UGA Arts Collaborative

UGA Startup Social

UGA Startup Social
Thursday, September 24 from 4-7 PM
Sanford Stadium West End Zone – Gate 10
https://franklin.uga.edu/startupsocial

Come by the Arts Collaborative table to learn more about the mini grant program and get some free stickers!

An evening of free food, great conversations, and connections with students, faculty, staff, and community members interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. Whether you’re looking to meet future collaborators, learn about new ideas, or expand your network, this casual startup social is the perfect place to discover the entrepreneurial community across UGA. At 5 PM, jump into our Pitch Karaoke competition and develop a rapid-fire startup pitch for a chance to win prizes. No experience necessary! Just bring your creativity and be ready to have some fun.

Reading Room: The “Evolving” Crisis

American Journal of Arts Management
“The ‘Evolving’ Crisis: The Precarious State of the Arts in Higher Education”
by Rebecca Taylor, Debra Mexicotte, Claudia Dorn, and Nicoleen Willson
https://www.artsmanagementjournal.com/editions/volume-14-issue-2-may-2026

This paper argues that the contemporary state of the arts in U.S. higher education is characterized
by two structural dynamics that help explain the persistent vulnerability of non-revenue-generating
programs: the Advocacy-Resource Trap, a self-reinforcing cycle in which understaffed units cannot
generate the impact evidence needed to secure resources; and the Decentralization Paradox,
wherein programming distributed across multiple units produces fragmentation rather than
integration.

2026-2027 Mini Grants

Arts Collaborative Mini Grants support new creative interdisciplinary projects with mentorship and funding. Congratulations to the new mini grant recipients!

To learn more about the Mini Grant program, visit https://ugaartscollaborative.com/arts-collaborative-mini-grants/

Inquiring artfully: Provocations toward creative exploration

How might we create a bridge to artful inquiry for those who do not consider them “artists” or even creative? The project will develop resources that encourage scholars and community members across a diverse range of positionalities and disciplines to incorporate artful practices into their research and everyday life. Drawing on a wide range of sources and inspirations, we engage in community and interdisciplinary thinking, inviting participants not just to absorb ideas but to reflect, respond, and engage deeply with resources.

Project participants

Maureen Flint, Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy
Kiana Willis, Educational Theory and Practice

Remedios y Relaciones: Oral Traditions, Herbal Knowledge, and Healthcare Trust in Latino Communities

Remedios y Relaciones is an interdisciplinary arts-and-health collaboration exploring how herbal health knowledge is passed down through oral traditions, family relationships, and community memory within Latino communities in Athens, Georgia. The project brings together medical students, Latino community leaders, humanities scholars, and student artists/designers to examine how culturally rooted healing practices are communicated across generations and how they are discussed, misunderstood, or withheld within healthcare settings.

Project Participants

Amy Baldwin, UGA School of Medicine
Madeleine Ling, MD student
Nicholas Tsavaris, MD student
Ricardo Ramos, MD student
Venecia Lai, Psychology student
Charlotte Ling, Linguistics and Cognitive Science

Evolution Myths

Evolution Myths: True Stories about Life on Earth will be a musical composition that explores natural history and evolution with presentations by STEM students about the organisms and evolutionary developments depicted in the music. The composition is scored for clarinet, cello, and piano, and tells the story of six important milestones from the history of life on Earth, including the evolution of multicellular life and the emergence of the first amphibians onto dry land. It will also include a musical and scientific look forward to the future of evolution on our planet in the context of the climate crisis.

Project Participants

Nora Farley, Music
Kristen Miller, Biology
Emily Koh, Music
Grace LaCourte, Pharmacy, Biology, and Art
Rachel Trotter, Journalism,

Spotlight on the Arts Research Competition

Spotlight on the Arts LIVE Research Competition 4’33”
Deadline: October 23
https://arts.uga.edu/spotlight-on-the-arts/433-contest/

An homage to John Cage’s landmark composition of the same name, the 4 Minutes, 33 Seconds Contest highlights UGA student research in the arts. The event offers an opportunity for students to win prizes and to share their creative inquiry with peers, faculty, administrators and alumni throughout the university community. The competition is open to any graduate student or undergraduate student working on an advanced project who is conducting research related to the literary, visual, or performing arts or artists. The 4’33” Contest consists of an oral research presentation no longer than four minutes and 33 seconds in length. The 4 Minutes, 33 Seconds Contest will take place on Monday, November 16 from 1:30-3:30 PM and is part of UGA’s annual Spotlight on the Arts festival.

Webinar: Making the Most of Your a2ru Membership

Webinar: Making the Most of Your a2ru Membership
Thursday, September 24 at 3PM
https://a2ru.org/event/making-the-most-of-your-a2ru-membership/

We’re inviting all a2ru members to join us for a interactive and informal information session to meet a2ru staff, leaders, and network colleagues. We’ll kick off the academic year by sharing case studies about how member institutions have leveraged their a2ru memberships to advance scholarship, creative practice, and strategic initiatives on their campuses, and we’ll outline all your your a2ru benefits so that you — and your campus communities — can take full advantage of being a part of the network!

a2ru Webinar: The da Vinci’s Cube

The da Vinci’s Cube: Arts-Integrated Pathways to Human-Centered Innovation
Wednesday, September 16 at noon
https://a2ru.org/event/the-da-vincis-cube-arts-integrated-pathways-to-human-centered-innovation/

As an a2ru member institution, UGA students, faculty, and staff are eligible for free registration.

What role do the arts play in fostering innovation? This webinar introduces the da Vinci’s Cube, a new framework that places human experience — emotion, sensory perception, empathy, and aesthetics — at the center of discovery and innovation. Developed with colleagues at Leonardo and Northeastern University and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts Research Labs program, this work explores how human feelings and senses help reveal possibilities that conventional innovation models often miss.

Extending Pasteur’s Quadrant, the da Vinci’s Cube adds a new dimension — contemplation of sentiment — highlighting the value of arts-informed inquiry in identifying opportunities, framing problems, and generating novel ideas. The session will examine implications for arts-integrative research, interdisciplinary collaboration, higher education, talent development, and organizational innovation, offering a new lens on how artistic and scientific ways of knowing can work together to advance creativity and impact.