2024-25 In Review
An End-Of-Year Message From Interim Dean Lionel Popkin
As we close out another year at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, I am filled with a deep sense of appreciation for the resilience, creativity, and compassion that continue to define this community.
This year, like the ones before it, has asked much of all of us. We have weathered profound challenges—local and global—from the environmental crises of the L.A. wildfires to economic uncertainty to the ongoing pressures reshaping higher education. And yet, amid it all, the UCLA Arts community has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to education, artistic expression, and the pursuit of a more just, inclusive, and connected world.
I am continually inspired by our students, who bring courage and imagination to everything they do. By our faculty and staff, who nurture and support our students’ growth with care and dedication. And by our extended community—families, alumni, donors, and cultural and community partners—whose belief in the power of the arts sustains and uplifts us.
At its best, a university is a place where people from different backgrounds and perspectives come together to learn, create, and imagine new possibilities. That spirit is alive and well at UCLA Arts, and it has animated everything we’ve done this past year—in our classrooms, studios, galleries, rehearsal rooms, and performance spaces.
As you scroll through some of the highlights and milestones below, I hope you are reminded—as I am—of the brilliance and thoughtfulness of this community. Thank you for being part of it.
Wishing you a restful, restorative summer.
Warmly,
Lionel Popkin
Interim Dean, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
CELEBRATING THE UCLA ARTS CLASS OF 2025
Faculty and students process into Dickson Court for UCLA Arts' commencement ceremony. (Todd Cheney / UCLA Arts)
On Saturday, June 14, hundreds of students, faculty, staff, friends, and family gathered in Dickson Court to celebrate the Class of 2025.
The undergraduate and graduate student speakers—Catherine Deal and Gurmukhi Bevli—reflected on their time at UCLA and provided insight into the artist and architect's ability to transform society.
“I chose dance because failure in dance didn’t make me panic—it made me curious,” said Bevli. “Over time, I started realizing that failure is really not an opposition to success—but the curriculum for building it.”
Deal found commonality among all graduates: “No matter your major…we are, in fact, all quite similar, united in our thirst to create and produce things and moments that ask the creator and their audience to fundamentally question the way things are and the way we think.”
Our keynote speaker, David Roussève, a distinguished professor in our Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, spoke passionately about art’s power to change not just individuals—but the world: “Creativity—like love—is not a luxury. It is a responsibility. A rebellion. And, most of all, a beacon.” Roussève’s advice for the Class of 2025 was particularly meaningful as he retired this spring after nearly 30 years of teaching at UCLA.
Commencement was a celebratory culmination to the 2024-25 academic year.
TRANSITIONS
Distinguished Professor David Roussève delivers the keynote address at this year's commencement ceremony. (Todd Cheney / UCLA Arts)
Every year we mark the departure of honored members of our faculty. This year, we express our appreciation for:
- David Roussève, a distinguished professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, is retiring from teaching after 29 years of service and will transition to the role of research professor.
During 2024-25, we welcomed three new faculty members: Tarrah Krajnak in Art, Kate Ladenheim in World Arts and Cultures/Dance, and Salmaan Craig in Architecture and Urban Design.
As the new academic year begins on July 1, 2025, we are pleased to welcome three new faculty members: Troy Montes Michie in the Department of Art, Sahej Rahal in the Department of Design Media Arts, and Rebekah J. Kowal in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance.
This year, we are also grateful to the faculty who continued to serve as chairs: Rodney McMillian, Eddo Stern, Janet O’Shea, and Mariana Ibañez, who led the departments of Art, Design Media Arts, World Arts and Cultures/Dance, and Architecture and Urban Design, respectively.
As we begin the new academic year, we welcome Professor Rebecca Morris, who will follow McMillian as chair of the Department of Art, and are grateful to Stern, O’Shea, and Ibañez who will continue to lead their respective departments.
