2016-17 In Review
June 30, 2017
Dear Colleagues:
Congratulations on the completion of another spectacular academic year—our first full year as the newly honed, redefined, and improved School of the Arts and Architecture. On Saturday, Jun. 17, alongside my colleagues from across the school, we conferred degrees on more than 300 students—unleashing another extraordinary cohort of artists, architects, designers, performers, educators, scholars, and activists into a world ever more in need of their vision, creative solutions, leadership…and empathy. If you were unable to join us, you can get a glimpse into the day’s celebration and hear our own Kristy Edmunds deliver what was an incredibly personal, heartfelt, and inspirational keynote address here.
As I remarked to our graduates and their families, I am so proud of the work that we have accomplished together this past year. Our school stands stronger than ever as a collection of four of the most progressive, forward looking academic departments in the nation, two internationally acclaimed museums, a groundbreaking performing arts program, and eight interdisciplinary research centers that combine creativity and research to address some of the most critical questions and challenges of our time. And, it is with our new school’s spirit of gutsiness, innovation, questioning, and pure ‘can-do-ism’ that we not only launch another community of graduates into the world, but that we look forward to the 2017-18 academic year—a year sure to bring new opportunities for growth, discovery, creative expression, and the cultivation of compassion and resilience in all that we undertake.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2016-17 ACADEMIC YEAR
Collectively, we produced more than 800 public performances, exhibitions, lectures, and events showcasing the incredible talent and brain trust of our own students, faculty, curators, and staff and bringing to our school, the campus and greater Los Angeles community an unparalleled depth and breadth of programming from across the arts and across the world.
We launched a new visual identity—one that reflects our reinvigorated institutional vision and mission. Developed by our own Design Media Arts alums, Use All Five, the reconceived visual identity deliberately eschews a static, one dimensional approach in favor of a robust, flexible, and dynamic visual language—a coherent framework—that aims to capture and celebrate the breadth, depth, and diversity of the school.
On November 9, the day after a very challenging national election, we released An Imaginative Offer—a series of short films about the school that stand as a profound reminder of the power and critical role of the arts in society. If you have not had the opportunity to view this initiative, I invite you to do so here.
We offered our first full year of school wide quarterly courses designed for students from across the school to create, think and percolate ideas together. The response from our students has been incredibly positive confirming my instinct that these courses are fulfilling an important need and desire for greater interdisciplinary connectivity within our school. Based on the success of this year’s series, I am pleased to let you know that we will be continuing this initiative in the 2017-18 academic year and will release details about next year’s AA100 series shortly. In the meantime, in case you missed our winter quarter In The Classroom story focused on the AA100 initiative, you can find it here.
On Friday, April 21, more than 275 faculty, alumni and friends came together to celebrate the fifty-fifth anniversary of UCLA’s Department of Dance, which was the first dance department in a public university. Throughout its history, UCLA has been at the forefront of the dance field, redefining trends in choreography, performance, and dance studies. A Celebration of UCLA Dance: 1962-2017, shined a light on this rich history and honored the legacy of the six extraordinary women who founded the department.
Just a few weeks ago, on Saturday, June 3, 300 Los Angeles artists, gallerists, collectors, and arts leaders—including extraordinary faculty and alumni from our department of art—came together for the one-day UCLA Benefit Exhibition and Art Sale. This gathering of the arts community is a testament to the contributions our top-ranked Department of Art makes to the cultural ecology of the city. A smashing success, I am pleased to share that this one-time event raised more than $700,000 to support the new UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, as well as art student fellowships. This event was inspired by and continues the momentum of gallerist and alumna Margo Leavin’s lead gift in 2016. You can view highlights from the Benefit Exhibition and Art Sale here.
And, of course, we successfully completed a search for our new dean. Many thanks to all of the faculty who served on the search committee and whose rigor and dedication throughout the search process last summer and fall guided us to our new dean designate, who I turn to now….
