The J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts (TCVPA) is committed
to fostering excellence in all aspects of scholarly, creative, and artistic endeavors.
From groundbreaking research to trendsetting excellence in performance and exhibition,
our faculty are recognized pacesetters throughout the global arts community. To support
our faculty members' pursuit of excellence in their scholarly, creative, and artistic
agendas, we have created the TCVPA Faculty Research and Creative Activity Awards (RCAA)—a
broad internal funding opportunity that provides financial support to the college's
faculty as they continue high-level work in their fields of practice and study.
Texas Tech University, Faculty Research and Creative Activity Awards, J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts
It's your time.
RCAA - Award Recipients (Up to $5,000)
Annie Chalex-Boyle: Dr. Chalex-Boyle and the Durations Trio (Chalex-Boyle; Kevin Wass;
Susan Wass) will collaborate with TTU Music Composition students and the TTU Public
Art collection to commission, perform, and record on-site new works inspired by pieces
of the Public Art Collection.
David Dees: Mr. Dees and collaborator Dr. Nataliya Sukhina, Assistant Professor of
Practice in Collaborative Piano, in partnership with two nationally-recognized quartets
of current and former TTU students —Aruna and Mirasol—will record and publish an album
of significant selections from the solo and ensemble saxophone literature.
Robin Germany: Professor Germany will visit and photograph sites along the Gulf Coast
of the United States in an exploration of the complex web of interactions between
the human and natural worlds. She will also exhibit and publish selections from these
photographs.
Rebecca Wascoe Hays: Dr. Hays, with Dr. Jeffrey Peterson (Baylor University), will
record and publish an album consisting of world-premiere recordings of vocal music
by French composer Charles-Marie Widor.
Michael Mixtacki: Professor Mixtacki will publish and distribute a percussion methods
book highlighting concepts and techniques from Afro-Cuban percussion performance genres.
Kim Walker: Professor Walker will record and film a performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen's
In Freundshaft based on notes and materials from the composer himself, as well as
create a documentary following the creative and performance processes.
Lesley Wolff: Dr. Wolff will curate a multilingual traveling exhibition, The Kingdom
of This World, Reimagined, with artists and scholars from universities across the
United States, including Dudley Alexis, Chesley Antoinette, Simryn Gill, Leah Gordon,
and others. She will also work with Haitian cultural partners to build new connections
between Texas Tech and Haiti.
RCAA - Award Recipients (over $5,000)
Peter Fischer: Dr. Fischer and Dr. Ali Duffy, together with an interdisciplinary team
of dancers, choreographers, musicians, and media artists, will compose and bring to
life Evolution of Gaia, an evening-length work of original dance and music on themes
of motherhood and womanhood as they relate to the Earth's own cycles of birth, destruction,
and regeneration.
Jorgelina Orfila: Dr. Orfila, with Dr. Francisco Ortega, will lead the Animation-Making
Workshops series—the group's own established artistic outreach tool—in its implementation
through the Juvenile Justice Program of the State of Texas.
Andy Stetson: Dr. Stetson and his studio, in collaboration with the music advocacy
organization Diversify the Stand, will commission, record, and share new works from
composers of underrepresented backgrounds in a major effort to address artistic inclusivity
deficits.
Maia Toteva: Dr. Toteva and an interdisciplinary team of artists and researchers—including
Gediminas Gasparaviclus (University of Akron) and Tom Williams (Belmont University)—will
publish a series of podcast episodes examining the crossroads of political and artistic
discourse and subversion.
Sangmi Yoo: Dr. Yoo will create a major series of artworks intended for exhibition
and as a catalyst for a new study-abroad program in the Caribbean, with an emphasis
on environmental and botanical illustration.
The application cycle for both awards opens each Fall term on September 15 and closes
on November 15.