Dancers perfoming at the Lee Pascal Rose Garden

College of Fine Arts News

The College of Fine Arts provides an academic experience that heightens awareness of the physical, intellectual, and cultural world. We diligently prepare students for professional employment and/or post-graduate study in their artistic area.

Current Fine Arts News

colorful illustration of a tiger
Arts and Culture |

When the playwright's daughter asked whether giants tell stories about people, it sparked one of Rivera's most inventive works.

spring campus
Campus News |

Some of the most vibrant headlines featuring UNLV faculty and students.

A large orchestra performing on stage
Arts and Culture |

This evening will celebrate the university’s top soloists, demonstrating the talent cultivated within the UNLV School of Music.

two actresses in the stage production
Arts and Culture |

Inspired by E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India, the play unfolds as a fantasia set within a neocolonial landscape where a fragile friendship is placed under extraordinary strain.

NWFFest Festival Strategies Class
Arts and Culture |

UNLV students work behind the scenes to produce upcoming Nevada Women’s Film Festival.

black-and-white archival photo of film projector
Arts and Culture |

Berenice Chávez and Tamiya Nadine worked on the critically acclaimed films with ‘Come See Me in the Good Light’ and ‘The Singers’.

Fine Arts In The News

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

In a city known for hospitality, it's imperative to create the best atmospheres for dining, and that includes picking the best tunes. That's why a professor and sommelier are teaming up at UNLV to teach an elective course: "The Aesthetics of Music and Wine."

Las Vegas Weekly

Founded in 2009 by UNLV alumna Kathryn Kruse, Neon Lit began without a name, just as a loose gathering of Master of Fine Arts students reading their work to one another, as Wright describes it. By 2010, the series adopted its moniker, and over the past 16 years it’s expanded beyond the university corridors into a broader civic space, drawing audiences hungry for literary community.

KTNV-TV: ABC 13

Founded to support fair representation for women in film and elevate historically marginalized voices, the festival continues to grow each year. In addition to film screenings, the event features panel discussions on topics like the state of Nevada’s film industry and the possibilities of generative AI, along with mixers, meetups, and the annual Femmy Awards.

Travel Weekly

Whether clients are approaching Las Vegas for the first time or the 20th time, they are met by one of the world's most recognizable skylines. The Strip has changed constantly through the decades but retains an unmistakable grip on the imagination thanks to architecture that alternates between chaotic and wondrous, kitsch and classic. 

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

Architecture student and Mexico City native took home $10,000 scholarship for her digital design

KTNV-TV: ABC 13

Berenice Chavez, an editor on "Come See Me in the Good Light," credits Las Vegas and an UNLV professor with setting her on the path to an Academy Award nomination

Fine Arts Experts

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An expert in contemporary art history, photography and architecture history, urban studies, and economic geography.
An expert in public art, 3D printing, digital fabrication, and kinetic sculptures.
An expert on screen and voice over acting and Hollywood.
An expert in graphic and user interface design.
An expert in art curation and studio arts.

Recent Fine Arts Accomplishments

Amy Brown (Music) has been elected as the Region II Representative on the National Board of Trustees for the American Orff Schulwerk Association (AOSA) beginning July 1, 2026. During her three year term, she will represent and work with members from 7 states, which include Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada and…
Christina Watanabe (Theatre) was honored with a St. Louis Theatre Circle Award for her work on Lynn Nottage's Clyde's. From the review in Ladue News: "Lighting designer Christina Watanabe bathes the premises in a series of searing, stark lights as well as some sinister red hues which drift through floor grates, offering intriguing…
Christina Watanabe (Theatre), head of design/tech and assistant professor of lighting design, recently designed the world premier production of Spread by Jesús I. Valles at INTAR Theatre in New York City. This off-Broadway production has extended its initial run and will have the distinction of being filmed and added to the New York Public Library…
Department of Art members Hikmet Loe (Visiting Assistant Professor), Alina Lindquist (MFA 2028), and Andre Polidoro (BA Art History and BA Computer Science 2025) presented at the ExplOER Nevada Symposium. Their session, "Beyond Books: Open Education Brings Art History to Life," shared teaching practices and student engagement in the course Art 478…
Dale Melgaard (Film) has received the "Best Script" award for "The Phatman" at the Medellin International Film Festival.
Dale Melgaard (Film) has received an "Official Selection" for the screenplay, The Phatman, at the Medellin (Colombia) International Film Festival.