo


Wilkins described the artist-in-residence program as a "key feature in providing our faculty and students a unique opportunity to interact with some of the best professionals in their fields. Often, these artists will be professionals who do not normally work on a college campus, giving our students and faculty a tremendous opportunity to learn in ways not previously available."

The artist-in-residence program will feature the recruitment of prominent artists to lecture, perform and collaborate with UNT students and staff. Artists-in-residence are recruited internationally to help expose UNT faculty and students to new teaching techniques, new ideas and new ways of thinking about the creative process, Wilkins says.

In addition to the artist-in-residence program, two to four UNT arts faculty members will be designated Institute Fellows each year based on a competitive application process. Interested faculty members are asked to propose a specific project that would be completed during the one-year fellowship. Once selected, each fellow will be granted release from teaching assignments for the length of the project.

"In many disciplines, there is nothing more valuable than the time to be creative," Wilkins says. "Allowing members of our outstanding faculty to concentrate purely on the creative process will strengthen their skills, and make them even better teachers when they return to the classroom."

The Institute for the Advancement of the Arts began operations this fall under the oversight of a steering committee composed of James Scott, dean of the College of Music, Robert Milnes, dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design and Warren Burggren,dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

About Guillermo Arriaga
Arriaga's acclaimed films include 21 Grams, Amores Perros and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones and winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005.

His film Babel earned seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture, and nominations from the Writers Guild of America, BAFTA and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The film was named among the 10 best of the year by more than 90 groups and publications, including The National Board of Review, American Film Institute, The New York Times and Rolling Stone. Babel also received the Golden Globe Award for Best Dramatic Film of 2006.

Arriaga made his directorial debut with The Burning Plain, based on his own screenplay and starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger.

Arriaga, a native of Mexico City, also is a renowned novelist and the author of Guillotine Squad, A Sweet Smell of Death, The Night Buffalo and book of short stories, Retorno 201.