Andrew Schulz was dean of the UA College of Fine Arts for less than six months when he took on an expanded role with a pretty remarkable goal: Integrate the arts in every aspect of campus life, from athletics to academics.
In the five years since being appointed vice president of the arts by UA President Robert Robbins, Schulz oversaw the creation of Arizona Arts, a division that includes the four academic programs under the College of Fine Arts umbrella — School of Dance, School of Music, School of Art and the School of Theatre, Film & Television — and three presenting entities: the Center for Creative Photography, the University of Arizona Museum of Art and Arizona Arts Live — formerly UA Presents — which brings a wide range of performing arts to UA stages.
“Dean Schulz has led Arizona Arts through extraordinary times including the global pandemic, with remarkable vision and resilience,” Ronald Marx, the UA’s interim provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said in a written statement Thursday when news that Schulz will step down next summer became public.
Andy Schulz will step down as University of Arizona College of Fine Arts dean when his contract ends on June 30, 2025. He plans to return to the classroom after taking a year sabbatical to write a book.
Schulz, whose 2024 salary is listed in the UA database as $341,315, will remain in his role until his contract expires on June 30, 2025. He then plans to take a year sabbatical to write a book on the legacy of Islamic art and culture in Spain, which he has been researching off and on since 2010, before returning to the UA to teach.
“This feels like the right time to think about the next adventure,” Schulz said. “We set out to achieve a pretty audacious goal to make the arts central at the UA. ... I’m excited about what we’ve accomplished, but I’m ready to hand it off to somebody else.”
Schulz, who trained as an art historian, started his academic career in the classroom before transitioning to administration. He held administrative and tenured faculty positions at Pennsylvania State University, the University of Oregon and Seattle University before coming to Tucson.
UA was among an elite group of American universities to have a VP of arts when Robbins tapped Schulz in January 2019. Robbins told Schulz that arts and athletics were the UA’s front porches, the entry points for the community.
“Most people are first exposed to the university through arts or sports,” Schulz said, including the community attending performances at Centennial Hall and other campus venues and sporting events at McKale and Arizona Stadium.
Andrew Schulz speaks to students after a presentation at the University of Arizona Museum of Art last spring.
“We have 300,000 people attend arts events yearly when you count our partnership with Broadway In Tucson,” he said. “That’s a lot of people that starts to rival football attendance. For a couple years, we actually beat football.”
Schulz during his tenure, also spearheaded major renovations of the UA’s arts facilities, led the UA’s efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion, and oversaw four years of continued historic growth in undergraduate enrollment, which UA officials said is the largest in the past 36 years.
In the coming weeks, Marx will meet with incoming UA President Suresh Garimella, who is set to join the UA Oct. 1, to discuss the process to find Schulz’s replacement.
