UT Arlington: Art & Architecture

This walk follows UTA's creative side from a west-campus glassblowing studio to the architecture and fine arts buildings and then out to downtown's outdoor stage. You'll see a sculpture gifted decades before it was finally installed, a courtyard built to be lingered in, and a free gallery that has hosted exhibitions since 1985. The route runs about a mile and a half one way and finishes where Arlington gathers for free summer concerts. Check event calendars, since galleries and halls keep academic-year hours.

The University of Texas at Arlington is better known for engineering than for art, which is exactly what makes this walk a pleasant surprise. It gathers the campus's creative side, from glassblowing and sculpture to a free gallery and recital music, and reaches into downtown, where Arlington turns out for concerts in the open air.

The Studio Arts Center's glass program is known for public demonstrations, including a yearly glass pumpkin patch, and the aluminum sculpture outside by Italian artist Angelo Savelli has an unusual backstory: donated in 1981, it waited until 2017 to be restored and installed. The Gallery at UTA, open since 1985 inside the Fine Arts Building, is free to visit and hosts curated exhibitions as well as the BFA and MFA shows that cap students' degrees, and many faculty and student recitals in the same building are open to the public.

Among the science and engineering buildings, art professor Darryl Lauster's Reach adds a sense of motion to the research quad, with an aluminum mast and ribs of sailcloth spanning about 26 feet. And Levitt Pavilion, which opened in 2008 to a crowd of more than 1,800, now stages about 50 free performances a year across its summer and fall seasons.

It's a relaxed outing for anyone who enjoys art, design and live music.