Herbert Holl said it’s almost as if he’s been preparing for his latest job for his whole professional life.

Holl, who spent years as the executive director of the Greater Denton Arts Council before serving as the arts coordinator for Texas Woman’s University, was recently appointed to another high-profile arts job in Denton.

His new title is probably his longest yet: director of the University of North Texas Institute for the Advancement of the Arts. The institute was launched to promote the performing and visual arts within UNT, with plenty of perks for Denton residents who will visit UNT on the Square, a newly opened gallery and performance venue on the downtown Square.

“When I read the job description, I thought: ‘This is me,’” Holl said. “It has to do with bringing people together. You know, I’m a musician myself, but my job — wherever I’ve worked, just about — has never been producing music. It’s been about creating environments where people can come and take part in an arts or cultural experience.”

The institute was established earlier this year to support accomplished professionals in the visual, performing and creative literary arts. The institute will bolster professionals by inviting them to be an artist-in-residence at the university, or by granting fellowships to faculty members of the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Music and the College of Visual Arts and Design.

Faculty fellows get paid leave to develop or finish projects.

UNT on the Square is a 2,400-square-foot gallery at 109 N. Elm St.

Holl keeps an office at the space.

Wendy Wilkins, who is provost and vice president of academic affairs at UNT, said Holl’s name came to her with strong recommendations. The candidate search was local, not national.

“We made the search local because we created this institute and found this new place on the Square, and it occurred to me that I know nothing about running that kind of space. I needed to find someone who was qualified to do that. We looked locally first,” Wilkins said.

As the executive director of the Greater Denton Arts Council, Holl helped coordinate and market exhibits in the city’s two public downtown galleries. He also is a trained pianist and a seasoned fundraiser.

Wilkins said Holl was an attractive candidate because he spent years building partnerships with artists and musicians in Denton.

“I didn’t know until his name came to me just how well-known and well-thought-of he was in Denton,” Wilkins said. “A new director coming into the community would probably take years to build that kind of network.”

Holl said the university is still deciding just what the UNT on the Square space will be and do. One part of the gallery’s identity was clear, however.

“Opening this space was to literally place the arts at UNT on the Square,” he said. “I think that, initially, the programming will be events and art from UNT and by people from UNT. Or it will be events sanctioned by UNT.”

Robert Milnes, dean of the College of Visual Arts and Design and a member of the search committee that recommended Holl, said the institute and the space will benefit students pursuing humanities at UNT.

“One of the things I’ve said is that education consists of three things: what students expect when they go there, what you actually get when you come here and what everyone else thought you got,” Milnes said. “If you go to a school that’s supposed to be serious, and it’s a hard place, well then, that’s what a student is likely to experience. If you go to a school known for rowdy parties, then they’re likely to get that there.”

When it comes to the actual education — the curricula, the teaching and the formation of the students — Milnes referred to Bill Strickland, president and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corp.

“He said that if you put people in world-class environments, they’ll become world-class people,” Milnes said. “If you bring world-class people to students, they’ll have a better chance of being on that level.”

The first artist-in-residence, writer Guillermo Arriaga, will be on campus next year to work on a novel and work with students. Arriaga is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (Babel, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada).

For faculty, the institute will provide them time to finish projects they’ve begun. The first fellows are photography professor Dornith Doherty and Regents Composer Cindy McTee.

“The fellowships are as much fun as giving students scholarships,” Milnes said.

Milnes said UNT on the Square is just right for gallery shows and music. He said design students in the College of Visual Arts and Design helped remodel the space. It has a curving green wall, rolling partitions and track lighting.

“You enjoy the space, but it doesn’t get in the way of what’s happening in it,” Holl said. “We’ve already gotten some inquiries from artists, dancers and musicians. As far as the economic aspect of it [the space], it’s another destination downtown. Over time, the Square has become a place people plan to come to. We’re just happy to be here for that part of it.”

LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com.

HERBERT HOLL

* Served as coordinator for the arts at Texas Woman’s University

* Served as executive director of the Greater Denton Arts Council twice between 1987 and 2005

* Served as executive director of the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa, Okla., and the Cultural Council of Victoria in that city

* Began his career at the Texas Commission on the Arts

* Served as adjunct professor of public administration at the University of North Texas

* Served as adjunct professor of music at TWU

* Served as adjunct professor of humanities at the University of Houston at Victoria

* Earned a bachelor’s degree in applied music from George Peabody College and earned master’s and doctoral degrees in musicology from the University of Texas