The UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture will present more than 100 public events this spring featuring exhibitions at campus museums and galleries; lectures by artists, alumni, and faculty; as well as music, theater and dance performances by students and acclaimed professionals. Many of the events are free — thanks to the support of donors — and all are open to the public.
For more details and a complete listing of events, see the UCLA Arts calendar.
Screenings and performances
April 5–7: Born into hip-hop culture in the late 1970s and grounded in an artistic upbringing in classical cello, piano and the visual arts, choreographer and UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance Studio Professor Kyle Abraham delves into identity through personal history. This spring, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance presents Abraham’s “Dearest Home.” Performed by Abraham’s company, Abraham.In.Motion., this interactive dance work focuses on “Loving and Longing, Love and Loss.”
April 13, 14, 27 and 28: Master of fine arts candidates in world arts and cultures/dance at UCLA present MFA3, a series of performances showcasing their final work. Presenting artists include Jade Charon, rayven armijo, Chantal Cherry and Daeun Jung.
April 28–May 12: CAP UCLA brings back New York-based SITI Company, the world-renowned ensemble lauded for its innovation and the creation of new forms of theater that challenge accepted norms and defy classification. Their recent work, “the theater is a blank page,” is a much-heralded collaboration with celebrated visual artist Ann Hamilton, who is internationally recognized for her large-scale multimedia installations.
May 5: Three-time Grammy Award winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the most popular and renowned voices on the global music scene. Her striking voice, stage presence and fluency in multiple cultures and languages have won respect from her peers and expanded her following across national borders. CAP UCLA presents her newest project — her version of the Talking Heads’ ground-breaking 1980 album, “Remain In Light.”
June 7 and 8: Featuring new work by faculty artists Kyle Abraham, Nina Flagg, Nia Love, Ros Warby, Gracie Whyte and Cheng-Chieh Yu, the First Hand Faculty Concert is the UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance presentation of in-progress choreography.
Lectures, panels and readings
April 9: Jaron Lubin, who graduated in 2004 from UCLA with a master of architecture I, will present a Distinguished Alumni Lecture for the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design. A frequent writer and lecturer, Lubin is a design principal with Safdie Architects, a firm that creates public spaces that serve as catalysts for a vibrant life in cities around the world.
April 10: Journalist and novelist Kanishk Tharoor and president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust James Cuno discuss the role of museums and curators in piecing together cultural history from artifacts. In conjunction with the Hammer Museum at UCLA exhibition “Stories of Almost Everyone.”
April 10: Ian Cheng, an American artist known for his live simulations that explore the nature of mutation and human behavior will lecture in the UCLA Department of Design Media Arts Lecture Series.
April 12: Kenya HARA, graphic designer, creative director for Japan House and art director at MUJI, will give a lecture on his work and exhibition at Japan House Los Angeles. Presented by Japan House with the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, Department of Design Media Arts, Department of Architecture and Urban Design, and Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies.
April 15: The Hammer Museum presents Hammer Forum: Ted Lieu: The Trump-Russia Investigation. Lieu will discuss special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections. Moderated by Ian Masters.
April 19: CAP UCLA presents an evening with Colson Whitehead, the New York Times bestselling writer, MacArthur Fellow and author of the highly acclaimed novel “The Underground Railroad.”
April 21: Matthew Robb, chief curator at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, will moderate a conversation on “Oaxacan Ball Games and Mexican Indigenous Migration,” examining the origins of traditional ball games in ancient Mesoamerica and their popularity today. Panelists include artist Leopoldo Peña; Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, project director at the UCLA Labor Center; and Fidel Salazar Rosales, president of the Asociación de Juegos y Deportes Autóctonos y Tradicionales del Estado de Oaxaca. At 3:30 p.m., enjoy a demonstration game of pelota mixteca on Wilson Plaza.
May 10: The UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance presents a UC Regent’s lecture by renowned Maori choreographer Jack Gray. Known for his interdisciplinary work in concert dance, video and museum work as well as for his activism within the sphere of indigenous rights, Gray will give a lecture and performance, followed by a public reception.
May 21: Brett Steele, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, will lecture as part of architecture and urban design’s “This, Not That” lecture series which invites thought-provoking speakers to present arguments for their respective positions, or ideological stances, toward the design of the built environment.
Exhibitions
April 5–May 31: UCLA’s top-ranked fine arts graduate programs present their final exhibitions. The Department of Art continues its M.F.A. exhibition series showing the work of graduating M.F.A. candidates from the department, and design media arts presents its annual M.F.A. Final Exhibition.
June 2: The M.F.A. art students open their studios to the public for the semi-annual Graduate Open Studios event. Visitors are invited to meet the students and see their work in progress in a studio setting.
June 3–Dec. 30: Fowler Museum exhibition “Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths” combines objects of extraordinary beauty with cutting-edge scholarship to create the most comprehensive presentation of the blacksmith’s art in Africa to date. This international traveling exhibition reveals the history of invention and technical sophistication that led African blacksmiths to transform one of Earth’s most basic natural resources into objects of life-changing utility, empowerment and artistry. Opening weekend events include a curator lecture and opening party on June 2 and a gallery tour and family program on June 3.
June 3–Sept. 2: The Hammer Museum’s biennial exhibition, “Made in L.A. 2018,” highlights the practices of artists working throughout Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. Organized by Hammer curators Anne Ellegood and Erin Christovale. Public opening celebration at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 2.
June 11 and 12: Architecture and urban design's “RUMBLE” is an end-of-year exhibition between its two campuses: Perloff Hall at UCLA and the IDEAS campus in Culver City. The exhibition engages students, faculty and the international design community with 20,000 square feet of studio and program installations, 240 projects on view and 90 leading critics and practitioners.
