Meet the 2020-21 Dean's Student Council: Yaying Bai
This series of web posts profiles the 2020-2021 UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture’s Dean’s Student Council.
Yaying Bai is a third-year undergraduate art history major with a minor in Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE). She is the undergraduate representative for VAPAE on the UCLA Arts Dean’s Student Council. Bai is also a member of SouLA Acapella, CFAN Chinese Theater Group, and Parked In 4 East Band, and is Vice President of the Art History Undergraduate Student Association.
Yaying Bai joined the Dean’s Student Council to give a voice to the School of the Arts and Architecture’s Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) program.
“UCLA was my dream school. When I was accepted, I decided to make the most of my time here learning new knowledge, talking with talented people, and making some positive changes on campus,” she says.
VAPAE is a compact but loving and welcoming program, and each of us works hard to provide artistic experiences to different classes.
Yaying Bai
Driven by the belief that arts education is transformational for individuals and greater society, VAPAE prepares UCLA undergraduates to teach theories and practices of arts education, providing students real-world teaching experiences in schools across Los Angeles. “VAPAE is a compact but loving and welcoming program, and each of us works hard to provide artistic experiences to different classes,” says Bai.
As an Art History major, Bai focuses on East Asian art in her academic and research work. She is particularly interested in the arts from the modern and colonial eras in East Asia, and is working on an undergraduate thesis on the early exposition practices of Korea.
With VAPAE, Bai has worked with first-grade students from L.A.’s Kingsley Primary School to analyze images and works of art. She introduced students to some of art’s basic components and vocabularies, such as drafts, lines, colors, and composition. In one class, her students created art from traced drawings of their own hands.
I am proud of being able to study what is related to my cultural identity and share it with my peers.
Yaying Bai
A crucial aspect of Bai’s work and research is sharing knowledge and ideas in her community to help people understand and enjoy artwork they encounter, such as in museums or galleries. “I am proud of being able to study what is related to my cultural identity and share it with my peers,” she says. “The ability to decode and study images is crucial for students' understanding of their world. I wish to help students find visiting museums and creating artwork as rewarding as I do.”
The ability to decode and study images is crucial for students' understanding of their world.
Yaying Bai
In coming years, Bai hopes that the Dean’s Student Council will be able to serve a crucial role in hearing and sharing students’ ideas with the school’s administration, as well as helping to foster a sense of community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bai highly recommends that students interested in the Dean’s Student Council consider getting involved. “Join and let the school know your amazing ideas to make the school a more inclusive community,” she says.
After she graduates this spring, Bai plans to move to New York City, where she will enroll in an art history graduate program at Columbia University.
Story by Ruby Dennis.
Header photo: Courtesy of Yaying Bai.
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