Community Artist Mentorship Program (CAMP)

CAMP places School of Art students in assistantship/mentorship positions with Houston’s most influential and diverse artists. Selected students spend a spring semester and an optional 10-weeks of summer as studio assistants to an artist-mentor. In addition to course credit, CAMP students receive an honorarium. A central tenet of the CAMP concept is that matches between artist-mentors and students must be mutually beneficial. While students connect to a more diverse set of influences and have a rich, professional experience, they also help their artist-mentors increase studio productivity and expand their network to include the UH community. 

Through hands-on creative activity and observation, our students gain insight into the day-to-day practice of a professional artist and build support networks that serve them after graduation. CAMP generates concrete career opportunities that set students on a positive trajectory upon graduation. Students grow into self-assured artists who proudly embody their identity.

Formal applications for CAMP positions include a questionnaire and interview. It is a competitive selection process and students/mentor matches are determined by assessing complimentary skills, goals and schedules.

Art History Fellowships

Graduate students (MAs) in the Art History Program have the opportunity to apply for five one-to two-year internships as curatorial assistants with four of the city’s leading art museums including the Menil Collection, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Students may also apply for a two-year internship as assistant art editor for Gulf Coast, the nationally distributed literary journal housed in the UH’s English department, and for a two-year internship as a research assistant with Public Art of the University of Houston System.

School of Art Speaker Series

The School of Art welcomes the public to engage with six visiting speakers annually. The series features practitioners and thinkers at the forefront of contemporary art, criticism and design. Distinguished guests offer a diverse range of perspectives on the most pertinent issues facing today's makers and scholars. In addition to presenting their work to a large audience of students and community members, speakers spend extended periods engaging directly with students in small gatherings for focused debate and conversation in formats tailored to their individual practice. Past engagements have included hands-on workshops, master classes, studio visits, demonstrations, and interactive performances. Past speakers include Gina Beavers, Rachel Weiss, Mary Maggic, Liza Enebeis, William Camargo, Samara Golden, John Yau, Julia Guernsey, Candice Lin, Derrick Adams, Charlene Villaseñor Black, Aruna D'Souza, Beverly Fishman, Coco Fusco, Nicholas Galanin, Jeffrey Gibson, Lisa E. Harris, Rob Hopkins, Miwa Matreyek, De Nichols, David Rokeby, RaMell Ross, Richard The, and Margaret Wertheim.