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Photo by Ranjit Sinha
As part of the Year of the Arts, David Gere, associate
professor of World Arts and Cultures, will be leading artists,
activists and scholars in the MAKE ART/STOP AIDS conference
Dec. 3 at the Kinross Building. Gere led a related workshop
last July in Kolkata, India, where the Sapphire Dance Workshop
(above) created a powerful message about AIDS. |
A Cultural Powerhouse
UCLA Celebrates the arts
BY ANNE BURKE
ucla today STAFF
Quick. Where is UC’s flagship campus for the arts?
If your answer is UCLA, you’re right. The campus boasts a
faculty and staff roster that reads like a who’s who of the
arts, superb academic offerings and exhibition and performance programs
renowned the world over.
But not everyone is aware that UCLA is such a cultural powerhouse.
To get the word out, Deans Christopher Waterman of the School of
the Arts and Architecture (UCLArts) and Robert Rosen of the School
of Theater, Film and Television are helming a spectacular yearlong
celebration of the arts that will involve departments across the
campus.
UCLA Year of the Arts, which kicks off today, will include hundreds
of events, concerts, lectures, courses, film screenings, exhibitions
and performances, all designed to showcase UCLA’s breathtaking
assemblage of arts offerings. Today’s activities include a
press conference and hardhat tour of the yet-to-open Glorya Kaufman
Hall.
Among the most anticipated Year of the Arts events will be the
unveiling of a monumental work by sculptor Richard Serra and the
world premiere of an opera based on the life of the Spanish poet
Federico García Lorca.
The Year of the Arts is taking place during 2004-05 to coincide
with the grand opening of two major arts buildings on campus.
The renovated Kaufman Hall, which was once the Dance Building on
the north side of Wilson Plaza, opens this March as the new home
to the World Arts and Cultures (WAC) Department. “WAC is Back,”
a weekend of festivities March 10-12, will include a new work by
the hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris and the Kaufman Hall grand
opening.
The renovation, by the Santa Monica firm Moore Ruble Yudell Architects
& Planners, was financed in part by an $18-million gift from
philanthropist Glorya Kaufman, a longtime supporter of UCLA.
Replacing the Dickson Art Center in the northeast campus, the new
Edythe L. and Eli Broad Center will house UCLArts’ Department
of Art, Department of Design | Media Arts and the New Wight Gallery.
Designed by Getty Center architect Richard Meier & Partners
Architects, the building is named after business executive and philanthropist
Eli Broad and his wife, Edye, who donated $23.2 million toward construction.
The unveiling of the Serra sculpture, a 42.5-ton steel torqued ellipse,
will take place at the Broad Center grand opening, slated for October
2005.
Among hundreds of arts events taking place on campus during Year
of the Arts, 45 will be spotlighted as showcase events. They include
the Fowler Museum’s current exhibit on Latino popular religious
art; the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library’s conference
on Oscar Wilde on Oct. 22-23; a World AIDS Day teach-in on Dec.
1; and an Iranian film festival Jan. 15-30.
While UCLArts and Theater, Film and Television are spearheading
activities, the Year of the Arts embraces academic units throughout
the campus. UCLA has 10 departments devoted to exploration and research
in the arts, two prestigious museums (the Fowler and Hammer), a
sculpture garden with works by world-class artists, internationally
renowned performing arts programs, outstanding theater venues, the
largest university-based film and television archive in the world
and the most all-inclusive arts extension program in the United
States.
“The arts are central to UCLA’s three-part mission
of education, research and service,” stated Chancellor Albert
Carnesale. “They reflect and help shape our community as they
create connections between widely diverse people and disciplines.”
A downloadable brochure listing the 45 events is available at UCLArts’
redesigned Web site, www.arts.ucla.edu.
Information is also available by calling the Year of the Arts special
phone line, (310) 825-8000.
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