The UNM College of Fine Arts Recognizes Recipients of the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Awards

Department of Art: Jaune Quick-To-See Smith
1980 Master of Fine Arts degree

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation. She calls herself a cultural arts worker. She uses humor and satire to examine myths, stereotypes and the paradox of American Indian life in contrast to the consumerism of American society. Her work is philosophically centered by her strong traditional beliefs and political activism.Smith is internationally known as an artist, curator, lecturer, printmaker and free-lance professor as well as a mentor. In 2023 Smith was the first Native American to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, titled Memory Map, which is currently traveling across the U.S. During her 40-plus year career, Smith has organized and curated over thirty Native exhibitions.

Smith has given over 200 lectures at museums and universities internationally and has shown in over 125 solo exhibits and over 650 group exhibits. Her work is in collections worldwide, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Brooklyn Museum; the Museum of Modern Art, Quito Ecuador; the Whitney Museum NY; only to name a few. Smith earned a Bachelor of Art Education degree at Framingham State, MA (now University) and a Master of Fine Arts degree at The University of New Mexico. Smith elected fellow alumna Hazel Batrezchavez to accept the Distinguished Alumni Award on her behalf, as the event coincided with a prior engagement with a major museum.
*Photo courtesy Grace Roselli.

Dept. of Film and Digital Arts: Brian Levant
1974 Bachelor Degree in University Studies

Brian Levant has been at the creative helm of some of the biggest franchises in family entertainment. Nearly every year since the late 1970s, Levant has lectured and worked with film students at The University of New Mexico, including teaching his own course Sitcom Boot Camp. After his name appeared on over 400 episodes of television, including being a show runner on Happy Days and Mork & Mindy, Levant turned his attention to directing feature films. His directing credits include: the original Beethoven, the Steven Spielberg-produced box office juggernaut The Flintstones, the holiday classic Jingle All the Way starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Are We There Yet? with Ice Cube, and the 2010 Jackie Chan vehicle, The Spy Next Door, which was shot in Albuquerque.

Smith has given over 200 lectures at museums and universities internationally and has shown in over 125 solo exhibits and over 650 group exhibits. Her work is in collections worldwide, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Brooklyn Museum; the Museum of Modern Art, Quito Ecuador; the Whitney Museum NY; only to name a few. Smith earned a Bachelor of Art Education degree at Framingham State, MA (now University) and a Master of Fine Arts degree at The University of New Mexico. Smith elected fellow alumna Hazel Batrezchavez to accept the Distinguished Alumni Award on her behalf, as the event coincided with a prior engagement with a major museum.
*Photo courtesy Grace Roselli.

Department of Music: Colonel Jim R. Keene
1988 Bachelor of Music degree

Jim Keene has led thousands of performances in 47 states and seven countries including for 6 U.S. Presidents. He led multiple televised productions, most recently earning a New York Emmy Award for a CBS production, Songs of Service and a Grammy Award for “Best Immersive Album” in 2022 as conductor of the United States Army Field Band. Keene was leader of the US Army Field Band, the US Military Academy Band, Commandant of the Army School of Music and served the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” as director of The Army Chorus.

Keene has also led The Army Strings and the Army Orchestra, the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Ground Forces Band in Atlanta. He led the Joint Forces Chorus at George H. W. Bush’s memorial service, and music for the interments of Presidents Ronald Reagan and Gerald R. Ford. He has conducted the New York Philharmonic, The Detroit Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, The Boston Pops, the Japan Central Band, and the Dallas Winds. He has performed with numerous artists including Ray Charles. He is a native of Albuquerque.

Dept. of Theatre & Dance (Dance): Marisol Encinias
2008 Bachelor of Art degree & 2012 Master of Fine Art degree

Marisol Encinias is an associate professor of dance within The UNM Department of Theatre & Dance. UNM is the only university in the U.S. to offer a degree in flamenco dance.

As a fourth-generation flamenco dancer, Professor Encinias began studying this historic form of dance at the age of five with her grandmother Clarita Garcia de Aranda. In addition to teaching at UNM, she is currently the executive director of the National Institute of Flamenco (NIF), a nonprofit arts organization founded by her mother Eva Encinias, in 1982. Encinias has taught at NIF since 1990 and has served as the artistic director and curator for the annual Festival Flamenco Internacional. Encinias is also credited with helping to found the charter school, Tierra Adentro, that offers a model of culturally relevant and academic success in New Mexico.

Dept. of Theatre & Dance (Theatre): Andrea Fellows Fineberg
1990 Bachelor of Art degree

Andrea Fellows Fineberg has been with Santa Fe Opera for more than 33 years and director of community engagement since 1993. She brings a deeply rooted love and appreciation for the performing arts to her work as administrator, educator, producer, and co-host for the award-winning podcast Key Change, and as a librettist. As a librettist she collaborated with John Kennedy on Trinity and Stephen Paulus on Shoes for the Santo Niño.

In 2016, UnShakeable, with Joseph Illick, premiered in Santa Fe, and in the outpouring of activities for the commemoration of the Shakespeare 400, was cited by The New York Times. For Dayton Opera she wrote an original dialogue for The Magic Flute and The Abduction from the Seraglio and, in February of 2022, saw the world premiere of Finding Wright with composer Laura Kaminsky. As a collaborative artist, Fineberg has had the privilege of founding and then working with the Academy for the Love of Learning’s Lifesongs¸ writing original, musical narratives with individuals in hospice care since its inception in 2007.

Harris Smith, Dean of UNM Fine Arts stated, “It is time to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the alumni of The UNM College of Fine Arts. Next year, 2025 will mark the 125th year of the Department of Theatre and the 95th year of the Department of Fine Arts at UNM. The Bachelor of Arts was first offered in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNM in 1916. Since then, many creative professionals have built their careers on the fine arts education that they enjoyed at The University of New Mexico. These Distinguished Alumni represent our diverse and talented pool of students, the commitment and dedication of our amazing faculty and staff.”

Nominations for the Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2025 will open again in Fall 2024, with a deadline of February 1, 2025.

For more information, please contact Shelly Smith, Director of Development, UNM Fine Arts at shelly.smith@unmfund.org or Kristine Purrington, Executive Director of Academic Development, UNM Fine Arts at kristine.purrington@unmfund.org