Finding Wonder on Campus
Meet Zoie Buske, who uses art to teach critical thinking and new ways to see the world.
You don't have to leave campus to visit a museum.
The University of Houston's public art collection transforms campuses across the UH System into museums. Established in 1969, the Public Art of the UH System collection has grown into one of the nation's most significant public art collections at a university. Rather than being housed in a single building, the collection is spread throughout UH System campuses, making world-class artwork part of everyday campus life.
Bringing the collection to life is a team committed to helping students, educators and visitors connect with public art in meaningful ways.
As the manager of education and engagement for Public Art of the UH System, Zoie Buske plays a key role in creating those connections by inspiring visitors to discover the artwork and see the campus through a new lens.
We spoke with Buske about her role, her favorite artwork in the collection and how Public Art UHS is inspiring the next generation of artists.
Zoie Buske is your guide to the stories hidden in UH's public art collection.
Zoie Buske is your guide to the stories hidden in UH's public art collection.
Tell us about your role as Manager of Education and Engagement for Public Art UHS and what a typical day looks like.
ZB: My role is to facilitate museum education for the collection, with a particular focus on engaging K-12 students and educators.
A typical day is spent coordinating student visits and creating interdisciplinary field trips with partners across the University. Students experience the public art collection, create artwork of their own and engage with other campus arts and cultural resources.
One of my favorite stops is Frank Stella's “Euphonia” in the Moores Opera House lobby. We tell students the best way to experience artwork on the ceiling is to lie down on the floor. As they lay there and gaze up at the soaring colors and shapes above them, you can watch as the wonder they hold at the world grows.
Our goal is to cultivate critical thinking, foster a sense of self and, most importantly, show young minds what is possible. For many students, this is their first time on a college campus. If they leave feeling like they belong here, we've done our job.
How do you connect K-12 students and educators with UH’s public art collection?
ZB: In addition to our field trips, we do in-school programming, summer camps and educator professional development series all centralized around the public art collection.
Our teaching artist Claudia Montero is the mastermind behind much of our programming, especially our work in schools. This past school year, we launched several in-school programs that introduced students to the concept of public art and works from the UHS collection before guiding them in creating their own public art projects.
One of my favorite programs involved creating art bikes with Houston ISD students. Many people know about Houston's Art Car Parade, but the Orange Show also hosts an Art Bike Parade for young riders. Thanks to a donation of four bicycles from Trek Bicycle Shop, we brought the bikes to HISD schools, where students learned about Carlos Cruz-Diez's “Double Physichromie” and used its vibrant colors and geometric forms as inspiration to transform the bikes into works of art for the parade.
What do you enjoy most about working with Public Art UHS?
ZB: What I enjoy most about working with Public Art UHS is the people. I have the privilege of working with an immensely joyful, intensely creative and passionate team, both in our office and across campus. We have fun!
“As they lay there and gaze up at the soaring colors and shapes above them, you can watch as the wonder they hold at the world grows.”
What is one program, event or initiative you're especially proud of?
ZB: One program I'm especially proud of is the summer professional development series we hosted for teachers a few weeks ago. Many people believe careers in the arts are limited or unstable, but that's simply not the case. We wanted to give art educators new ways to introduce students to the wide range of opportunities available in the arts.
Using works from the UHS collection as a starting point, we explored careers in archaeology, set design, architecture, curation, and library and information science. Teachers met with professionals across the University, visited campus spaces and created projects they could replicate in their own classrooms.
One highlight was a visit to the set design studio at the Wortham Theater, where educators saw artists building sets for the Houston Shakespeare Festival. Inspired by James Surls' “Flower Woman,” they wrote a story based on the sculpture and designed a miniature stage set to bring it to life.
By the end of the week, teachers left with a deeper understanding of careers in the arts and practical lesson ideas to help students see the many paths a creative education can lead to.
What role do you think social media can play in helping people discover and appreciate public art?
