UCLA Arts Newsletter

July 9, 2021

July 9, 2021

As we close the books on the 2020-21 academic year and turn our attention to summer projects and some much-needed rest, I want to take a moment to reflect on what has been a year for the history books.

On Saturday, Jun. 12, 2021, the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture celebrated the class of 2021 with keynote speaker Fulton Leroy Washington, aka Mr. Wash, faculty, students, staff and families from around the world. Here are some highlights from the ceremony.

In late March of this year, we asked Louis Heilbronn, M.F.A. '18, to create a series of portraits depicting the emptiness that had taken over our school and campus in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He visited classrooms, studios, workshops, theaters, and interstitial spaces that had been left vacant for more than a year, capturing in photographs a series of spaces frozen in time.

In June, with his retirement just around the corner, we caught up with Jason and asked him to share some thoughts about his time at UCLA.

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 virtual and in-person exhibitions, performances, lectures, and events.

The awards and accolades continue to accrue to the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, which reopened in Culver City’s Hayden Tract in 2019.

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.

Jul. 13: Made in L.A. 2020 artists Hedi El Kholti and Reynaldo Rivera play records and discuss music that has had a profound influence in their lives.		Jul. 19: Erica P. Jones, Fowler Curator of African Arts, discusses thrones made in the Cameroon Grassfields that embody the complexities of art in the colonial period.
Jul. 22: Live screening and conversation. Anna’s Sin is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello set in Rome of the early 1950s.		Through Aug. 1: The fifth iteration of the Hammer’s acclaimed biennial bridges east and west with complementary presentations at the Hammer and The Huntington.
Through Oct. 24: This exhibition brings together a selection of UCLA’s vast and diverse collections. Virtual opening celebration featuring an online panel of specialists on July 9 at 4 p.m.		Through Dec. 5: The first exhibition in the U.S. to look extensively at the work of Cameroonian photographers Jacques Toussele, Joseph Chila, and Samuel Finlak. Virtual opening event on July 10 at 11 a.m.

In the News:   

On July 1, the Fowler Museum opened its doors and welcomed back visitors over a year after its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.		UCLA professor of architecture and urban design Dana Cuff says, “Big parks, like Grand Park, show how active our downtown public spaces can be."
Artist Catherine Opie, UCLA professor of photography for 20 years, has big ideas for the university’s art department. Among them: Reduce student debt and lower economic barriers to education.		The acclaimed stage director, UCLA Distinguished Professor, and MacArthur Fellow Peter Sellars has donated his vast personal archive to the Getty Research Institute.
In Robin Frohardt’s immersive installation, the cereal rattles like it’s filled with bottle caps and the water bottles are filled with dirty, cloudy liquid.		Lorraine O’Grady and Andrea Fraser joined ARTnews for a conversation focused on the limits of institutional critique and the continued importance of activism in the art world.

Announcements: 

Student registration now open for 10 Questions: If not now, when?
This fall, UCLA Arts will present the fourth iteration of “10 Questions,” the hybrid interdisciplinary upper division course and public event series. Students can visit the UCLA registrar's page to enroll. More information about how to reserve your spot for this free public program will be available soon. 

Black Bruin Resource Center Mural Design Contest 
Current UCLA students, staff, faculty, and alumni are invited to submit their designs on the theme of Black History at UCLA for the Black Bruin Resource Mural Design Contest. Submissions accepted through July 26, 5 p.m. Find the contest rules and submission form here.

UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund  
The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture has launched the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund to raise money that will provide resources to strengthen the recruitment and retention of future UCLA Arts students who identify as Black/African American. Support the fund.

Fall Quarter 2021
The fall 2021 quarter begins on Monday Sep. 20, and instruction begins Thursday, Sep. 23. For the most up to date information on campus planning for fall, please visit the UCLA Return to Campus information page.

Find up-to-date COVID-19 resources and information for the UCLA community
Get the latest guidance and updates for the Bruin community, the media and the broader public about UCLA’s ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic. Read more.

Read the latest stories about UCLA Arts students, faculty, staff, 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. Read more.

PS:  

UCLA's Urban Humanities Initiative presents season two of their Digital Salon Podcast: THE COLLECTIVE

In Season 1 they meditated on the ways the pandemic is a portal. In Season 2 they will investigate how the urban environment can be used to organize and arrange an array of polyvocal collectives.

Each episode, created by UCLA Arts students, alumni, and affiliated members of the UCLA Urban Humanities Initiative, will be available at digitalsalonpodcast.org, with new episodes dropping twice weekly, every Tuesday and Saturday.

Read past editions of the UCLA Arts Newsletter

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