Articulations

Kenneth Hale, who took on the position of Acting Chairman for the UT Department of Art and Art History when former chair David Deming was tapped to serve as Interim Dean for the university's College of Fine Arts, has gotten the nod to stay in the chair of the Chair for the long haul. The powers that be have decided that the longtime faculty member -- 24 years in the shadow of Memorial Stadium -- is perfectly capable of steering the department permanently. We got the word before the PR arm of the university had a chance to issue a formal press release. Seems they got held up because they couldn't find a picture of the new chair with a tie on. Congratulations to Mr. Hale.

On the Funding Front

Salvage Vanguard Theater has been awarded $25,000 from the Meadows Foundation. The funding, which will be disbursed in a two-year grant, will support a new staff position for the company, that of Marketing and Communications Director, as well as a series of small-scale productions designed to develop company artists and audiences. SVT's next effort will be just such a production: a program of 10 new five-minute plays to be performed under the title The Best Salvage Vanguard Holiday Ever. The production will be presented in December at Little City Espresso Bar and Cafe. For info about the production or SVT, call 912-0331.

Austin Symphony Orchestra has received a $10,000 grant from Mervyn's California. The grant helps support ASO's Young People's Concerts, which enable fourth, fifth, and sixth graders in the Austin Independent School District to experience concerts in their schools and acquire greater familiarity with classical music and musical instruments. For info about the symphony or its programs, call 476-6064.

Getting Seen

If you had been in Mexico City this past week, you would have had a chance to see an Austin choreographer competing against 40 other choreographers from across South, Central, and North America. Holly Williams, who heads the Dance program in the UT Department of Theatre & Dance, was in the Mexican metropolis in the INBA-UAM PRIZE/Fourth Continental Contemporary Dance Competition, an event sponsored by the National Council for Culture and Arts and the Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico which draws entries from over 700 choreographers throughout the two continents. Williams -- one of only four Americans chosen to compete this year -- was invited to present her dance Palomino, a trio set to an original score by another local, Charles Ditto, doctoral candidate in the UT School of Music. And performing it? More Longhorns: UT Dance Repertory Theatre members Laura Cannon and Jessica Chisam and UT faculty member Jeffrey Bullock. Williams calls her selection "a great honor" and an exciting opportunity for her work, her dancers' work, and Ditto's score to be appreciated by "an international audience."