Our dedicated staff are the heart and soul of the institution. This year, we express our appreciation for the following members of our community who are retiring:
- Alan Wood, Department of Design Media Arts Systems Administrator, who is retiring after 23 years of service;
- Juan Espinoza, Lead Custodian of the Hammer Museum, who is retiring after 31 years of service;
- and Cynthia (Cindy) Burlingham, Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs for the Hammer Museum, who is retiring after 40 years of service.
Thank you to all faculty and staff for their tireless dedication to upholding the integrity and mission of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.
A YEAR OF GROWTH AND EVOLUTION
As a public research university committed to creating and applying knowledge for the betterment of our global society, UCLA Arts’ students, faculty, and alumni continued this past year to deliver pioneering work and serve our communities while grappling with some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
A curated selection of highlights from their projects and honors is presented below. To explore additional achievements, honors, and projects from the UCLA Arts community, visit our Faculty Spotlight and Alumni Spotlight stories.
Art
Yummy Bowl Benefit attendees select from a plethora of handmade bowls. (Lucza Brewer / UCLA Arts)
On May 7, the Department of Art’s Ceramics Area held the 2025 Yummy Bowl Benefit, created by faculty members Candice Lin and Anna Sew Hoy. The two artists launched the inaugural fundraiser in 2021 after learning that more than 40% of UC students reported experiencing food insecurity. One hundred percent of the proceeds go directly to UCLA’s Community Programs Office Food Closet. This year’s benefit raised $15,531—exceeding its goal and surpassing previous Yummy Bowl totals.
Faculty member Andrea Fraser, alongside alums Jennifer Bornstein M.F.A. ’96 and T.J. Dedeaux-Norris ’10, won a 2025–26 Rome Prize. The Rome Prize equips artists and scholars with the time, space, setting, and colleagues to explore and create in the singular city of Rome. The 35 recipients will reside at the Academy’s eleven-acre grounds for five to ten months, starting this September.
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced the appointment of the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows. Chosen from a pool of nearly 3,500 applicants, the Class of 2025 Guggenheim Fellows was selected based on both prior career achievement and exceptional promise. Among the fellows are alums Mungo Thomson M.F.A. ’00, Carolyn Castaño M.F.A. ’01, Lucas Blalock M.F.A. ’13, and Coleman Collins M.F.A. ’18.
Alum Wendy Red Star M.F.A. ‘06 was named a 2024 MacArthur Fellow. The fellowships, often referred to as “genius grants,” are awarded annually to individuals in a variety of fields who demonstrate exceptional creativity and dedication in their pursuits and the prospect of innovative advances in the future. The honor comes with an $800,000, five-year stipend to be used at the recipient’s discretion.
In 2018, the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation launched a multiyear initiative that established one-time endowments of $500,000 at nine universities with outstanding M.F.A. and Art History Ph.D. programs. From these endowments, fellowships are awarded annually to high-achieving students. In April, among the 10 recipients were recent graduates Sheng Lor M.F.A. ‘25 and Marisa O’Donnell (M-O’DL) M.F.A. ‘25.
Design Media Arts
Current Art M.F.A. student Jazzy Romero performs at Sound + Science 3.0. (Nirvana Parvizimotlagh / Art|Sci Center)
The UCLA Art|Sci Center, led by faculty member Victoria Vesna, presented Sound + Science 3.0, the third installment of its trailblazing symposium series, following earlier editions in 2009 and 2019. Taking place on May 1 and 2, the symposium included performances and lectures, hosted across three UCLA locations: the Fowler Museum, the California NanoSystems Institute, and the UCLA Botanical Garden.
On June 18, the Los Angeles Design Festival announced the recipients of its 2025 Design Awards. Among them is faculty member Rebeca Méndez, who received the ICON Award, which honors women whose work and character have left an indelible mark on Los Angeles, culture, and society.
On Feb. 21, Conditional Studio, led by faculty member Chandler McWilliams, presented the symposium Thinking Through Textiles: Future Pedagogies at Broad Art Center. The symposium explored the intersections of aesthetics, textile technique, cross-disciplinary studies, and new material insights. The event featured faculty members Julia Koerner and Romi Morrison and Fowler curator Syona Puliady.
