Who We Are
The Visual Arts Center (VAC) is a 13,000 square-foot gallery situated in the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. Our mission is to provide a platform for artists, curators, and educators to experiment, test ideas, and take risks. Through our exhibitions and public programs, we aim to spark generative conversations about art and contemporary society. We believe art has the potential to unite, inform, and inspire us to take action toward creating a more just world. The VAC is always free and open to the public.
What We’re Fundraising For
The annual Senior Art Exhibition, taking place April 8–23, is a pivotal moment for young artists graduating from the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin. This exhibition showcases work by students receiving bachelor’s degrees in Studio Art, Art Education, and Art History, and provides a foundational professional practice opportunity for students to learn how to mount an exhibition. To do this, these students—our future Longhorn artists, creatives, and scholars—deserve our full support. Funds raised for this annual exhibition will enable us to continue a recent initiative in which we invite a guest curator to select outstanding students among the graduating class for recognition with the honor of Juror’s Distinction and scholarship awards. Your donation will also support installation costs necessary to produce a museum-quality exhibition for these talented students each year.
In May 2022, the graduating Studio Art MFA cohort will present their culminating thesis exhibition at the Visual Arts Center. A graduating class of seventeen students—one of the largest in recent memory—emerges from a time of extraordinary upheaval to present their capstone work. We hope to fundraise to support their ambitious projects and enable the production of an exhibition catalogue that will help these emerging artists launch their careers following graduation. As in past years, the catalogue will feature essays written by Art History graduate students, an important collaborative endeavor that serves as a valuable professional learning experience for our graduate students each year. The VAC invites audiences on UT’s campus, in Austin, and throughout Texas to the galleries this spring to celebrate the next generation of artists who will make their mark on the future.
Your Impact
Your donation to our student exhibitions will directly support the artistic work of students at the Visual Arts Center. This includes the production of new artwork; framing and installation costs; programming expenses, and the production of archival catalogue materials. A donation of any amount is greatly appreciated and will enable undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Art and Art History to realize the kinds of exciting and ambitious projects they bring to us each year!
For more examples of student exhibitions, please visit our exhibition archive.
We hope you'll consider supporting the next generation of artists in taking the first public step into their future careers with their culminating exhibitions at the Visual Arts Center!
Thank you to everyone for another amazing campaign! Below are the challenge winners for the final hours of the campaign!
Time for Another Surprise Challenge
1st Place: WINNER UT Men's Ultimate Club
2nd Place: WINNER The University of Texas Weightlifting Team
3rd place: WINNER Texas Trap and Skeet
Hungry, Hungry Bevo Challenge
1st Place: WINNER UT Men's Ultimate Club
2nd Place: WINNER Texas Trap and Skeet
3rd place: WINNER The University of Texas Weightlifting Team
40 to the 40 Surprise Challenge
1st Place: WINNER Longhorn Racing
2nd Place: WINNER UT Men's Ultimate Club
Final Countdown Challenge
1st Place: WINNER Texas Trap and Skeet
2nd Place: WINNER The University of Texas Weightlifting Team
3rd place: WINNER Texas Women's Rugby
Longhorn Pride Social Media Challenge
1st Place: Longhorn Band Student Association $1,000 Prize
Runner-up: Women's Club Lacrosse $250 Prize
Procrastinator Gift WINNER Longhorn Racing $500 Award
6,000 Milestone WINNER UT Men's Ultimate Club
7,000 Milestone WINNER Longhorn Racing
8,000 Milestone WINNER Black Student Alliance
State & International Challenge Winners - Check your donor wall these have been awarded!
Leaderboard Challenge Winners - Check the challenges page wall for the final leaderboards. Prizes will be awarded soon!