Connecting Through Art

Student and staff art ambassadors build appreciation, dialogue around new installation in Rowling Hall

A dozen volunteer art ambassadors have been trained as docents to guide newcomers, potential students, investors, and business partners through a massive new art installation in Robert B. Rowling Hall at The University of Texas at Austin.

Generously underwritten by Carolyn and Preston, UT ’62, Butcher, this permanent installation of 71 works by 23 artists was completed this spring. The art is displayed in hallways and study rooms throughout all five floors of Rowling Hall, which houses McCombs School of Business graduate programs.

“Our art ambassadors will lead tours but also spread the good news organically by striking up conversations,” says Caitlin Mullaney, Texas McCombs senior associate dean for business affairs and chief operating officer. Mullaney, who was instrumental in bringing the art installation to Rowling Hall, and others serving on the project’s Art Advisory Committee invited students and staff members who felt especially passionate about the art to volunteer as ambassadors.

Art ambassador Jerin Monkottayil says that as an art ambassador, he feels he’s adding to the sense of community for those who call Rowling Hall their academic home. When prospective students visiting the building inevitably ask about the piece by Jacob Hashimoto — a stunning, 5,000-piece suspended art installation within a five-story atrium — the tone shifts from the typical question-and-answer about the program to a free-flowing, human conversation.

Monkottayil says he feels a personal connection to the art tucked away in study rooms. For monotonous tasks like crunching through email, he chooses study rooms displaying works that capture his current state of mind: “Right now, I am sitting in a room with Suzanne Caporael’s take on a Google Data Center, which to me is a message that even something as boring as a data center can be seen as full of color, chaos, and possibility.”

“I truly believe the art at Rowling Hall positively influences the mood and well-being of those who pass through the building, whether they’re aware of its effect or not,” says art ambassador Kari Soustiel, MBA candidate, Class of 2027.

“It certainly enhances my own mood when I walk in. I have occasionally seen people pause and simply stand in front of the pieces, taking them in.”

A Lasting Appreciation for Art

Curator Mindy Taylor Ross is enthusiastic about the idea that exposing students to high-level art in their everyday lives will encourage them to appreciate and support the arts throughout their lives as successful businesspeople.

“At UT there is already a legacy of engaging with some of the best artists and cultural assets of their time, and there is a really big emphasis on art in Austin,” she says. “But that can only continue if people are supporting artists.”

Story by Sandra Kleinsasser