MUSE

The Seduction of Art

Conceptual multimedia Texas artist receives accolades for her diverse works including artist’s books, photography, installation and public art.

Celia Álvarez Muñoz (’82 M.F.A.) likes to lure viewers with an image or a word. In examining issues of place, nation, culture and language, her objects and installations have tackled topics such as women’s issues and Latinx culture and have been displayed everywhere from an elementary school in New York City to the Whitney Biennial, considered one of the world’s most prestigious art exhibitions. Her decades of prolific work have earned her the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award in the Visual Arts from the Houston Art League and the 2011 Texas State Artist 2D.

“I hope people gain a sense of validation through my art,” she says. “I don’t make work that exposes suffering. I’m more about the celebration of who we are — the possibility and hope and of course ushering in the next generation.”

Muñoz encourages the next generation of artists to keep organized and stay motivated.

“You have to have goals,” she says. “How else can you challenge yourself? For me, I have to have that carrot dangling in front of me or the boot in the rear.” Read more about Muñoz’s career and inspiration. northtexan.unt.edu/seduction-art

I ENJOY USING LAYERS UPON LAYERS TO BUILD MEANING AND SYMBOLS TO TELL A STORY.” — Denton artist Randall M. Good (’91) on his Renaissance-inspired ceiling oil painting with 12-karat white gold leaf that he created in Joy (’92 M.S., ’95 M.S.) and Jim Sibley’s home. Read more at northtexan.unt.edu/space-beauty.

Learn about Granata’s writing process. northtexan.unt.edu/ everything-fine

Books

Everything is Fine

In his memoir Everything is Fine, Vince

Granata wanted to show that his family was more than what the media reported in TV clips or newspaper articles. In 2014, his family appeared all over the news after his brother Timothy, who suffers from schizophrenia and hallucinations, killed his mother during a psychotic episode.

“It bothered me that was the only story being told,” says Granata, a doctoral student in UNT’s creative writing program. “It felt important that I could tell a fuller story about my brother and my family.”

Freedom’s Ring: Literatures of Liberation from Civil Rights to the Second Wave Jacqueline Foertsch

The English professor explores the role of “freedom” and “equality” in literature of major rights-seeking movements from the 1960s and 1970s.

The American Professor Pundit: Academics in the World of US Political Media Valerie Martinez- Ebers, co-writer

College professors’ roles in contributing to political media content is examined by the University Distinguished Research Professor of political science.

Sword of Empire: The Spanish Conquest of the Americas from Columbus to Cortés, 1492-1529 Donald Chipman

The Emeritus professor of history draws on his expertise in colonial New Spain in this volume about the Spanish Empire in North America.

Stages of Life

Alum has gone from musician and ballet dancer to author.

Hugh Nini faced a lot of unexpected turns in his life. Growing up in Houston, he came to North Texas in the 1970s as a music major, but pursued ballet for a career. Following an injury, he pivoted to teaching — founding the Denton Ballet Academy in 1979, which trained thousands of students and became an institution in the city.

And then there was a spontaneous trip to a flea market in Dallas in 2000, where he and his now-husband Neal Treadwell found a picture from the 1920s of two men lovingly gazing at each other.

They ended up collecting more than 3,200 photos of men in love. That picture led them to compile similar images of men into the book Loving: A Photographic History of Men in Love 1850s-1950s, which has garnered coverage in the Washington Post, Esquire and Rolling Stone and TV interviews from around the world.

The title of the book reflects not just the photos, but also the choices Nini has had to make throughout his life.

“The message of the book is love,” he says. “The subjects of the book all project love.”

Readers have expressed how much the book means to them, including at one small book signing.

“There were tears,” Nini says. “People are quite moved when they see this book. We get communications from people every day expressing what this book has meant to them. It’s been overwhelming.”

Learn about Nini’s time as a student studying with Anshel Brusilow. northtexan.unt.edu/stages-life

MUSE

PAULETTA WASHINGTON APPEARED IN THE TV SERIES GENIUS: ARETHA, STREAMING ON HULU. WASHINGTON, A TALENTED PIANIST, ATTENDED UNT’S COLLEGE OF MUSIC AS A GRADUATE STUDENT IN THE EARLY 1970S BEFORE SHE PURSUED A CAREER IN THEATER.

Calling the Shots

Alumna directs some of TV’s most popular shows.

Bola Ogun was about to realize her dream. After years of working in Hollywood, she was ready to direct her first major production — an episode of Queen Sugar, the drama that runs on OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network.

So what was it like when she was able to call “action” for the first time?

“It’s a little bit like, ‘I’m really doing this!’ and ‘Oh my god, I better not screw this up,’” the musical theatre major says.

Now she’s racking up the credits — including episodes of Big Shot, God Friended Me, Legacies, Lucifer, Walker and the season finale for the upcoming second season of Raising Dion.