Faculty member Lauren Lee McCarthy M.F.A. ‘11 is the first recipient of the Human AI Art Award.
Lecturer and alum Refik Anadol M.F.A. ’14 announced the upcoming launch of Dataland, the world’s first museum dedicated to AI-generated art, set to open later this year. Anadol is also a recipient of a 2025 TIME100 AI Impact Award, which recognizes individuals who have gone above and beyond to move their industries—and the world—forward in the AI space.
Vinny Roca M.F.A. ‘25 won the Independent Games Festival award for Best Student Game for Slot Waste.
World Arts and Cultures/Dance
A diverse ensemble from New York and Los Angeles perform in Miguel Gutierrez’s Super Nothing (Jason Williams / CAP UCLA)
Faculty member Miguel Gutierrez’s latest dance performance, Super Nothing, received rave reviews from the New York Times, BOMB Magazine, and more. Presented by CAP UCLA, Super Nothing came to UCLA’s Freud Playhouse on June 13 and 14. Super Nothing explores the intersections between art and life and features a diverse ensemble of performers from New York and Los Angeles.
Faculty member Alex Ungprateeb Flynn’s second monograph, Pathways to Utopia: Time and Transformation in the Landless Workers Movement of Brazil, is being published this August by Indiana University Press. Pathways to Utopia explores how Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement, against all odds, has endured for forty years as one of the world’s largest social movements.
Faculty member Ayasha Guerin recently launched the L.A. iteration of her community-research studio, The Liberated Planet Studio. The Spring 2025 Artist Research cohort met at various sites in and around L.A. over five Saturdays throughout April and May to learn from local ecological-projects, landmarks, infrastructures, and their stewards.
Research Professor David Rousseve’s first evening-length solo in more than 20 years, Daddy AF, will have its world premiere at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh this September. Daddy AF is a meditation on life’s purpose created and performed by a queer African American man acutely aware of the finite time he has left on the planet. It’s set to have its L.A. premiere at The UCLA Nimoy Theater on Oct. 17 and 18.
Faculty member Tria Blu Wakpa received a 2025-2026 American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship. Over the past century, ACLS has supported individual scholars and scholarly teams around the world in their pursuit of research with the potential to advance knowledge in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.
Architecture and Urban Design
Faculty member Dana Cuff addresses a crowd at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Los Angeles for the "Small Lots, Big Impacts" celebration. (Sarah M. Golonka / cityLAB)
CityLAB at UCLA, led by faculty member Dana Cuff, launched “Small Lots, Big Impacts,” a first-of-its-kind initiative to turn vacant lots across L.A. into new starter homes. The initiative calls on architects and building experts to propose creative pilot projects on vacant, city-owned land, with the goal of developing innovative, lower-cost housing.
Faculty member Georgina Huljich M.Arch. ’03 and her L.A.-based office Patterns earned the AIA's Healthcare Design Award for Victory Wellness Center in North Hollywood. The award is the latest in a series of major honors for Huljich and this project. The win was announced at the 2025 AIA National Conference in Boston this June.
Faculty member Hitoshi Abe and the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies held their biannual Global Japan Forum at Japan House Los Angeles on June 15. The day-long symposium, “ZA – Place for Shared Experience,” explored how the tea ceremony, one of the most important rituals in Japanese culture, could prototype a new “third space” that brings different people together through shared experience.
Faculty member Narineh Mirzaeian M.Arch. ’03 earned the department’s 2024 Charles Moore Traveling Studio award for her Winter 2025 course, “Sticks & Stones: New Expressions of Tectonic Order.” Mirzaeian and her students traveled to Armenia in February 2025, studying a range of sites as students worked toward a new authenticity in architectural expression.
