Solange Knowles is stepping into academia. The Grammy-winning artist has officially joined the University of California’s Thornton School of Music as its first scholar in residence. Over the next three years, she’ll teach a course, lead student workshops, and help shape new programs centered on music and cultural curation.
Her course, Records of Discovery: Methodologies for Music and Cultural Curatorial Practices, will be taught in partnership with her creative agency, Saint Heron. According to the Los Angeles Times, the class will “explore the process of constructing curatorial frameworks alongside the context, craft and creation of musical landscapes.” Solange will also join the Dean’s Creative Vanguard Program, following Raphael Saadiq, who was named the first member in late 2024.
Reflecting on the opportunity, Solange told the LA Times, “I am a G.E.D. graduate. I was a teenage mom. I was pregnant with my son at 17, so I didn’t get to further my education in the classical sense. But I was really blessed and honored to have enriched these other parts of education through my art, through travel [and] through the globalization of my life … so to be able to have access and broader tools as a scholar in residence, to enrich that and deepen that, is really so exciting for me.”
While preparing to take on her academic role, Solange is also carving time for her music. She told Vogue Australia last year that she would “probably dedicate myself to it [making music] full time next year.” The artist, whose last album When I Get Home dropped in 2019, said she’s focused on creating works that “will inspire and occupy a space-time far beyond my own existence.”
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