For years, Black UCLA students had called for the establishment of their own space in the middle of campus. On September 27, that dream came true, with the christening of the UCLA Black Bruin Resource Center in Kerckhoff Hall. The visual heart of the 1,500-square-foot space is an 18-by-7-foot mural depicting Black Bruins from past to present, including athletes Jackee Joyner-Kersee ’85, Kenny Washington ’41 and Jimmy LuValle ’36, M.A.’37; philosophy professor Angela Davis; filmmaker Ava DuVernay; musician D Smoke ’07; and other illustrious Black alumni, alongside current students. Over the summer, hundreds of students, staff, faculty and alumni voted in an online contest to select the mural’s design from a handful of skillfully rendered entries. Fourth-year art student Maia Hadaway created the winning artwork to signify the interaction between past generations and the present one.
Watch a video of the BBRC mural installation:
Read more from UCLA Magazine's January 2022 issue.