Faculty member Mohamed Sharif and alum Greg Kochanowski M.Arch. ’99 are co-leading the Wildfire Disaster Response Task Force, launched by the American Institute of Architects Los Angeles to aid affected communities and advance wildfire resilience strategies.
Alums Ellie Abrons M.Arch. ’06, Adam Fure M.Arch. ’06, Mira Henry MArch ’10, and their respective practices have been named to Architectural Record’s 2025 Design Vanguard. Architectural Record launched the Design Vanguard program in 2000 and describes it as an “annual showcase of young talent,” selecting ten practices each year from around the world.
Impact Through Arts Education
Hammer and VAPAE educators guide fifth-grade students from Monte Vista Elementary School through an engaging zine-making activity. (Ruby Tull / Hammer)
This year, the Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) Program continued to provide innovative coursework about the rich history and theories of arts education for its undergraduate students from UCLA Arts and beyond.
- 222 undergraduate students enrolled in VAPAE's 12 courses;
- 23 VAPAE undergraduate student teachers completed the Arts Education Teaching Sequence, providing 92 hours of arts instruction that reached over 600 K-12 students across 15 of VAPAE’s Los Angeles partner schools;
- VAPAE’s community arts programs provided 42 hours of instruction, reaching 225 K-12 students, families, and community members.
VAPAE Research & Evaluation Specialist Lindsey Kunisaki ‘15 was selected as a 2024-25 Research Fellow with the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP). Kunisaki also authored a first-of-its-kind report for non-profit Arts for LA that examines the implementation of Prop 28 across school districts in L.A. County.
This March, the galleries and classrooms of the Hammer came alive with fifth-grade students from Monte Vista Elementary School. As part of the museum’s Classroom-in-Residence at the Hammer program—produced in partnership with VAPAE—these young learners immersed themselves in artmaking, writing, movement, and deep observation, experiencing firsthand how creativity fosters personal growth, community, and connection.
In April, VAPAE Director Kevin Kane and Kunisaki presented at the American Educational Research Association in Denver. Kane chaired a roundtable entitled “Constructing Equitable Arts Education Spaces,” while Kunisaki presented a discussion of her Prop 28 research in a paper entitled “Resourcing as Repair Through California Proposition 28: An Investment in Equitable Arts Education.”
Engaging Our UCLA Arts Community
Steve Anderson and Anya Booker, left, leading a workshop on community-engaged scholarship and artmaking. (UCLA Arts)
On May 22, UCLA Arts associate deans Anya Booker and Steve Anderson hosted the inaugural workshop for UCLA faculty focused on expanding community-engaged scholarship and artmaking. The event brought together faculty from three of UCLA’s professional schools and highlighted work from the UCLA Schools of the Arts and Architecture; Theater, Film, and Television; and Music. Faculty members Dana Cuff, Alex Ungprateeb Flynn, and Cauleen Smith shared presentations on their work. Following these, interim deans Lionel Popkin and Chon Noriega offered practical guidance for gaining institutional recognition for community-engaged scholarship and artmaking.
In early May, the UCLA Arts Dean’s Office invited undergraduate and graduate artists, designers, and architects to submit works for the inaugural 2025-2026 Student Exhibition. This was an opportunity for UCLA Arts students to showcase their work in an academic and professional setting. This summer, works will be installed and on display for the following academic year.
DEEPENING OUR LOCAL AND GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
This year, we continued to engage the campus and region’s diverse audiences through dynamic public programming at our two world-class museums and groundbreaking performing arts center.
As the most-granted institution in the latest iteration of Getty’s PST ART, UCLA secured nearly $2 million in support for projects that span a variety of venues and organizations, including the Fowler and Hammer Museums, CAP UCLA, the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and two UCLA Arts research centers: Conditional Studio and the Art|Sci Center. Conditional Studio presented Conscious Tether: Art and the Internet in Los Angeles at Human Resources in downtown Los Angeles while the Art|Sci Center presented Atmosphere of Sound: Sonic Art in Times of Climate Disruption across multiple venues at UCLA.
