UCLA students watch one another as they immerse themselves in an art exhibit from last year’s UCLA Arts Party.
Credit: Hammer Museum
Actors in Nick Cave’s “Soundsuits” perform at the 2010 UCLA Arts Party in Royce Hall.
Credit: Hammer Museum
Museums tend to have a reputation for being cold, boring buildings with artifacts, sculptures and paintings that should be admired from a distance and not touched.
This week at UCLA, students will get the opportunity to actually interact with art and artists and even create some creative pieces of their own.
The UCLA Arts Party, which takes place today and Wednesday, combines three of the campus’s arts venues ““ the Fowler and Hammer museums and Royce Hall ““ during a two-night event for students. The party will take place at Fowler Museum and Kaufman Hall on Tuesday evening, and at Hammer Museum on Wednesday.
At each location, students will have the opportunity to participate in interactive activities inspired by a guest residency at UCLA Live and exhibitions at the two museums.
The Fowler Museum event “Word-Jamming” is a game night inspired by the exhibition “Order and Disorder: Alighiero Boetti by Afghan Women.” The exhibition borrows from Italian artist Boetti’s incorporation of words and phrases into his work. Students can challenge members of the Los Angeles Scrabble Club, tour Boetti’s exhibition, create a portion of artist Jenny Hart’s collaborative embroidery project and even join in a game of legendary or drag queen bingo.
According to Lenna Assaf, a fourth-year world arts and cultures student and co-director of education for UCLA Live’s Student Committee for the Arts, Glorya Kaufman Hall has been transformed into an art gallery for its “Archeology of an Artist” event. There will be an afternoon screening of “Inner Voice,” a documentary about artist Meredith Monk, followed by a guided meditation and discussion led by Monk. A collaborative art project will also be created throughout the building.
“There is artwork from elementary students on one side of the wall, and there is an interactive part surrounding the pillars in Kaufman Hall,” Assaf said. “There are paper leaves that you can use to write down any wish that you have for the world or in nature and add to the exhibit.”
Assaf also said that this art piece will remain on display for future visitors after the Arts Party.
“The idea is to get students and faculty to come into Kaufman and also become a part of the exhibit themselves,” Assaf said.
On Wednesday evening, the Hammer Museum will continue the festivities with “Embodied,” a series of artist-led workshops and live music inspired by the current exhibition “Alina Szapocznikow: Sculpture Undone 1955-1972.” Students will be able to explore the exhibitions, participate in figure drawings, have their bodies cast and witness the work of John Kilduff, an artist who paints while running on a treadmill.
Leigh Phan, a fourth-year geography and environmental studies student and member of the Hammer Student Association Events Committee, said the Arts Party is a great way for students to get to know more about the artists featured at the museums.
“We try to showcase one of our current exhibits and we try to get artists to lead workshops that embrace our current arena show,” Phan said.
Shadelene Adamos, a fourth-year English student and chairwoman of the Hammer Student Association Events Committee, said that the Arts Party will be an opportunity for students to experience the Hammer Museum in a way that they normally would not.
Adamos also said that this is the first year that students have been a part of deciding what workshops and events would be taking place during the Arts Party.
“People can engage in different workshops, learn new skills and learn new techniques,” Adamos said. “On top of that, we are going to be having food trucks outside, which is a really huge draw for students.”
For those who have not visited these venues before as well as those who frequent them, this celebration of the arts at UCLA will be a hands-on artistic experience.