UCLA Arts Newsletter
May 29, 2020
Esteemed architect and humanitarian Yasmeen Lari will deliver the keynote address for the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture’s 2020 commencement ceremony, which will be held online on June 13.
Yasmeen Lari is Pakistan’s first female architect. This past February, she was awarded the prestigious Jane Drew Prize for raising the profile of women in architecture. She has advised UNESCO on heritage conservation, and, since 2005, built homes for tens of thousands of people affected by floods and earthquakes in her home country.
“We are delighted that Yasmeen Lari will join us for this historic commencement ceremony,” said Brett Steele, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. “Yasmeen Lari's extraordinary commitment and contributions to social and environmental justice resonate with an integrity and conviction so necessary for a world—and for a community of emerging artists and architects—facing an unprecedented moment of great tumult, and promise.”
Save the Date 
Please join us to celebrate the academic and artistic achievements of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture Class of 2020 at a live virtual commencement celebration on Saturday, June 13 at 10 a.m. PDT.
Please visit commencement.arts.ucla.edu for updates and instructions for viewing.
Congratulate the Class of 2020
Submit a congratulatory video, audio, image, or text-based message for the School of the Arts and Architecture's graduating students. Messages will be posted to the school's new Class of 2020 Commencement website, and revealed on the day of commencement.
Messages should be submitted no later than Wednesday, June 10 at Noon PDT. If you have questions about how to submit, please email communications@arts.ucla.edu or respond to this newsletter.
Disease has often driven change in architecture and design. Cities cleared slums and opened up public spaces in response to the bubonic plague, and widened boulevards and added indoor plumbing due to yellow fever and cholera. The open-air sanitariums designed to treat tuberculosis and other pandemics inspired the streamlined look of modernist buildings and minimalist furniture, which leaves few places for dirt and germs to hide. Now, as the COVID-19 crisis forces us to adapt where we live, work, eat, exercise and unwind, architects are pondering how those changes might influence the next generation of homes, offices and other buildings.
In a virtual roundtable discussion, Dana Cuff, Greg Lynn, and Natasha Sandmeier, faculty in the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, weigh in on how the practice may evolve in the aftermath of the pandemic.
We've asked several UCLA Arts faculty members to offer suggestions of what to watch, read, listen to, or otherwise explore during this time of physical distancing. You can also stream their interviews on the UCLA Arts podcast, Works In Progress, which is linked below each selection.
Teaching the arts often involves working with objects that are tangible and material. Whether it's sculpting with clay or code, teaching dance or design, or making work with paints or 3D printers, there's much that's lost in the shift from the physical to the virtual. Yet there have also been unexpected benefits that have come with learning new skills and developing new modes of communication.
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture faculty and students had to quickly pivot in March, in many cases upending their curricula and their pedagogy, to adapt to the new reality presented by the novel coronavirus and the "Safer at Home" ordinance. As the spring quarter nears its close, we're looking back on some of the conversations we had with faculty about how they've shifted from the classroom and studio and into a virtual space.
In the News
Announcements
Submit your artwork and scholarship for inclusion on the commencement website:
Graduating students of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture are invited to submit artwork and scholarship for inclusion on the 2020 commencement website. For more information and to submit your work, visit the submission form.
The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture wants to hear from you:
How are you adapting during this extraordinary period of safe distancing? Let us know how you’re doing, what you’re reading, listening to, watching, cooking, or making to help you weather the novel coronavirus pandemic. Reply to this newsletter, email us at communications@arts.ucla.edu, send us your selfies or a voice memo with your thoughts. Stay well and we look forward to hearing from you.
Read the latest stories about UCLA Arts students, faculty, and alumni:
From campus news to faculty and alumni activities around the globe the UCLA Arts website is updated daily to aggregate the best news and stories about and written by the School of the Arts and Architecture community. Arts and Architecture community.
UCLA Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden, May 2020
Read past editions of the UCLA Arts Newsletter
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