Sixto Wagan

1994 BA in Art & Art History  

Co-Executive Director and Performing Arts Curator at DiverseWorks

Sixto began at Rice University expecting to pursue a career in medicine.  He took care of his pre-med requirements, took some psychology courses, but by his junior year he was determined to take the courses that appealed to his interests in the arts.  It was a decision that made all the difference.  He finished with a major in Art and Art History, and had completed a museum internship class that introduced him to Houston’s premiere independent art space, DiverseWorks.  With meaningful experience in museum/non-profit administration from that internship, Sixto eventually joined the small staff at DiverseWorks and is now its Co-Executive Director.

Sixto also earned an Masters of Arts in Teaching at Rice (1996), where he received training in curriculum development and developed an educator’s perspective that proves to be essential to his current work.  Sixto taught high school for a short while before joining DiverseWorks.  His teacher training and experience in education now shapes how he works with audiences, artists, and the community.

Sixto also credits his experience in English and Art History courses that emphasized writing and critical thinking for skills necessary to develop and support artists who are in the process of creation, to write grants, to communicate ideas and make convincing arguments.  Strengths in argumentation and communication, which are defining qualities of the humanities, also are necessary in an arts environment such as DiverseWorks that so highly regards the process of production and collaboration among multiple parties.

Undergraduate students at Rice are recognized for being “very driven, task-focused individuals,” but Sixto recommends they take advantage of the opportunities presented by the humanities at Rice, and of the City of Houston as well, to “slow down, ask questions, and experience.”  In the humanities, Rice students can gain much from close contact with their professors.  And in Houston, they have access to an unparalleled cultural and artistic engagement, a quality that surprises many newcomers to the city.

And the “general rigors of life at Rice have prepared me for the constantly shifting nature of a non-profit. [Pursuing] multiple degrees is similar to having the multitude of tasks and project management skills that are necessary in any office environment.”  In addition, Sixto cites specific qualities that a background in the humanities best develops, “creativity, problem solving, and broad thinking,” as the same qualities sought in all manner of professional realms.  “There are many who can be trained for tasks, but few who understand the broad picture, can determine multiple approaches to the problem at hand, and can be flexible enough to manage the crises as they come. Rice gives you the theoretical and practical knowledge to thrive in those settings.”