Community Engagement
Community Engagement at UCLA Arts
What we do
UCLA Arts students, faculty, and staff are actively involved in a broad range of public and community engaged initiatives immersing themselves in innovative and transformative projects within the greater Los Angeles area and beyond: from Architecture and Urban Design Professor Hitoshi Abe’s work aiding communities in Eastern Japan who have been devastated by the 2011 tsunami; Professor David Gere and his Art and Global Health Center’s Sex Squad students who produce dynamic, entertaining theater to create an open dialogue about sex and sexuality with high school students; to Design Media Arts Professor Eddo Stern’s collaboration with the Braille Institute LA to develop a game that immerses visually impaired and non-visually impaired players into the same gaming world; to our robust Visual and Performing Arts Education Program, which connects our outstanding artist educators with thousands of K-12 students in underserved communities in the greater Los Angeles area. This dynamic, creative and important work is a hallmark of the School of the Arts and Architecture’s dedication to community-based teaching, research, and experiential learning.
As the leading public arts university in the nation, community engagement is core to the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture’s ethos and mission. By connecting our academic mission with public service through a broad range of community engaged research and projects, we create meaningful impact in the diverse communities that we serve and with whom we work—locally and globally. At UCLA Arts, we seek to inspire and empower the next generation of leaders in the arts, facilitating opportunities for students and faculty to work beyond the bounds of our campus to become effective agents of positive change.
The impetus for this work is clear and compelling: as a public university with a clear mandate to serve, and as proud members of the Los Angeles community, we have a responsibility to that community. Not only are we engaging the community, the community engages us. Our students and faculty are consistently inspired by the energy and creativity of our vibrant city and the diverse communities that live within it.
With an emphasis on innovative strategies to support community-based teaching and research and the development of resources for faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students interested in community outreach and impact, the School of the Arts and Architecture remains committed to building and strengthening the critical connections between our UCLA Arts community and our ever-widening global network of collaborators and partners.
Our impact
Through this broad range of research projects and outreach initiatives, our faculty and students are making the world a better place, connecting the intellectual and creative capital of the university with individuals and communities to:
- increase capacity for constructive dialogue within and across communities
- raise visibility of marginalized groups and communities
- reduce stigma around important issues of health, identity and more (e.g. HIV, mental illness, incarceration)
- realize a material improvement in life and safety
- build bridges across separated/segregated communities
- contribute to political problem solving
- increase access to arts education and knowledge that can transform lives
- cultivate empathy, tolerance, and understanding.
We look forward to presenting more of the community engaged work of our faculty and students. There are so many wonderful projects to share and celebrate!
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
Office of the Dean
Broad Art Center, Room 8260
240 Charles E. Young Dr. North
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1427
Tel 310.206.6465
Fax 310.206.8504
Programs
The UCLA Art & Global Health Center’s key initiatives blend community engagement with arts activist training, accompanied by rigorous research. The Center nurtures a global network of artists, students, academics, and advocates working in the realm of public health, reaching an estimated 150,000 annually via live initiatives and hundreds of thousands more through exhibitions and digital resources offered free-of-cost via the internet. The Art & Global Heath Center currently has projects underway in the United States (CA, GA, NC), the United Kingdom, Ukraine, India, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, and Haiti. The Center has established sister organizations in India and Malawi, and is now making steps towards establishing the Art & Global Health Center—Latin America.
Design for Sharing is CAP UCLA's arts education program for K-12 students. The program—which is fully funded by contributions from generous individuals—provides free tickets to public schools and local community organizations, allowing thousands of students and teachers to attend world-class performances at no cost. Design for Sharing also engages students in participatory arts activities that enhance the experience.
The Fowler Museum at UCLA serves as an interdisciplinary learning center for the Los Angeles community and beyond. The Museum’s educational offerings for adult and youth audiences provide multiple perspectives on the arts and values of a broad spectrum of global cultures, from the ancient past to the contemporary moment. In-gallery programs, lectures, films, and hands-on workshops engage, instruct, excite, and challenge visitors in the exploration of the world's diverse artistic traditions. A primary mission of the Education Department is to strengthen global arts and humanities education among the city’s youth, particularly at the K-12 level, through guided school visits to the Museum throughout the academic year.
Formed in 2009, the Hammer Student Association (HSA) is a UCLA student group that creates dynamic programs and content at the Hammer Museum by and for UCLA students. Working in collaboration with Hammer staff and artists, students conceptualize events and workshops, implement design and marketing strategies, and publish the annual interdisciplinary arts journal GRAPHITE.
The Student Committee for the Arts (SCA) supports and encourages awareness of and participation in the arts on the UCLA campus. Collaborating with CAP UCLA staff to gain practical experience in professional arts administration, SCA produces its own performing arts series and gives student artists outlets to showcase their work. The committee also provides UCLA students with discounted tickets to CAP UCLA events in premiere seats.
The UCLA@SPARC Digital Mural Lab (DML) led by UCLA Professor Judith F. Baca is the leading research, teaching, and production facility in the country devoted to the creation of large-scale digitally generated murals, educational DVD’s, animations, websites, community archives, and digital art. In its community setting at SPARC’s headquarters in the old Venice Police Station, the Lab develops new methods for combining traditional mural painting techniques with computer generated imagery; collaborates with local, national, and international communities to create public art expressing the concerns of diverse communities; and develops new methods of preservation and restoration for mural art through use of digital prints and new materials. Defining characteristics of the DML are: 1) Activism and problem solving, 2) Project basis and product driven, 3) Learner centered, 4) Collaborative Environments, and 5) Interdisciplinary Solutions.
The Visual and Performing Arts Education Program (VAPAE) comprises several components that work together to support UCLA students as artists, educators, scholars, and researchers. The program provides students with experiential opportunities to develop into qualified teaching artists and introduces them to a range of possible careers in the arts. VAPAE is committed to community engagement, dedicating itself to building bridges between UCLA artist educators and the surrounding Los Angeles community. Through its curriculum and programming, VAPAE aims to be at the center and the forefront of the statewide and national debate regarding the place and importance of the arts for all and strives to be a catalyst for positive change in urban arts education.