Welcome to the School of Art’s first electronic newsletter! The University took the initiative to go green a number of years ago and the School of Art is following suit to reduce its paper consumption and save during this economically challenging environment. One of the most significant highlights from the last academic year was the ten-year review of the School of Art's academic programs. The review committee--three faculty from the UW and three from peer institutions--noted that the school has made significant positive changes to position itself as a major unit within a large research university.

Curt Labitzke first visited Italy in 2002. Little did he know what a major part of his life that country would become. By December 2010, Labitzke, associate professor in the Art Division, will have led or co-led five quarter-long Studio Art Programs in Rome and three month-long Exploration Seminars in Tuscany. While many faculty hesitate to manage a study abroad program due to the work involved, Labitzke describes it as "truly my favorite teaching assignment and certainly the most rewarding of all my responsibilities as a faculty member."

Thanks to a successful partnership with South Asian Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies, the School of Art received funding for a new position in South Asian art history, with assistant professor Sonal Khullar joining the faculty in Autumn 2009. South Asia refers to the present-day nation states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka; Khullar's course offerings cover this region as well as the history of modernism and modernity in non-Western contexts.

When Design Division Lecturer Dominic Muren received his invitation to participate in the July 2010 TEDGlobal conference as one of 23 TEDGlobal Fellows, he was thrilled. TED is a nonprofit devoted to "ideas worth spreading." Its TED Talks website, with short talks presented at TED conferences, attracts millions of visitors worldwide. "I've been to quite a few lectures in my life and also count myself as sociable at conferences," says Muren. "TED tested my abilities like nothing I've ever experienced. There were so many talks to see. Some days there were as many as 20, and they were 18 minutes each. Often, these talks jumped from one fascinating topic to another, all equally exciting. I could feel my brain cramping up. To top it all off, when we weren't listening, we were talking with world-class scientists, like Julian Assange from Wikileaks, and musicians like Annie Lennox and Imogen Heap."