Weitzenhoffer Family College adds Luminary Award winners

Brian D. King, The Norman Transcript, Okla.
Updated ·3 min read

Feb. 26—To celebrate the centennial of the Arts! Arts! Arts! Gala, the University of Oklahoma's Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts has quintupled the number of Luminary Award winners.

In any given year, the college typically awards a single Luminary Award, but this year, it will award five, one for each of the college's five schools.

Luminary Award winners are alumni who have proved themselves in their careers within the fine arts.

—Josh Bonzie, a Norman native, is an actor who has appeared on TV shows such as "The Blacklist," "Elementary," "The Good Fight," and Netflix's "The Politician." He stars as Clive "Gogo" Richardson on Hulu's "Saint X."

—Caroline Jean Fernald serves as the executive director of the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. She previously served as the executive director of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley.

—Annie Funke is a stage actress who has starred on the off-Broadway hit, "Punk Rock." She has also starred opposite Jake Gyllenaal in "If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet." She has been featured in TV and movie roles, such as "The Intern," "Chicago Fire," and "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders."

—Cameron Morgan is the executive director at Vilar Performing Arts Center and former professional dancer.

—Jack Swanson is an operatic singer — a tenor — who has performed around the world, including in Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Norwegian National Opera. He is known for singing Rossini and Donizetti.

The event will take place on March 3 starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave. The awards dinner will start at 6:30 p.m.

David Barocio, executive director of Development at the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts, said the money raised will support students and faculty at the college.

"We are just trying to enhance the educational experience that we have here at OU in the fine arts," Barocio said. "Every year, we honor individuals with the Luminary Award, and that is someone who is an alum here that has really gone on to do amazing things in their career."

He said to celebrate the centennial, one person has been selected from each of the five schools at Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts: Helmerich School of Drama, OU School of Visual Arts, A. Max Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre, School of Dance, and School of Music.

"This year, being the centennial, we wanted to go ahead and honor one luminary from each of the five schools that we have here in the college," he said. "They are really going to be coming from all over the place, so it's exciting to see how OU impacted their life.".

At the event, current OU students will perform in their respective disciplines. They will also get a chance to get close to award winners.

"All the luminaries have agreed to stay a little longer so we can teach a master class or hold a Q&A session with the other students at the Fine Arts college," Barocio said.

Brian King covers education and politics for The Transcript. Reach him at bking@normantranscript.com.