As a director, she not only oversees what happens on screen, but also off. Ogun knows it’s a unique job.

“I’m focused, and I’m having fun,” she says. “We play pretend for a living and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be fun. We get to blow stuff up. We get to use gross special effects on people. It’s never the same, and it’s exciting.”

Read more about Ogun’s rising career. northtexan.unt.edu/calling-shots

Visioning Music

Carmen Menza (’99) wants you to see her music.

That is the goal of the composer and visual artist’s Negotiating Dialogues, a five-movement modern chamber work inspired by technological advances in communication like AI and machine learning. The work includes three other artists and was presented by the members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Sept. 18.

A central element of this work will be improvisation and reconstruction of the original composition through real-time recordings of players that are manipulated and played back in subsequent movements. Generative animation responds to music through software creating a dialogue between music and visuals.

“It is theme and variations in a new light,” Menza says.

The artists include her husband, composer Mark Menza, who studied for his master’s in composition at UNT in the 1980s, and visual effects artist/projectionist Joel Olivas (’16). Menza’s work has shown at Dallas Aurora Light-Video-Sound Biennial and the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

“I enjoy creating immersive works that elevate the musical component to be equal to that of the visual and where music is interactive with imagery,” she says.

Clear Focus

Seattle photographer Alex Garland (’06) was covering a Black Lives Mat-

ter protest when a distinctive sound reverberated through the air.

“I know what a gunshot sounds like,” he says. “I knew it was close.”

The gun had been fired after an armed motorist attempted to smash through metal barricades and drive through the crowd. In order to stop him, a protestor ran up to the motorist, punched him and grabbed the steering wheel. The bullet hit the protestor’s arm. Garland, who always carries a trauma kit, ran toward the protester and wrapped a tourniquet above the wound.

That action earned Garland the National Press Photographers Association’s 2020 Humanitarian of the Year. Garland, who has drawn on his UNT emergency management degree while working at protests around the world, says he feels honored by the award.

“You know I kind of struggled with that a little bit,” he says. “I only got this award because someone got shot and I acted in a humane way. There shouldn’t be an award for this, but I’m very grateful to be recognized.” Learn more about Garland and his value journalism. northtexan.unt.edu/clear-focus

Major League Dreams

Katy Cagle landed a unique client — the Texas Rangers.

Katy Cagle (’10) had always been interested in architecture. But when she toured AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, she found her calling.

“There are people who design the interior of stadiums?” she thought. “Sign. Me. Up.”

Cagle, vice president of Venues Interiors for HKS Architects, received the plum assignment of her career as an interior designer — designing the clubhouses for the new Texas Rangers stadium, Globe Life Field. But the avid sports fan did not expect how surreal the five-year assignment would be.

“Nobody told me I was going to present to Michael Young,” she says. “I had a bit of a moment. I get starstruck, I’m not going to lie.”

Cagle also helped design the locker room for the Rams at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, which will host the 2022 Super Bowl. Her next project will be a facility for a major league cricket team in Grand Prairie.

The most challenging part of her job? “Every project, we’re trying to one-up the project we did before,” she says. “There are so many things we could do.”

But, she says, “I love every aspect of it.”

Read more about Cagle’s celebrity encounters and clubhouse designs. northtexan.unt.edu/major-league

Forward Thinking

What Makes Your Amusement Park Industry Job Fun?

“I did pinch myself the first six months to a year. How am I doing this? Is any of this work? At Target, I often see kids running in the aisles to grab the last Aladdin toy. The best part is the end result, seeing everything come to life.”

— Demarcus Johnson (’12), assistant manager of public affairs for Disney Consumer Products, Games and Publishing, who oversees the products for Aladdin, Soul, The Lion King, Black Widow and The Royal Detective

“I think a big part of the love for this industry is it is an escape for a little bit. It allows people to forget their troubles a bit. It doesn’t matter what you’re dealing with when you’re transported to another world. From the person who built haunted houses in the backyard as a kid, this is not work!”

— Cody Martin (’07), consumer experience project manager for Six Flags in Arlington and former project manager for Merlin Entertainments, where he helped with the Justice League: A Call for Heroes attraction at Madame Tussauds in Orlando

“It goes back to my days in radio — creating content and experiences people want. My favorite project was the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Diagon Alley. There is such deep fandom with those stories, the experience brought me such joy seeing people walking into the land for the first time. It was pretty memorable.”

— Eric Gray (’04), former broadcaster for KNTU and senior director of content and engagement at Universal Parks and Resorts, who worked on the opening of the Volcano Bay Theme Park, Transformers: The Ride 3-D, Bourne Stuntacular, five hotels and dozens of other attractions

Read more about these alumni and their careers. northtexan.unt.edu/amusement-park