Brian Evans, associate professor of Performance in the School of Theater at Ohio University's College of Fine Art, received the coveted University Professor Award this spring, an award program run by and voted on solely by OHIO students.

A lover of the academic theater practice since his college days, Evans joined OHIO's teaching ranks in 2007 to train and mentor budding student actors with an 11-year-long robust acting career under his belt.

"What I really loved about the university setting was the…perfect world that it is," Evans says. "We are able to produce what we want to produce. We're able to do the kind of work we want to do. We're able to listen to the students and do the work they want to do. and that isn't always the case in the professional world."

The College of Fine Arts' podcast Talking Studio caught up with Evans in this episode, "Building an ensemble," to unpack his approach to guiding student actors into the artist they will become—even in the confines of the virtual-only space required because of the COVID-19 pandemic—while still maintaining his professional acting career.