HoustonPBS UH Moment: Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts

Theatre, art, music, dance, literature and more come together at the University of Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.

“The University of Houston’s Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts began in 2003 when George Mitchell made a gift to the University of Houston in honor of his wife, Cynthia Woods Mitchell, to form this center,” says Karen Farber, director of the Mitchell Center.

Farber says The Mitchell Center is an idea center dedicated to transformative, active, collaborative arts events that work with performing arts, visual arts and literary arts.

The Mitchell Center hosts world-renowned visitors – artists, writers, choreographers, academics and musicians – for lectures about their work and how collaboration has influenced their artistic development.

“We work with five units, particularly, at the University of Houston: the School of Art, the School of Music, the School of Theatre and Dance, Creative Writing Program and Blaffer Art Museum,” says Farber. “We generate collaborative projects between them.”

The Mitchell Center’s special projects include thematic initiatives, temporary public art projects, ongoing artistic, academic and community-based research, organizational partnerships and publications.

“Most of our projects hinge on a visiting artist coming in from outside and working with students. But we also present that work to the public,” says Farber.

Upcoming events from the Mitchell Center include a contemporary production of “The Frogs” by Aristophanes, presented by the Center for Creative Work at the UH Honors College. This contemporary production will be directed by artist-in-residence Aaron Landsman. It is one of two projects he is developing in 2012.

In May, the Mitchell Center presents Insight|Out, a weekend festival of media and live performance events including music, outdoor dance and films that highlight Houston history and explore how we traverse our local landscape.