Fowler Museum at UCLA
Installation view of Construction, Occupation at the Fowler Museum. (Elon Schoenholz / Fowler Museum)
The Fowler Museum repatriated several objects to Australia’s Larrakia people this May. This is on the heels of a historic return to Australia’s Warumungu community last July. These returns were initiated by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, or AIATSIS.
On Nov. 7, the Fowler hosted a ceremony for the return of 14 Indigenous Australian ancestral remains from the Fowler, the Natural History Museum, Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and the Oakland Museum of California.
The Fowler has a new publication about UCLA Arts alum Gala Porras-Kim ‘07. The Weight of a Patina of Time focuses on a series of works by Porras-Kim, including her exhibition of the same name at the Fowler. The essays explore her interest in fragments, conflicting histories, undeciphered texts, and other moments of uncertainty within the museum context.
In 2024-25, the Fowler opened several groundbreaking, critically-acclaimed exhibitions:
- Construction, Occupation opened this May and will be on view through January 2026. This exhibition—co-curated by Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance faculty member Alex Ungprateeb Flynn—presents the work of 24 artists and collectives that engage art’s potential to shape the city through the power of community.
- Part of Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide, Fire Kinship: Southern California Native Ecology and Art opened this past January and will remain on view through April 2026. This exhibition counters the attitudes of fear and illegality around fire, arguing for a return to Native practices, in which fire is regarded as a vital aspect of land stewardship, community wellbeing, and tribal sovereignty.
- Also part of Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide, Sangre de Nopal/Blood of the Nopal: Tanya Aguiñiga & Porfirio Gutiérrez en Conversación/in Conversation opened in July 2024 and was a multi-site project offering an expanded understanding of the scientific and Indigenous origins of cochineal, a red dye developed by the Zapotec peoples.
Hammer Museum at UCLA
From left to right, honorees Lauren Halsey, Jane Fonda, and Hammer Director Zoë Ryan attend this year’s Gala in the Garden at the Hammer. (Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Hammer Museum)
On Jan. 1, Zoë Ryan took over the role of director and later shared her plans for the Hammer with Los Angeles Magazine. “The Hammer is a campus and you can come here for exhibitions or really experimental programming or to have a great meal at Lulu,” said Ryan.
Cynthia (Cindy) Burlingham, the Hammer’s Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs, retired after an extraordinary 40-year career stewarding the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts. Reflecting on her tenure, Ryan stated, “Cindy has devoted her career to the Grunwald Center and the Hammer. It’s difficult to calculate the impact of her decades of dedication, scholarship, and leadership; simply put, it’s extraordinary.”
In May, the Hammer hosted the 20th annual Gala in the Garden, raising $2.4 million for the institution. The funds will support the Hammer’s acclaimed exhibitions and public programming, while the evening itself paid tribute to two icons: artist Lauren Halsey and actor and activist Jane Fonda.
The Hammer presented several acclaimed exhibitions in 2024-25 including:
- Noah Davis is now on view through Aug. 31, 2025. The first institutional survey of the late Noah Davis charts the breadth and depth of the American artist’s relentless output. Assembling over 50 works made between 2007 and 2015, the exhibition is organized in a manner that reflects the diverse interests informing Davis’s practice.
- Alice Coltrane, Monumental Eternal launched to rave reviews from the Los Angeles Times, ArtReview, W Magazine, Observer, and more. This exhibition was inspired by the life and legacy of jazz musician and devotional leader Alice Coltrane. The title takes its name from her book Monument Eternal, which reflected her newfound spiritual beliefs; the loss of her husband, the saxophonist John Coltrane; and the path to healing and self-discovery.
- Part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide, Breath(e): Toward Climate and Social Justice opened on Sept. 14, 2024, to critical acclaim. The exhibition considered environmental art practices that address the climate crisis and anthropogenic disasters and their inescapable intersection with issues of equity and social justice.
