May 18: Two UCLA events highlight art as a means of caring

Two events at UCLA on Thursday, May 18, will showcase the arts as a mechanism of mutual aid and community care.

At the second annual Yummy Bowl Benefit for the UCLA Food Closet, community members who have previously contributed at least $20 through a UCLA crowdfunding platform will choose from one of 300 one-of-a-kind bowls made by students and faculty from the UCLA ceramics department. Chef David Tanis of Lulu, the restaurant at the Hammer Museum at UCLA, will serve up a special vegetarian dish in the bowls. As of May 16, the campaign has raised nearly $8,000 for the campus food closet, which offers free fresh produce, beverages, bread, canned foods and hygiene products for students in need.

Later in the day, the community is invited to join UCLA CityLAB activist-in-residence Marlené Nancy Lopez for a preview of her “Grieving Sun Mural” interactive public art project. Born and raised in Los Angeles’ MacArthur Park neighborhood, Lopez is a longtime community organizer and has been a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The reflective mourning space will relocate in August to MacArthur Park.

Yummy Bowls pickup and picnic

WHEN

Thursday, May 18
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

WHERE

UCLA Broad Art Center Plaza (map)
240 Charles E. Young Drive North

WHO

Participants include:
Candice Lin, assistant professor, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
David Tanis, cookbook author and chef, Lulu

“Grieving Sun” mural preview and memorials

WHEN

Thursday May 18
12 p.m. Memorial to victims of recent tragedies in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay
5:30 p.m. Memorial to deceased cyclists

WHERE

UCLA Perloff Hall courtyard (map)
1317 Portola Plaza

WHO

Participants include:
Dana Cuff, founding director, UCLA CityLAB
Marlené Nancy Lopez, activist-in-residence, UCLA CityLAB

VISUALS

Visitors are invited to add to the mural with personal notes, photos or other gestures of commemoration that help them reconnect with lost ancestors, friends or memories. The installation includes calls to action for community engagement, and visitors can use picture frames and other curios to leave a remembrance, illuminate one of the provided candles or simply reflect.