Accolades accrue to the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios
The awards and accolades continue to accrue to the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, which reopened in Culver City’s Hayden Tract in September 2019.
Designed by the Los Angeles-based architecture firm Johnston Marklee, the world-class facility is dedicated to supporting emerging artists and strengthening Los Angeles’s position as a world arts capital. The building underscores the university’s continued commitment to nurturing generations of artistic talent while simultaneously enriching Los Angeles’s vibrant cultural community. It also underscores a deepening of support for the renowned artists whose dedication to teaching future generations has been a hallmark of the West Coast arts community for the past century.
In 2016, Margo Leavin made a lead gift of $20 million to fund the renovation and expansion of the UCLA Graduate Art Studios. Leavin’s gift, which is the largest ever made by an alumna to the arts within the UC system, demonstrates the importance of philanthropy that supports emerging artists—an essential foundation of culture—and enables UCLA to safeguard and propel a community of creative thought leaders.
The 48,000 square foot campus was designed to create a true artist’s neighborhood. Throughout the building, the spaces are not overly deterministic in order to support the diverse and emerging needs of creative practice. Clusters of intimate, private studio spaces abut communal, shared facilities and critique spaces. The building’s design considers the nature of artistic practice today and anticipates change by creating an environment that can evolve in the future with new technologies and working methods.
The growing list of recognitions for the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios includes:
Municipal Green Building Conference & Expo (MGBCE) Project of the Year
U.S. Green Building Council - Los Angeles Chapter
May 2021
Wood Design Award, Regional Excellence
WoodWorks
February 2021
Design Award - Honor Award
American Institute of Architects Los Angeles
November 2020
Excellence in Achievement - Educational Buildings
Tilt-Up Concrete Association
October 2020
Finalist - Learning Category
Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards
October 2020
Design Award - Honor Award
American Institute of Architects California
September 2020
Charles J. Pankow, Jr. Award
American Concrete Institute, Southern California Chapter
November 2019
P/A Award
Architect Magazine
February 2019
Acknowledgement Prize
LaFarge Holcim Foundation
October 2017
Photographs by Iwan Baan.
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