UH ARTS LEADERSHIP ALUM FINDS INSPIRATION AT THE INTERSECTION OF CURATION AND PERFORMANCE

Following the completion of a bachelor’s degree in dance at the University of Texas at Austin, Kaitlyn B. Jones confronted the daunting landscape of post-college life during an unprecedented period—the COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with this formidable challenge, she charted a course toward a future in arts administration. That journey began in the University of Houston’s Arts Leadership program.

“When I was in undergraduate, they used the words ‘artist-citizen,’” Jones said. “They use those words because being an artist, no matter if you stay in artistic practice or move into an administrative role or if you leave the arts completely, art and the way we look at the world kind of informs you how we move as a person in the world.”

“When I looked at the program at UH, and the title of the degree was Arts Leadership, it reminded me of the principles I had adopted in undergrad.”

Jones completed her master’s in the spring of 2022. During her studies, she focused her practicum on curation. Working with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, Jones found a passion for curating performance pieces in museums, environments not traditionally thought of as conducive to performance.

Jones served as lead curator for the 2021-2022 season of Convergence Research, an interdisciplinary performance series hosted in part by the Mitchell Center.

“It was really through the Convergence program that I learned the nuts and bolts of what it takes to put performance in a museum setting,” Jones said. “It became this really cool topic for me and that experience creating performance led me to start applying for different curatorial assistant positions across the country.”

Jones soon found a home as an administrative and curatorial assistant at Mid-America Arts Alliance. Based in Kansas City, the nonprofit focuses on strengthening communities and improving lives through cultural enrichment.

“I'm seeing just how grateful I am that I answered the call of the [Arts Leadership] program because a lot of the things that I do here—even though I'm working with more of a visual art space than a performance space—I help curate and coordinate traveling art and humanities exhibitions,” Jones said.

“The skills that I honed during the program are really, really helpful and I don't think I would have been able to step into this role had I not gone through the program.”

Jones stays connected with the Arts Leadership program at UH through the Arts Leadership Alumni and Student Association (ALASA), helping other students through the program’s coursework. She said she is thrilled to celebrate 10 years of the program, and looks forward to many more.

“[In 10 years] I anticipate the program is going to be more widely known across the country and you can go anywhere and apply for a job and they’ll know that this is the place that produces amazing arts leaders.” Kaitlyn said. 

“They’re doing something right. They’re producing these amazing arts leaders who go out into the world and are spearheading change in the arts world…"