Finding success in the art world
The path to greatness
UNT and the city of Denton brims with creativity. On the UNT campus, you can attend one of 1,500 annual events, such as concerts and exhibitions, and participate in celebrations such as University Day. The Distinguished Lecture Series bring in national leaders and newsmakers, while the Fine Arts Series features innovative artists such as the Lost & Found Factory.
Make new friends by joining one of our 400 student organizations. Participate in an intramural sports team or work out in the Pohl Recreation Center. Hang out in the new University Union, where you can relax in the meditation room or listen to music from our award-winning student bands.
Denton, named “the best small town in Texas,” boasts a vibrant arts and music scene centered around the Courthouse-on-the-Square, which features offbeat shops and fantastic food, and serves as host to festivals year-round.
UNT students also benefit from our proximity to Dallas-Fort Worth, one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. Our growing region has the fourth highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. and hosts seven major art museums, making it the ideal location for our art and design students to find valuable internships and great career opportunities.
Our graduates have successful careers as studio artists, designers, art educators and art historians.
Notable alumni of the College of Visual Arts and Design include:
- Anila Agha (’04), artist who won the two top prizes at ArtPrize 2014, the international art competition held in Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Heather Amuny-Dey (’97), vice president and creative director, Nike Global Design
- Shirin Askari (’08), fashion designer and Project Runway contestant
- Victoria Bleakley-Stefos (’07), technical designer for fashion design label The Row
- Ron English (’84), pop artist whose work has been used in presidential campaigns, billboards, album covers and The Simpsons
- Brian Fridge (ʼ95), video artist whose work was included in the 2005 Turin Triennial and the 2000 Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial
- Amy Hofland (’97), executive director for the Crow Collection of Asian Art
- Elayne Rush (ʼ00), registrar for the DeKooning Foundation
- Stephen Sills (’73), principal of Stephen Sills Associates and recently included in Elle Décor’s A List of the Top 25 Designers
- Sunny Stafford (’03), executive creative director, digital at Victoria’s Secret
- Erick Swenson (’99), internationally recognized sculptor whose work was included in the 2004 Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial and at the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, in 2012
- Dana Tanamachi (ʼ07), graphic designer and chalk letterer whose work has graced the covers of O, HOW and TIME magazines