ZB: I hope social media helps spread the word about our collection. We collect works by the same artists featured in many of the nation's major museums, but instead of buying a ticket, you can grab an iced coffee and take a stroll around campus to experience them. I hope our social media presence encourages more visitors to explore the collection and inspires more faculty, staff and students to pause, get curious and discover the world-class art at their fingertips.
Your favorite artwork in the UH Public Art Collection is by Carlos Cruz-Diez. What makes that piece stand out to you?
ZB: “Double Physichromie,” which is in front of the RAD Center, is all about color and light. From moment to moment, as sunlight hits it, colors reflect off alternating panels and shift before your eyes. Oftentimes, these colors seem to mix in the air in front of the sculpture, and the vibrant, seemingly tangible colors we see from a short distance away are not painted anywhere on the sculpture. Instead, they are a product of reflection and color mixing in space. If you stand in front of it, even for a short period of time, the colors you perceive will change from moment to moment. It is almost magic!
Carlos Cruz-Diez was obsessed with color and color perception. He hoped that if viewers took a moment to appreciate the beauty and ephemerality of the colors in his sculpture, they would then turn that appreciation toward the world — noticing how light shines through the leaves of trees or how everything turns orange at sunset on a humid day. He hoped his artwork would inspire wonder at the colors all around us, and for me, it does.
This is the same sense of wonder I hope to inspire in the students and teachers who visit our collection. It is so easy to get caught up in the ordinariness of day-to-day life. The reason I love working with kids is because they have not gotten caught up in that "ordinariness" yet. They're excited to see a giant book, a cool bug while we're walking around campus or an artwork that changes color before their eyes. I think "Double Physichromie" is a reminder that we can hold onto this sense of wonder if we choose to. I hope that, through my role at Public Art, I can help keep that wonder alive in kids and remind adults to hold onto it. After all, life is much more fun if we do!
"Double Physichromie" by Carlos Cruz-Diez
"Double Physichromie" by Carlos Cruz-Diez
“I think "Double Physichromie" is a reminder that we can hold onto this sense of wonder if we choose to.”
"Fiesta Jarabe" (Fiesta Dancers) by Luis Jiménez.
"Fiesta Jarabe" (Fiesta Dancers) by Luis Jiménez.
What do you wish more people knew about the public art collection?
ZB: I wish people knew it exists for them and to reflect them. Houston is a global city, and the University of Houston is a global campus. Because of that, we have artists from around the world whose work is meant to reflect the city we live in and the student body we serve.
What's something about your job that might surprise people?
ZB: I think what would surprise people about my job is how much the breadth of our collection allows it to support almost any type of engagement they could want.
Would you like to take a calming walk around campus and see beautiful works of art? We've got you covered. Would you like to see meaningful, socially engaged artwork about Houston's civil rights history? Great! Let me take you to our collection at the Law Center. Would you like to touch 2,000-year-old ceramics and learn about archaeology? Let's go to our object lab, where you can don white museum gloves and hold something someone created around the year 0. Would you like to do hot yoga surrounded by artwork? Check out our Wellness at Folly series and have some fun!
The collection is meant to exist for you, for everyone. Our manager of academic partnerships and public engagement, Theresa Escobedo, the rest of our team and I are constantly creating new ways for people to experience it. So, reach out, and we'll set something up!
"Would you like to take a calming walk around campus and see beautiful works of art? We've got you covered."
What is something you'd like the UH community to know about you outside of work? Any fun hobbies?
ZB: I recently joined a pickleball team, though I'm not very good! I also love spending time outdoors.
Describe UH in three words.
ZB: Global. Determined. Hope.
If there is anything else you’d like to share, please feel free to add it here!
ZB: I would like to add that nothing I have spoken about would be possible without the Public Art UHS team and everyone who has worked with us since the department's beginning. It is truly a group effort, and we have a fantastic team!
To learn more about Public Art of the UH System collection or visit an exhibition, click here.
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