Patty Wickman has devoted her life to art. Now she wants to spread her zeal to those around her.

"I'm in a position in my life where I can reach out to more people than I normally could," said Wickman, an associate professor in the Department of Art. "Being an artist is more than just an occupation. It's a vocation, a passion."

From a young age, Wickman, a painter, was attracted to both art and teaching. Her older sister pursued a career as an artist and mentored Wickman's artistic growth in high school.
In kind, Wickman tutored her younger sister's friends in art, a time in her life she calls her "free babysitting days."

During graduate school at the University of Colorado at Boulder, she enjoyed teaching art to undergraduates.

"Teaching acts as a great counterbalance to working as an artist," Wickman said. "Artists work in isolation in their studios. Teaching, on the other hand, allows me to bounce ideas off of others, to be constantly stimulated and challenged."

To spread her love of art to an even larger audience, Wickman took on the role of director of the ArtsBridge program in 1999, overseeing this outreach effort by the School of the Arts and Architecture.

"We noticed there was a large disparity in undergraduate applications from different schools," said Wickman, who has participated in the admissions process. "We always felt this was a problem. Prior to ArtsBridge, however, the school hadn't been involved in outreach."

ArtsBridge gives $1,000 scholarships to both undergraduate and graduate students to teach art in K-12 classrooms throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District. Low-performing inner-city schools without arts programs are given priority. The undergraduates conduct workshops alongside supervising instructors in architecture, dance, design, ethnomusicology, music, and the performing and visual arts.

In operation for two years, ArtsBridge has given scholarships to 124 UCLA students and reached more than 3,000 schoolchildren.

"I don't think enough people appreciate the great benefits of art for children," Wickman said. "Art expands a child's critical thinking skills. It teaches one to think less linearly and in less structured modes of thought."

Through the program, administrators hope not only to raise children's test scores, but also to expose students to teaching as a possible career.

While she enjoys her roles as an administrator and teacher - she's been at UCLA for 16 years - Wickman hopes to focus more on her own art in the future.

"I don't see myself wearing as many hats," Wickman said. "I love my art and want to devote more time to my studio work."