NEWS RELEASE

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2006

Contact: Contact: Mike Emery
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FARBER NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR CYNTHIA WOODS MITCHELL
CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Administrator to Oversee Interdisciplinary Public Programs,
Artist Residencies at UH Institution

HOUSTON, January 12, 2006 – The University of Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts has taken a major step forward. As the center enters its second year, its first managing director will be on board to help steer it toward new frontiers of creativity.

Karen Farber has been named managing director of the Mitchell Center, a new unit of the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences that presents interdisciplinary programs and fosters collaboration among UH’s Creative Writing Program, Blaffer Gallery and the Schools of Art, Music and Theatre. Farber will work with the center’s board of directors to develop the center’s performances and exhibitions, course curriculum and artist residency program.

“I was attracted to UH because of its spectacular programs in art, music, theater and creative writing,” Farber said. “This center combines the energies of all of these programs to showcase works that are both challenging and engaging. I believe that collaboration is the key to innovation in the arts, and I am very proud to be a part of this bold venture.”

Farber’s background and education lends itself to this multi-disciplinary environment. Originally from New York City, she moved to Houston in 2004 and served as major gifts officer for Houston Grand Opera (HGO). Prior to her move to Houston, she served as director of development for Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. Farber was a management and strategic planning fellow at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., and has worked in administration and development for a host of cultural institutions in New York, including the 92nd Street Y, the Eldridge Street Project and International Production Associates.

She is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Experimental Theater and a Master’s Degree in Performance Studies.

“We are truly delighted to have someone with Karen’s experience and depth serving as managing director of the Mitchell Center,” said Sidney Berger, director of the School of Theatre and executive director for the Mitchell Center. “Her arrival signals another great step forward for the center and will contribute to the kinds of programs that will make George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell very proud.”

This announcement concludes a national search for the center’s Managing Director conducted by the center’s Board of Directors and Dean John J. Antel of the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts is funded by a $20 million grant from George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell. It broke ground in November 2004, and a $4.5 million renovation to the building housing the Wortham Theatre and School of Theatre is expected to conclude this year. Once completed, the entire facility will be officially renamed the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts. Both the Wortham Theatre and School of Theatre will be housed in this building.

In Spring 2005, the center kicked off its first course, “Collaboration Among the Arts,” which grouped student writers, actors, artists and musicians to create and perform inter-disciplinary projects. It also hosted its first performance and exhibition from visiting artist Terry Allen, a Texas-based musician, playwright and artist.

The Spring 2006 schedule will offer performances and residencies for a range of dynamic visiting artists, including composer Stephen Montague, performance art/dance troupe Osseus Labryint, acting/writing group the Neo Futurists and audio-visual artist Golan Levin. In addition, the “Collaboration Among the Arts” course will return to the schedule and a new course, “Theories of Collaboration,” will be introduced.

For more information about the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston, visit www.mitchellcenterforarts.org.

About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.