OU Dean Mary Margaret Holt Receives Paseo Lifetime Achievement Award

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NORMAN, OKLA. – Mary Margaret Holt, dean of the University of Oklahoma Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts, has been honored with the Paseo Arts Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing her leadership and contributions to Oklahoma’s arts community.

The annual Paseo Arts Awards recognize artists, educators and advocates whose work enriches the state’s cultural environment. For Holt, the award carries special meaning.

“We are so fortunate in our community to have organizations like the Paseo Arts Association,” Holt said. “Organizations like this help build a rich cultural environment across Oklahoma. Their work supports visual and performing artists at every level and the benefits cannot be overstated.”

A respected figure in ballet, arts education and arts leadership, Holt’s resume shows an uncommon blend of artistic and administrative achievement. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ballet performance and a Master of Fine Arts in drama, both from OU. She launched her professional training through Ford Foundation scholarships at San Francisco Ballet and the School of American Ballet in New York, studying with well-known teachers, including Maria Tallchief of the famed Five Moons ballerinas. She later danced professionally with Houston Ballet, performing in works ranging from Swan Lake to Carmina Burana, while also serving as a union representative for the American Guild of Musical Artists.

Holt has appeared in more than 60 ballets and presented choreography set to composers from Mozart to Cole Porter and The Beatles, sharing her work internationally in the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China and beyond. She had stayed closely connected to many artists who shaped American ballet in the 20th century, including Tallchief and fellow Oklahomans Rosella Hightower and Yvonne Chouteau, two of the Five Moons ballerinas.

Holt’s impact at OU is equally far-reaching. Holt served 20 years as director of the School of Dance before being appointed dean. Under her leadership, the college expanded professional preparation for students across its five schools. Among her key initiatives is the Arts Management and Entrepreneurship Program, which equips young artists with practical tools for careers that increasingly require skills beyond the studio or stage.

“At 20, you may think you will build a career simply because you love your art form,” Holt said. “We want our students to leave with broader resources – the ability to understand a contract, work with a gallery owner or engage an agent. These practical skills matter.”

Holt’s leadership has helped OU arts students secure opportunities with major dance companies, professional theaters, orchestras and arts organizations nationwide. Her honors include the CORPS de Ballet International Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame.

Asked what she hopes to leave with the college she has shaped for decades, Holt reflects not on titles, but on impact.

“If I can help create an environment where people can do their best work – faculty, staff, students – then that is the best contribution I can make,” she said. “Doors were opened for me. I just want to help open more for our students, to support their careers in the arts.”

The Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts produces over 400 concerts, recitals, dramas, musicals, operas and dance performances each year. Learn more at ou.edu/finearts.