Christoph Wagner & Paula Corbin Swalin Faculty Features
Christoph Wagner always wanted to play the cello. The new assistant professor of cello at the University of New Mexico, Wagner started playing when he was six. Wagner says he watched his sister play the cello and never doubted that it was the instrument for him. What attracted him was the versatility of the instrument.
“You can do so many things with this instrument. You can play very low, you can play very high pitches. So you can mimic a huge spectrum of expressions, sounds, timbres and colors,” Wagner said. Wagner’s responsibilities will include growing the cello program at UNM, teaching courses related to strings and pedagogy and supporting the orchestra program. During the Fall 2023 semester, he co-lead the Sinfonia– the smaller orchestra.
Paula Corbin Swalin, soprano and Lecturer in Voice, was chosen as a classical singer participant to attend the Barcelona Festival of Song this summer. Each year the festival receives a select group of singers from around the world who immerse themselves in the art of song repertoire in Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese. Singers receive coaching, attend lectures and concerts, and participate in performances of Latin American and Iberian song, curated by the festival’s coordinator, Dr. Patricia Caicedo. Through her work at Mundo Arts and the Barcelona Festival of Song, Dr. Caicedo strives to preserve and promote Latin American and Iberian art song repertoire.
Engaged Practices, Professor Subhankar Banerjee’s Showcase, looking at Nature Journaling as Pedagogy
Congratulations to Professor Subhankar Banerjee, whose classes “Introduction to Art and Ecology” and “Biodiversity, Creative Practice, Justice” explored nature journaling as both a visual and literary practice, culminating in a showcase last week. Banerjee, Art professor and founder and director of the Center for Environmental Arts & Humanities, described the motivation behind the project as creating “to have an alternative outlet to engage, not only a class project, but for their own life, and their own journey of learning at UNM,” particularly in the context of students living in “the digital space.” He further says, “Teens, as well as young adults, are spending increasingly more time on the internet.
Art MFA Student, Hanna Brody, featured in The New York Times
Art MFA student, Hanna Brody, recently completed a painting for author T Kira Māhealani Madden that was featured in The New York Times. Her book, titled “Somebody Killed Her Assailant. Was Justice Served?” has a featured review written by Catherine Chidgey and original art by UNM MFA student Hanna Brody.
Analisa Peña awarded Hulsman Undergraduate Library Research Award’s Emerging Researcher
Congratulations to Analisa Peña, who was selected as the 1st place winner in the 2026 Hulsman Undergraduate Library Research Award’s Emerging Researcher category regarding her work, The Many Faces of Christ: Understanding ‘Trifacial Trinity’ by Gregorio Vasquez Arce y Ceballos.