College of Arts + Architecture

Blaine Brownell, director of the David R. Ravin School of Architecture, examines the role of the built environment in both the spread and the mitigation of infectious disease historically, currently and in the future in “The Pandemic Effect: Ninety Experts on Immunizing the Built Environment.”

Brook Muller, dean of the College of Arts + Architecture, has announced he will depart the University effective June 30. Lee Gray, professor of architectural history, will become interim dean.  

“I would like to thank UNC Charlotte for giving me the opportunity to lead the College of Arts + Architecture,” Muller said. “I have learned so much from its magical constellation of creative disciplines and believe strongly in the mission of the college to promote the arts and design as engines of civic imagination.”  

Kaustavi Sarkar, assistant professor of dance, has received a $10,000 “Grant for Arts Projects — Dance” from the National Endowment for the Arts” for the project, “ShilpaNatyam: Creating a New Vocabulary in Indian Dance,” in partnership with New York-based choreographer Maya Kulkarni.

Elena Vazquez Pena, a research fellow in technology and design in the David R. Ravin School of Architecture, won the 2023 Architectural Research Centers Consortium Dissertation Award.

Sequina DuBose, assistant professor of voice, will sing the role of Clara in the Opera Carolina production of George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” Performances will take place Jan. 22-28 at the Belk Theater in the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

She also recently released her debut album, “Blurred Lines: 21st Century Hybrid Vocal Literature.”

Five College of Arts + Architecture faculty members and one retired professor are among the recent recipients of grants from the local Arts & Science Council.

Associate Professor of Dance Tamara Williams has received a 2023 Cultural Vision Grant; Professor of Art Maja Godlewska, Associate Professor of Dance Kim Jones, Professor of Art Lydia Thompson, Professor of Theatre Robin Witt, and retired ceramics professor Keith Bryant received 2023 Artist Support Grants.

Theatre students Logan Pavia and Sam Pomerantz ’22 were featured performers at the 2022 Holiday Pops concert presented by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.

Professor of Architecture Kyoung Hee Kim and Assistant Professor Weimin Wang in the Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management have received a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State to launch the “Green Buildings Innovation Program.”

Sean Gallagher ’00 and Jeff Kenoff ’92, alumni of the Ravin School of Architecture, recently earned Awards of Excellence from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat at the 2022 CTBUH International Conference. 

Gallagher was project director for the David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago, which won Best Tall Building Worldwide, the top honor, along with Best Tall Building Americas and Best Tall Building Under 100 Meters.

Architecture alumna Claire Shue ’19 is member of the team awarded the Grand Prize in the 2022 American Institute of Architects Film Challenge. The team’s film, “a dream starts here,” was created to build support for a community center in Calhoun Falls, South Carolina.

Shue is one of the project leads for the Dream Center, the subject of the film, which will repurpose a dilapidated building and revitalize the center of the small, declining town.