So many amazing things happened in the academic year of 2025-2026! From building renovations, student showcases, and more, the Arts have had quite the year. So here is a year in review.
Starting off with building renovations, the Arts have two big projects in the works. First off, it was thrilling watching the ground-breaking ceremony for the renovation of the McDonald Center. College of the Arts dean, Jeff Jarvis, provided remarks, along with university president, Shane Smeed, and others. Upon completion, the Art Department will move to this more central location on campus and enjoy expanded as well as updated facilities. The renovation will provide an approximately 20,000-40,000 square feet addition. It will create a central hub for arts, supporting student growth. The expansion is a key piece of Utah Tech University’s strategic plan to modernize facilities, centralize programs, and support its growing student population. It is estimated to be completed in about two years. The excitement in the air from students, faculty, and staff was palpable. Second, the Cox Performing Arts Center has been going through renovations and will be reopening this year as the America First Performing Arts Center. This renovation increased the facility’s size by 26,000 square feet for a total of 62,000 square feet and boosted seating capacity from 1,189 to 1,308 with the addition of a new second-floor balcony and a redesigned seating layout with center aisles. A new 4,000-square-foot rehearsal space and ballroom is also included. It will be home to Utah Tech Live, Utah Tech Music, Southwest Symphony, and the Heritage Choir. The ribbon cutting will be held Aug. 28 at 9am, followed by tours of the building.
There are always so many amazing opportunities occurring on and off campus of students showing off their work. In the fall, the Theatre department debuted an original musical, Gingerbread, an adaptation of the fairytale of Hansel and Gretel set in a dystopia dealing with themes of government surveillance and trafficking. In the spring, the Sears Invitational celebrated its 39th year, featuring artists from Utah to Hawaii to Montana as well as all over the American west. There were over 200 pieces accepted into the show, though over 1,000 had been submitted for consideration. For the second year in a row, some of the selected artists were current students. Around the same time, DOCUATH, our very own international film festival, had an amazing year with 31 feature films and 26 short films (ten of which were student productions). All were documentaries, highlighting different stories from the arts to sports to ordinary people to nature, among other topics. Student films had their own block on Friday afternoon and many students capitalized on free student entry to enjoy the festival. In March, over 30 Utah Tech Arts students participated in the 22nd Annual Fire and Ice Scholarship Gala. Hosted by the Utah Tech Foundation, it aims to provide needs-based scholarships for students. The theme for 2025 was the arts, therefore several students and faculty across departments demonstrated their art forms. Master of Fine Arts student, Tanecia Kelly Raabe, did a live plein air painting that was later part of the night’s silent auction. Some students posed as “living” portraits of famous art pieces. Others performed musical numbers and dances, including a scene from the spring theatre show Kneehigh’s Tristan and Yseult.
In addition to participating in these big events, students had a plethora of opportunities, primarily in the form of end of semester showcases. Digital Film held all day screenings of that semester’s film projects. Dance had performances featuring original student choreography. Theatre had their three shows for the year as well as a fun 72-hour play festival where students had only that much time to write, cast, direct, rehearse, then perform one act shows. Art had their annual department showcase in the Sears Art Museum featuring students and faculty, as well as several senior art showcases on and off camps. Music had performances galore from jazz to orchestra.
This year, we saw many of our students take further action to blaze their own trails with over 60 of them graduating from their respective programs of Art, Dance, Digital Film, Music, and Theatre. Alyssa Thurman (Digital Film) carried the college banner in the procession as the salutatorian. During commencement, valedictorian Johana Florian (Dance) shared her experiences on the Dance and Film study abroad to Brazil and how their local martial art form relates to life. “I had the opportunity… to learn and train in a martial arts dance form called capoeira. In capoeira, there is a saying that translates to ‘fall into a role.’ During the game, two players move in the middle of the roda, the circle. They kick, dodge, or use acrobatics… Even if you lose balance… you are taught not to collapse flat on the ground, but to roll out of it… life is a lot like the two players in the roda; improvised and unpredictable… There will be times when life knocks us down… The question is what will we do when that happens?… Although it may seem like we are alone in the roda… we are actually surrounded by others… Every person in that circle is important. Each has a role. In fact, a roda cannot exist with just one person… We are meant to share our journey with others through seeking help, encouragement, reassurance, and inspiration from those around us… never stop listening to stories, never stop sharing them, and never stop creating new ones. Keep turning the page, even when adversity has filled this chapter and never stop connecting with and loving the people you have met and the many more have yet to meet because like the players in the roda, life will never stop moving. So when you lose your balance, don’t be afraid to fall. Simply remember to roll with it.”
2025-2026 was a year for the books. With 2026-2027 on the horizon, we will see how things shape up for the next year!
By Allyson Twitchell, Marketing Coordinator for the College of the Arts