UCLA Arts Newsletter
UCLA and high school performers raised their voices for social justice at UCLA’s 34th annual MLK Oratorical Contest. The annual competition has grown from modest beginnings in the residence halls in the late 1980s to a much-anticipated kick-off for Black History Month, where students from UCLA and local high schools and community colleges are invited to explore the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. through poetry, spoken word, and other art forms.
In a Westwood Village storefront just south of the UCLA campus hang roughly a dozen large, luminous frames, each featuring a photograph of a single item — a dress, a comb, a pair of traditional Japanese tabi socks — printed on black fabric. But what, a passerby might ask, does it mean?
The unique pop-up installation, Where a Forest Once Grew, on view through Sunday, Feb. 18, was conceived by artist and UCLA alumna Lua Kobayashi as a love letter to her late grandmother and highlights everyday objects that once belonged to her, creating an effect that is at once deeply personal and evocative of the broader Japanese American experience.
Amir H. Fallah was born in Tehran, Iran and lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his B.F.A. in Fine Art & Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art and his M.F.A. in painting from the UCLA Department of Art. His work has been shown extensively in solo and group exhibitions across the United States and abroad. View Fallah’s work at the Fowler Museum at UCLA in The Fallacy of Borders, the artist’s first museum exhibition in Los Angeles (on view through May 14) and at Shulamit Nazarian Los Angeles in A War on Wars, an exhibition of new paintings and sculptures (opening Feb. 17).
The creative and scholarly contributions of the UCLA Arts community mine the complexities of the human condition, ask essential questions of our time, and expand the potential of creativity. Read more for a list of recent accolades and current and upcoming exhibitions, performances, lectures, and events.
In celebration of Black History Month, we invite you to join us as a philanthropic partner in co-creating a more equitable, inclusive, and diverse UCLA school community. Today, we ask you to make a gift to the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund to support our community of artists, scholars, educators, and activists who are committed to creating institutional change and combating racism. The Fund provides new school-wide scholarships and fellowships to address disparities in student access to education and retention of underrepresented students who identify as Black or African American.
Don't Miss:
Check out upcoming virtual programs from across our academic departments, museums, and performing arts presenters. Find a complete list of upcoming events on the UCLA Arts online calendar.
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In the News: 
Announcements:
Read Campus Leadership’s message about Emergency Resources and Support Following Mass Shooting at Michigan State University
Read the message
Read Chancellor Gene Block’s Feb. 10 message about the recent disaster in Turkey and Syria and the campus resources available for those in need of support
Read the message
Campus will be closed Monday, February 20 in recognition of President’s Day.
Read past editions of the UCLA Arts Newsletter
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