VAPAE Transforms Untitled Gallery into a Black Box Theater for Grand Arts High School Students
On Wednesday, Dec. 6, the Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) Program transformed the Untitled Gallery in UCLA’s Broad Art Center into a black box theater.
VAPAE, situated in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture (UCLA Arts), provides undergraduates with the option to minor in arts education. Its mission is to prepare the next generation of culturally equitable arts educators, bringing inclusive arts education to Los Angeles schools and communities.
For the day, they invited music, theater, and dance students from Grand Arts High School, a public arts high school in Downtown Los Angeles, to UCLA Arts.
The students toured the campus, seeing the Sunken Gardens, Royce Hall, and the UCLA Department of Art undergraduate scholarship award exhibition at New Wight Gallery. The visiting students received firsthand insight into the college experience from VAPAE student guides.
Two Grand Arts High School students perform a song from the musical Cabaret. (Lucza Brewer / UCLA Arts)
In the evening, the high school students presented scenes from the classic musical Cabaret. The students deftly handled the musical’s nuanced subject matter and performed several iconic songs like “It Couldn't Please Me More (A Pineapple)” and “I Don’t Care Much” to a rapt audience.
In return, the VAPAE students of Arts Education 108: Performing Arts Methods for the Teaching Artist shared the multidisciplinary performance project they had been developing over the quarter. The course, taught by VAPAE Director Kevin Kane, equipped the students with strategies and skills to design and implement original performing arts lessons.
“VAPAE takes seriously the idea that community engagement should work two ways: our UCLA students going into local communities to study and practice teaching artistry, and local K-12 schools coming to our campus for meaningful experiences and exchanges,” said Kane. “A night like this fulfills that vision.”
As part of their teaching artist preparation, the VAPAE students collaborated on the creation of original performance pieces from a range of mediums like poetry, dance, acting, text and movement, and singing.
Fourth-year neuroscience major and VAPAE student Kayla Arellano sings a song from The Greatest Showman as part of a multidisciplinary performance project developed over the quarter. (Lucza Brewer / UCLA Arts)
“Studying arts education research and pedagogical theories are both crucial in becoming an effective mentor and an educator,” said fourth-year theatre major and VAPAE student Cortunay Minor, “but getting to apply your knowledge and artistry to real-life interactions with current K–12 students has been a great opportunity, especially when those students are as brilliant and inspired as the ones from Grand Arts.”
VAPAE is committed to community engagement through the arts. The evening provided a vital opportunity for student artists and future teaching artists to share their passions and exchange ideas. The Grand Arts students learned more about the college arts experience, and the VAPAE students gained knowledge on how to support young artists in various settings.
“It's always lovely to share space with a group of people who value and adore the arts as much as I do,” concluded Minor.
By Sean Arenas
Header image: UCLA students of Arts Education 108 share a multidisciplinary performance project for Grand Arts High School students. (Lucza Brewer / UCLA Arts)
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