The southwest corner of campus is humming with activity, the scene changing day to day as construction continues on Susan and Fayez Sarofim Hall — Rice’s new student and faculty arts building. Located adjacent to the Moody Center for the Arts and near the Shepherd School of Music, the building promises to complement an already vibrant arts district and to add to the dynamic cultural fabric of Rice and the city of Houston.
Built on the site where Rice’s famed Art Barn and Media Center once stood, Sarofim Hall reflects both the long history of the arts at Rice and the ambitious future of the department. The building was designed by internationally acclaimed architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro and a team led by Rice alumnus Charles Renfro ’87.
“Sarofim Hall is a wonderful fulfillment of a strategic vision of excellence, ambition and aspiration,” said Kathleen Canning, dean of the School of Humanities. “This is evident in every aspect of the building’s design. Charles Renfro and his team, who served as architect-ethnographers, immersed themselves among our faculty and students in studios, film and photography labs, and performance spaces to create a facility befitting a top-ranked research university. Their efforts promise to take Rice to a new level of excellence in arts education and innovation.”
The stories below illustrate the significant work that will unfold in Sarofim Hall, including that of Department of Art faculty members Natasha Bowdoin and Kenneth Tam, as well as Saba Feleke ’25, an undergraduate working on dual degrees in art and engineering.
Redefining How We Engage With the Arts
Since 2012, Natasha Bowdoin, associate professor of art and associate dean of undergraduate programs and special projects, has watched the Department of Art flourish. Now, she says the construction of Sarofim Hall marks the culmination of decades of hard work.
“Student interest in the arts has always been strong at Rice but has grown significantly in the past few years. We’ve been incredibly fortunate to welcome new faculty, incredible thinkers and makers, to help support student growth and to expand what we offer as a department,” Natasha explained. “Each new faculty member brings new perspective, expanding our curricula, the modes and methods in which we can work, but also most importantly amplifies the possibilities of what an artistic frame of mind can offer and do."
Natasha herself is a groundbreaking artist, whose work moves between disciplines, incorporating the practices of multiple art forms: drawing, painting, sculpture, performance collaborations and installation. Many of her pieces are large-scale and site-specific, incorporating elements from the natural world with those of the cartoon world, inviting viewers to reexamine their relationship to the natural world through a lens of wonder and reorientation.
“Making art is not only about manipulating materials and ideas, it’s about cultivating a practice of voracious curiosity, so that one can create their own momentum and follow the trail wherever it leads you.”
— Natasha Bowdoin
“As of late I’ve been interested in exploring painting as a kind of site, where one can move through, into and around,” she said. “I've gotten more collaborative as I've gotten older and enjoy making things that play with and are activated by other artists, rather than getting stuck as static objects or images in space.”
Kenneth Tam, an assistant professor of art at Rice, also embraces a collaborative mindset through his work. For a recent installation, he partnered with the Houston-based poet Rohan Chhetri and a professional dancer to create an HD video installation projected onto the surface of provisional campus facilities tents on Rice’s campus, part of the Moody’s Tent Series. In “We played,” Kenneth examined the game of cricket as a carrier of cultural memory and a participative practice that can generate a feeling of belonging.
Kenneth, whose work spans video, sculpture, performance, movement, installation and photography, envisions Sarofim Hall as an ideal workspace for cross-pollinating and innovating ideas.
“Sarofim Hall will provide not only the essential resources and instruction, but a sense of community, a diversity of thought and an environment that expands our perspective of what is possible,” he said. “That mode of thinking can mean the world to a young artist.”
Likewise, Natasha’s approach to teaching is focused on supporting students as they pursue their own creative path.
“What I'm interested in is guiding students in how to follow and gain confidence in chasing their own line of inquiry. Making art is not only about manipulating materials and ideas, it’s about cultivating a practice of voracious curiosity, so that one can create their own momentum and follow the trail wherever it leads you.”
When the building opens, Natasha is confident it will further supercharge interest in the arts.
“I think that often people are surprised about what artmaking can entail and the impact it can have. I hope that the building will be an invitation for those who may not be familiar with what the art department has to offer to get their foot in the door to see what it’s all about.”
A nexus of energy and creative conversation
To Saba Feleke ’25, the intersection of science and art seems obvious.
“During da Vinci’s time, technology and art weren’t really separated as much as they are right now,” Saba said. “As an engineer, I wanted to learn how to make things that would help people, and I’ve carried that responsibility into my artistic practice.”
Saba has always been set on pursuing a degree in engineering but continued to explore the arts and enrolled in a few art courses outside of their major.
When Saba was taking a drawing class with Josh Bernstein, associate teaching professor of art and director of undergraduate studies, their academic path began to change. The class wasn’t just about learning techniques — it was about finding a voice.
"Are you sure you're not an artist?" Professor Bernstein would ask, nudging Saba toward a dual degree in art and engineering. The encouragement from professors and the support of classmates who shared diverse academic backgrounds made Saba feel at home in the art department.
“The energy is incredible, and I think the success of the program will be fully realized once Sarofim Hall is open.”
— Saba Feleke ’25
In addition to drawing, Saba’s fascination with the digital world became a focal point of their work. As a Moody Research Fellow and Carlson Fellow, Saba received funding to dive into the convergence of the internet and physical reality.
"I study memes as a visual shorthand for just being on the internet. I try to make the digital physical, embodying our digital personas,” they said.
Their recent showcase included large-scale scrolls that mimic the seemingly endless feed of content that users encounter as they thumb through their social media feeds. Saba’s work also translates the ephemeral nature of memes into material terms through their dye work, transferring viral images onto T-shirts that convey the wearer’s digital knowledge to the physical world.
After graduation, Saba plans to pursue their love of engineering and art as an animatronic designer. “It would be a dream come true to use my engineering knowledge to help artists realize ideas that may be more technical and really push the limits of what art and mechanics can do,” they explained.
Over the past three years, Saba says they have been blown away by the momentum in the Department of Art and is looking forward to seeing how it continues to grow in the coming years.
“The energy is incredible, and I think the success of the program will be fully realized once Sarofim Hall is open,” Saba said. “The art coming out of Rice is so interesting, and I’m excited to come back to see everything students have accomplished.”
Accelerate the Vision
To learn more about ways to support Sarofim Hall or the Department of Art, contact Emily Stein, senior director of development, at 713-348-3424 or emily.m.stein@rice.edu.
Take a virtual tour of Sarofim Hall and explore high-profile naming opportunities available to donors, from painting studios to performance spaces to a dynamic workyard.
