In celebration of Jewish-American Heritage Month, The Stark Center would like to recognize Joe Weider, the man who made bodybuilding part of global culture. Born in Montreal, Canada, Weider began his athletic career as a competitive weightlifter and, during his lifetime, he led weight training from the closets and primitive gyms of the first half of the 20th century...
News, Blogs & Updates
Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with Walter Imahara
In celebration of Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, The Stark Center would like to recognize the career of weightlifter Walter Imahara. Like so many other families of Japanese heritage, the Imahara family was relocated to an internment camp during WWII while Walter was only six years old. In 1955, Imahara began classes at Southwestern...
New Floors, New Exhibits: Time to Visit The Stark Center
Last week, much of Texas—and especially the Austin-area—was iced over after winter storm Mara made its way across the state. As a result, The University of Texas campus was closed Tuesday through Thursday as roads were covered in as much as a solid inch of ice; trees and other above-ground appendages wilted and snapped under...
UPCOMING: 2023 Physical Cultures of the Body Conference
With the new year approaching, it’s time to mark your calendars for the 2023 Physical Cultures of the Body Conference (PCBC) on Friday, January 13th. This will be the third iteration of this international conference, and it is free and open to all on Zoom. PCBC is jointly sponsored by the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center...
Four New Sculpture Pieces Donated by Michael Deming & Stark Center Floor Renovation Begins!
As many of you may remember, the winter storm in February 2021 caused an immense amount of damage here on The Forty Acres, our colloquial name for the University of Texas campus. The Stark Center, specifically, was a victim of flooding due to burst pipes on the floor above us in the North End Zone...
ART TALK with Sculptor David Deming on April 27 at 3pm
The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center is proud to host ART TALK, a conversation and reception with the artist David Deming, the former Dean of the College of Fine Arts and a member of the University of Texas art faculty for 26 years who has a new exhibition of sculptural works on display in our galleries....
40 Hours for The Forty Acres Fundraising Campaign
As some of you may already know, The Stark Center serves as the official repository for the preservation of the UT Athletics’ archives, in addition to housing one of world’s most important libraries related to health, fitness and physical culture. The Stark Center’s holding related to UT sports includes more than 300 boxes of materials...
Jack Shanks’ Lifting Belt and Vest Donated To The Stark Center
On Monday 8 May 1972, Jack Shanks, wearing a short sleeve shirt, tie, pants, and dress shoes, lifted the Dinnie Stones with his bare hands, the first to do so since Scottish sport superstar Donald Dinnie himself lifted the stones in 1860. Even more impressive is that Jack Shanks only weighed 161lbs (73kgs) when he...
Here’s to the Students!
Because of the pandemic and that stagnant period of time before vaccines were available, I (like most people) suffer from an affliction where I occasionally find it difficult to differentiate between the year 2020 and 2021. For nearly seventeen months, The Stark Center, as a physical space, was closed to the general public as well...