DEAN DESIGNATE BRETT STEELE OFFICIALLY JOINS US ON AUGUST 15
I am thrilled to confirm that Brett Steele will officially be joining us as the dean of the School of the Arts and Architecture on August 15. These past several months, the school’s senior leadership and I have been working closely with Brett to bring him up to speed on all things school related. While there will surely be much for Brett to learn as he joins UCLA, I am confident that we have prepared him, and ourselves, for a seamless leadership transition and know that he will continue to welcome the input and counsel from our entire community as he takes up this new role later this summer. It has been an absolute pleasure working with Brett since news of his appointment—he has consistently demonstrated his profound engagement, thoughtfulness, probing intellect, and ability to listen in all of his interactions. He brings with him bold vision, a strategic mind, clarity of thought, and a kind and generous spirit that matches our community and promises to usher in a new era of greatness for our school and for UCLA. I hope you will all join me in celebrating his arrival when we all convene again in the fall. If you missed news of Brett’s appointment or would like to learn more about him, please see here.
FACULTY NEWS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
This past year has been quite productive for UCLA Arts faculty. To name just a few accomplishments, in recent months World Arts and Cultures/Dance Professor Kyle Abraham’s Dearest Home made its New York City premier; T Space Gallery in Rhinebeck, New York presented an exhibition of drawings by Architecture and Urban Design Professor and Chair Neil Denari; Associate Dean, Academic Affairs and Architecture and Urban Design Professor Diane Favro was named the Samuel H. Kress Professor at the National Gallery; Design | Media Arts Assistant Professor Lauren McCarthy presented her project, Follower, at International Kunstverein Luxembourg; Design | Media Arts Professor Rebeca Méndez led the opening conversation for the Unmentionables Symposium in Culver City; I'm in the good of company of Department of World Arts & Cultures/Dance Professor Lionel Popkin as a 2017 National Dance Project Production grant finalist; Department of Art Professor Catherine Opie presented lectures at Brown University and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and joined Eileen Myles in conversation for Glasstire’s Off Road program; Department of Design | Media Arts Professor Casey Reas directed the newly released music video for The National's latest single Guilty Party; Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance Professor Peter Sellars presented a lecture at New York University; and Design | Media Arts Professor Jennifer Steinkamp announced a new project in Philadelphia. More news of our faculty’s activities and accomplishments from this past fall, winter, and spring can be found in our quarterly newsletters and on our website here.
I am pleased to report that we completed two searches for new faculty who will be joining us in the fall. Isla Hansen will be joining the Department of Design | Media Arts as an Assistant Professor and Rodrigo Valenzuela will be joining the Department of Art also as an Assistant Professor. We look forward to welcoming these talented young artists into our community.
With the end of this academic year, we also bid farewell to five esteemed colleagues upon their retirement. Diane Favro, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, is retiring after 33 years with UCLA, Department of Art Professor Roger Herman and Distinguished Professor Mary Kelly will retire after 32 and 21 years respectively, and Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance Professors Angelia Leung and Peter Nabokov will retire after 21 and 36 years respectively. We thank them all for their contributions and dedicated service.
SAVE THE DATE! THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28: THE OPENING 2017–18
Please save the date and join us for our second annual academic year kick-off celebration on September 28. Building on the success of this past year’s schoolwide gatherings, we look forward to starting the 2017-18 year off right with food, fun, festivities, a warm welcome for our new dean, and new and returning faculty, students, and staff. Details will be forthcoming later this summer!
This is a bittersweet moment for me. This note will likely be one of the last that I write to you all as your interim dean. While I am thrilled that Brett will be joining us as our new dean later this summer, I will surely miss the engagement I have had with so many of you these past two years. It has been a pleasure and an honor leading the School of the Arts and Architecture and working with such a remarkable community. I am very proud of what we have accomplished in what has been a period of significant change and transition for our school…and our broader community. I want to thank all of you again for your passion, your conviction, and your profound commitment to our school, to the arts—and to collectively forging a richer, brighter, and more empathetic world through the work that you do as artists, architects, designers, dancers, educators, scholars, activists, and citizens of the world. I am profoundly grateful for your efforts and service. You are the heart and soul of this institution.
I wish you all a restful and glorious summer, and look forward to reconnecting in the fall!
Warmly,
David Roussève
Interim Dean
