Oscar-nommed screenwriter-director-actor Guillermo Arriaga (21 Grams, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Babel, The Burning Plain) talked yesterday to University of North Texas students about what stage actors know that screen actors don’t. And Sally Nystuen Vahle, the UNT drama teacher and member of the Dallas Theater Center acting company, said, attaboy Arriaga, you tell ’em.

Arriaga is the first artist-in-residence for UNT’s new Institute for the Advancement of the Arts in its new home, UNT on the Square. The Institute is sort of UNT’s version of SMU’s new Meadows Prize — a way to get major artists to stick around, do some cool things and hope a bit of all that rubs off on the students. To quote the press release:

Designed to support accomplished professionals in the visual, performing and creative literary arts, the Institute for the Advancement of the Arts will provide recognition for artistic contributions, an opportunity to share those contributions with the public and significantly enhance the learning environment for UNT students. The institute will host artists-in-residence and support faculty fellows, who are selected by a review of projects.