UCLA ““ and the UC system in general ““ has seen a lot of change over the past year. And though some changes may introduce a little extra difficulty in students’ lives, other changes taking place on campus represent exciting new opportunities for students. Here is a sampling of what professors in the UCLA arts community ““ from Art and Design | Media Arts to Music and Film ““ think have been some major changes across UCLA this year that have made a major impact on this year’s graduating class, and that will continue to impact graduating classes in the future.
Sue Yank
Assistant Director of Academic Program at the Hammer
A variety of artistic practices … (that are) most commonly known as “social practices” … could also be described as “participatory” or “interactive” art practices. Our museum has added (a public engagement department) … which does artist residencies with artists who … interact in participatory ways to impact our visitor experience here at the museum. I’ve noticed that UCLA art students are increasingly interested in this form of artistic practice and also are aware of many more opportunities to engage artistically … with people, with communities, with museums outside of the gallery space, in public space. And I think that’s incredibly exciting.
Neal Stulberg
Professor and Director of Orchestral Studies
One of the highlights for this year for UCLA Philharmonia is that we made a commercial recording of a piece that has never been recorded before (“Concerto Grosso” by Eric Zeisl) … that was written in the mid-1950s by Zeisl. We made this recording in Royce Hall in January and it was a milestone for our program because making a recording involves a level of expertise and intensity that goes beyond even performing the concert. … This was an activity that I think will have a great impact on the visibility of our program and in that way will be a calling card for us as a school when we recruit students in the future.
Peter Lunenfeld
Professor in Design | Media Arts
(One change that) Design | Media Arts is confronting and working with is the move from a more stable desktop-based interaction environment to mobility and small screens. That’s just the way people are moving. In other words, large screens fixed on your desk are really shifting over to your phone and your tablet and so those changes in scale and mobility are absolutely key. And that’s linked to … more and more, having to think about social media in terms of what you’re designing, who you’re designing for and the environment that you’re going to design for.
Meryl Friedman
Director of Education and Community Programs at the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA
What was formally UCLA Live is now CAP UCLA ““ the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA ““ and we’ve just undergone a major six-month institutional and organizational rebranding. We’re really looking at how we, as a center, embrace the notion of participating with the performing arts that goes just beyond plopping down an expensive amount of money for a ticket and then leaving and forgetting about it. For us, what that means is really finding … meaningful ways as an arts center to interact with the campus in ways that are really about having art serve as a catalyst for how you think about life … (and) a way of living your life.