UH ARTS LEADERSHIP FOUNDING DIRECTOR REFLECTS ON 10 YEARS OF THE INNOVATIVE GRADUATE PROGRAM

In the vibrant Houston arts scene, diversity thrives not only in the art itself but also in the creators behind it. Leading this dynamic and ever-evolving community are the trailblazers who have found their home in the prestigious UH Arts Leadership program.

The graduate degree program takes an innovative, entrepreneurial approach to equipping creative professionals with the skills necessary to establish, manage and sustain arts organizations of any scale. Within this program, two distinct graduate certificates thrive: Arts and Health, and Museum and Gallery Management.

Among its practitioners is Fleurette S. Fernando, the visionary founding director of the program. With a keen eye for the rapidly-changing arts landscape across the US, Fernando has expertly crafted a program that reflects and embraces these shifts, cementing its position as a driving force in the realm of arts education.

“I have two children of my own and this program is like my third child. Now, it's growing into its adolescence, its maturity, its young adulthood. It's allowed me to understand a lot about myself.”

Fernando's journey as an educational artist began in her own adolescence, where she immersed herself in the worlds of dance, choreography, and acting.

“Even when I was a teenager, I was teaching dance classes to make money on the side. I was always involved in the educational side of the art, and I'm very passionate about that,” Fernando said.

As a young adult, Fernando moved to Houston and began familiarizing herself with the city’s arts landscape as an adjunct theater professor at the University of Houston-Downtown. 

“Because of my time as an adjunct in those early years in Houston, I got to know the city better, got to understand the sort of landscape of the artists and arts communities and institutions and smaller companies and larger companies,” Fernando said.  

Fernando soon transitioned into a role as the director of grants at the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA).  

"The training that we were providing at Houston Arts Alliance with our grantees was focused on balancing budgets, writing grants, how to market their work better, and how to grow their organizations,” Fernando said.

"I thought, ‘If I ever had the opportunity to teach this in a formal way, I would embrace that because I understand the work from so many different perspectives as an artist, as an artistic director, as a grant maker, and as a teacher.’”

Fernando would not have to wait long for that opportunity.

“In my last year at HAA, there was conversation in the city about creating this degree program at UH,” Fernando said. “And I thought, ‘Okay, I'm going to put my name in the ring for that.’ And I did. And that was 10 years ago.”

Being a working professional herself, Fernando intimately understands the challenges of juggling the creative and financial aspects of artistic life. Armed with this invaluable insight, she has dedicated the past decade to meticulously designing the program, ensuring her students receive nothing short of an exceptional and enriching experience.

“We want it to be flexible for them because it's always been what is called a professional graduate program, meaning we're catering to working professionals,” Fernando said. “They work during the day, they take classes at night. If they have to take a semester off for some reason because they're going on tour or they're in a production, they can do that.”

As the program’s primary architect, Fernando said she takes immense pride in its achievements and the transformative journey it has undertaken.

“We have over 80 alumni who graduated from the program since the beginning,” Fernando said. “We have a student and alumni group now called ALASA—the Arts Leadership Alumni and Student Association—that has taken off. So the community of these young people who are now finding themselves in leadership positions, in the community or who have become directors of programs, are now hiring our recent grads.”

“That's been the most interesting thing to watch over ten years—seeing the evolution of the students and the alumni and how they're giving back to the community while staying connected to the program thereby building a strong professional network for each other."

With the program’s 10-year milestone approaching, Fernando feels gratitude for the many students that she’s had the opportunity to mentor and guide.

“I feel really proud of what the students have been able to do to solidify our place in the University,” Fernando said. “The program’s success is due to the amazing instructors we’ve had through the years, all of whom are working professionals in the field as well as brilliant and compassionate educators. I feel good about the fact that the program is in a strong enough place that, whatever may happen to me, it's going to survive and thrive.”