New Short Film Celebrates the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture’s Public Arts Institutions
UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance, the Fowler Museum, and the Hammer Museum
“The arts are a place in which a secular community of strangers belongs to one another, together, in public space, out of leaning forward towards what an artist has to offer.” – Kristy Edmunds, Executive and Artistic Director, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance
This week, the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture (UCLA Arts) launched “Leaning Forward,” a new short film that spotlights its internationally acclaimed public arts institutions: UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA), the Fowler Museum, and the Hammer Museum. Collectively, these venues create a vibrant cultural commons for the research university, Los Angeles, and beyond. The film features Marla C. Berns, Shirley and Ralph Shapiro Director of the Fowler Museum at UCLA; Kristy Edmunds, executive and artistic director of CAP UCLA; Ann Philbin, director of the Hammer Museum; and Brett Steele, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture; alongside students, alumni, faculty, and artists including choreographer and CAP UCLA artist in residence Ann Carlson and Rafa Esparza, who earned his B.A. from the UCLA Department of Art in 2011 and whose work was featured in the Hammer Museum’s biennial exhibition Made in L.A. 2016.
“These public venues form remarkable gateways that connect UCLA with its larger territory,” says Steele. “The Hammer Museum, Fowler Museum, and CAP UCLA bring the highest caliber of artists and programming from across the globe to Los Angeles, and share the extraordinary creativity and research that is generated at the university with the broader public.”
“Leaning Forward” is the latest installment in the “An Imaginative Offer” series of short films created by media company Wondros. This series celebrates the critical role that the arts play in society and demonstrates the conviction that the arts are fundamental to the cognitive, critical, inquisitive life of a public research university. Crafted from the unique voices of the UCLA Arts community, the films are culled from nearly 40 interviews with prominent artists, architects, scholars, and arts leaders.
Other films in the series include the titular piece, “An Imaginative Offer,” celebrating the transformative power of the arts in society and the unique role that the UCLA Arts plays as a forward-looking, interdisciplinary nexus for creativity and scholarship, and “Opening New Futures,” reflecting the potential of architecture in the 21st century and the essential role that UCLA Architecture and Urban Design plays in defining and shaping the future of the discipline. In addition, a series of 90-second vignettes feature some of the school’s renowned faculty including Professor Catherine Opie, Distinguished Professor Peter Sellars, Distinguished Professor Thom Mayne, Professor Rebeca Méndez, and Professor Polly Nooter Roberts, among others.
UCLA Arts collaborated with the alumni-founded design studio Use All Five to create a dynamic online platform where users can watch all of the films and engage more deeply with each piece to learn about the participants, imagery, and artwork that bring the series—and UCLA Arts—to life. Visit www.arts.ucla.edu/an-imaginative-offer.
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