UCLA Arts Newsletter

October 14, 2016

Earlier this fall, the School of the Arts and Architecture announced the appointment of renowned dancer-choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham to the faculty of the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance. This past August, before setting out on a European tour with his company, Abraham.In.Motion, Abraham sat down for a conversation with fellow performer, choreographer, professor, and Interim Dean of the School of the Arts and Architecture, David Roussève.

David Roussève: Welcome. You know the department you are joining—World Arts and Cultures/Dance—has such a strong through-line of the artist as activist, and you’re so well known for referencing, integrating, and having conversations about the social and the political in your work or even that your work is a reflection of your identity as an African American queer man. When did you shift from not just loving moving and informally arranging movement, into creating dances and meaning making?

Kyle Abraham: Some of the social commentary might have started when I was in college at SUNY Purchase. SUNY Purchase is a very liberal school, so at the time I was there it was sixty-five percent gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender. It was a really queer-friendly campus. And I used to go around campus conducting interviews about gender and sexuality and then I’d make a dance about it. I don’t think I was consciously aware that I was trying to do anything or make a particular statement. It was just work. I made a lot of same-sex duets that were a little bit more relationship oriented or that had some kind of abstraction to them, but it was definitely purposeful to have two same-sex people interacting.

DR: So, clearly in your early days there were already those seeds of possibility about the conversations that could be had through dance. As you’ve matured as an artist, why does that remain important to you either as a person or as a choreographer?

Introducing Department of Design Media Arts Assistant Professor, Lauren McCarthy, ’11 (M.F.A., Design Media Arts). In her own words, McCarthy provides a glimpse into her latest research and practice.

“There is this funny thing where every day I get up with the sunrise at 6 a.m. to prepare and get in place, but I have to wait until they wake up for their location to start broadcasting. In those minutes or hours, I get a coffee and feel a nervous anticipation. As the minutes pass, I worry that they didn’t get the notification, or that the app failed somehow. All this while imagining them in bed sleeping, not knowing this has even begun…”

Lisa Hanawalt ’06 (B.A., Art), artist, illustrator, designer, writer, podcast host, and James Beard Award winner is on fire. This summer marked the publication of her second book, Hot Dog Taste Test; the debut of the Hanawalt-directed and designed music video for Tegan and Sara’s latest single, Hang on to the Night; and release of the third season of Netflix’s acclaimed animated series BoJack Horseman for which Hanawalt is production designer and producer. Not surprisingly, the press took note. Read on for the best excerpts from Hanawalt’s impressive media coverage over the past few months, and some additional nuggets of wisdom straight from the horse’s mouth. (Get it?)

Department of Architecture and Urban Design Professor Dana Cuff will give the keynote presentation at the American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC) Now Next Future conference

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México presents L’1%, c’est moi, a retrospective exhibition of Department of Art Professor Andrea Fraser’s work

Department of Art Distinguished Professor Mary Kelly is the subject of a new publication

The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., presents Barbara Kruger: In the Tower

Department of Art Professor Catherine Opie inducted to National Academy of Art, receives Smithsmonian's 2016 Archives of American Art Medal, presents work in three exhibitions this fall

Department of Art Distinguished Professor Lari Pittman’s exhibition, Lari Pittman: Mood Books, is on view at The Huntington

Design Media Arts Professor Rebeca Méndez receives the 2016 Vision Over Violence Humanitarian Award

Newly appointed World Arts and Cultures/Dance faculty member Kyle Abraham to present his 2012 work, Pavement, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music

Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance Professor Dan Froot awarded a 2016 MacDowell Colony Fellowship to conduct a month-long playwriting residency

Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance Professor Peter Nabokov receives glowing review of two publications in the New York Review of Books

World Arts and Cultures/Dance Professor and Chair Lionel Popkin's site-specific work Inflatable Park returns to Tongva Park

Senses of Time curated by World Arts and Cultures/Dance Professor Polly Nooter Roberts is concurrently on view at three arts institutions

Five things to see and do in and around Los Angeles this fall.

HANDPICKED BY BRIAN BRESS '06 (M.F.A., Art)


Monster Drawing Rally at Armory Center for the Arts		Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation


Photography and Language at Cherry and Martin		Museum of Jurassic Technology


Willie Nelson at The Pantages Theatre

A destination for the arts, UCLA Arts provides opportunities for the public to experience the full depth and diversity of UCLA Arts activities and creative programming. Don’t miss your chance to engage with the next generation of cultural leaders. See below for highlights, visit our calendar for the season’s complete listing, and subscribe to our weekly events email.


Deborah Hay: A Platform in Three Parts		Distinguished Alumni Lecture: Robert Hale


Visiting Artist Lecture: Amie Siegel		UC Regents Lecture: Martha Clarke


Questions of Quality Part II: A Local Perspective		Slamming Hunger: Story Slam


In Real Life: 100 Days of Film and Performance		Nkame: A Retrospective of Cuban Artist Belkis Ayón

Stay up-to-date with available opportunities! To support the interdisciplinary inquiry and creative production of our students and faculty, the Office of the Dean is maintaining a list of scholarships, fellowships, grants, and awards open to students, faculty and alumni.

On September 28, students, faculty, and staff from across the School of the Arts and Architecture gathered in Broad Plaza for our inaugural school-wide celebration, and fun was had by all. Click through for highlights.

Fall 2016

Recent graduates express great satisfaction with UCLA Arts education
As the School of the Arts and Architecture maintains its standing as the premiere public arts school in the nation, we are proud to report that our most recent cohort of graduating seniors rated their overall academic experience at the school a 97 out of 100 on average across all of our majors.

MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham joins UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance faculty
Abraham is eager to join the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance because of its unique blend of theory and practice. “This program,” he says, “can bring a dancer who is trained solely in Cambodian dance together with someone who has spent the better part of their professional career studying release based dance movement. Students can learn from each other and create a more interesting collaboration because of their different backgrounds. You do not get that diversity in a conservatory.” More info...

Alumna Lauren McCarthy joins UCLA Department of Design Media Arts faculty
McCarthy, who received her M.F.A. from the Department of Design Media Arts in 2011, creates work that examines social rules and the way we create identity in today's technological world. Prior to joining the Department of Design Media Arts faculty, Lauren taught as a full-time faculty member in the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and as an adjunct faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). More info...

New appointments in the Visual and Performing Arts Education Program (VAPAE)
Kevin M. Kane has been appointed director of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture’s Visual and Performing Arts Education Program (VAPAE). Kane takes over from Associate Dean of Community Engagement Barbara Drucker, who stepped down in July after six years of dedicated leadership since the program’s establishment in 2010. Laurel Butler has been appointed to replace Kane as the associate director of VAPAE. More info...

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