In October, the Hammer will debut Made in L.A. 2025, the seventh iteration of their biennial exhibition highlighting the practices of artists working throughout the greater Los Angeles area. This iteration will include several members of the UCLA Arts community: faculty member Will Rawls and alums Na Mira M.F.A. ‘13, Hanna Hur M.F.A. ‘19, Carl Cheng ‘64, M.A. ‘67, and Beaux Mendes M.F.A. ’19.
UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA)
Scott Shepherd (background), Christopher-Rashee Stevenson, and Vin Knight in Elevator Repair Service’s Ulysses at UCLA’s Macgowan Little Theater. (Jason Williams / CAP UCLA)
In September, CAP UCLA kicked off Edgar Miramontes’ inaugural season as the executive and artistic director with a mesmerizing performance from Gregory Maqoma’s Vuyani Dance Theatre inside Royce Hall.
In October, CAP UCLA received the prestigious Hospitality Award at the Los Angeles Business Council’s 54th Annual Architectural Awards for the renovation of The Nimoy.
On Dec. 7, CAP UCLA and REDCAT co-presented the sold-out Live Night: Cruising Bodies, Spirits, and Machines at the United Theater on Broadway. Part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide, the evening featured performances from rafa esparza, MUXX Collective, and Arca.
This March, the UCLA Art|Sci Center and CAP UCLA presented Sound and Science: From Signal to Noise at The Nimoy. The sold-out event featured performances by Department of Design Media Arts alums Iman Person M.F.A. ’22 and Ivana Dama ’21, as well as faculty member Jenna Caravello.
CAP UCLA’s presentation of the Elevator Repair Service’s Ulysses at UCLA’s MacGowan Little Theater received a glowing review from the Los Angeles Times. “Ulysses, the modernist novel that changed the course of 20th century literature, is notoriously demanding. In the end, the book—and the Elevator Repair Service production—deliver unexpected rewards,” wrote theater critic Charles McNulty.
In late June, CAP UCLA announced their 2025-26 season. Highlights include Grammy winners Arturo O’Farrill and Vijay Iyer, genre-defying artists like Lucía and Laurel Halo, groundbreaking international companies, and acclaimed visionaries including David Roussève, Tiago Rodrigues and Charles Gaines. Together, they explore identity, memory, resistance and joy.
TRANSFORMATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT
This year, the Department of Art’s Ceramics Area acquired a state-of-the-art kiln thanks to a generous donation from UCLA Arts alum Chuck Gordon ’09 and Jessica Gordon. (Lucza Brewer / UCLA Arts)
Philanthropic support continues to make a transformative impact at UCLA Arts. In the past fiscal year, we are proud to share that more than $26 million in generous contributions helped expand student opportunities, advance faculty research, and enrich the creative and academic life of our community.
Supporting students and faculty remains a top priority, along with growing our endowment to ensure long-term stability. This past year, 1,477 donors contributed—an impressive 34% increase over the previous year. Notably, 450 of these were first-time donors, marking a 266% year-over-year increase. Endowment giving also continued its steady upward trend over the last three years.
Gifts to the endowment create lasting impact across all departments, while contributions to current-use scholarships provided critical financial aid to dozens of Bruins. This support helped cover tuition and academic expenses, enabling students to remain enrolled, focus on their studies, and fully engage in studio work, research, and creative opportunities—without the added burden of financial stress.
The generosity of our alumni, parents, and friends is a powerful testament to the strength of the UCLA Arts community. We are deeply grateful to each and every one of you.
LOOKING AHEAD
In September, we will welcome a new cohort of 303 extraordinary undergraduate and graduate students to campus. UCLA Arts consistently attracts an exceptional pool of applicants and is one of the most applied to schools in the nation. For Fall 2025:
- 87% of our incoming first year undergraduates are California residents,
- 33% are transfer students,
- and 22% are first generation college students.
We cannot wait to meet them!
We look forward to seeing you on campus next year and wish you a restful and restorative summer.
Stay engaged. Use #UCLAarts to stay connected.
