UCLA Visual and Performing Arts Education Program

Join us TONIGHT!✨

𝗧𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆
VAPAE Arts Ed 107 Class Exhibition

𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘆
UCLA Royce Hall - The Artist Entrance
𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟯 𝗮𝘁 𝟴 𝗽𝗺

Organized by UCLA Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) students, lecturer Christina Korn and teaching associate Farshid Bazmandegan, 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 features 10 artworks inspired by the Hammer Museum’s 𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦 collection.

The exhibition includes works by student artists and educators including 𝗗𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗼𝘆, 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗵𝗶, 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗻, 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗷𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝘆𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗼, 𝗔𝘃𝗮 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻, 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗼, 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗛𝘀𝗶𝘂𝗻𝗴, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗮, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗷𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗫𝘂. Presenting performance art, self-portrait, sculptures, installation art, media art, visual collage, and illustrations, this exhibition focuses on the multiple dimensions and experiences of memory in exploring the personal and domestic realms. Artists and educators, searching the essence beyond the familiar, offer artworks that extend the conversations surrounding memory and provide educational potential to the students. 

Introduction text by Clair Hsiung
Poster designed by Ander Xu

.bazmandegan

👏A round of applause for the guest speakers who graced us with their wisdom and insights during AE 20’s Arts in the Community panel this past Wednesday. 🌟

Keep reading to get to know our esteemed panelists - they are truly dedicated to fostering the arts in the vibrant community of LA! 🎭🎨🎶

𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻 is the Director of Programming at 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙨, Vice President of Inglewood Wrapping Arms around the Community, and a Teaching Artist for The Actors Gang Prison Project and Creative Acts.

𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 is Associate Director of Education at 𝙄𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙧-𝘾𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙨 and has worked in the field of arts and education as a professional actress, teaching artist, classroom teacher, administrator and program leader.

𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗸 is founder and Executive Director of 𝙇𝘼 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨, an organization dedicated to promoting Los Angeles’ diverse neighborhoods through locally based, interactive, artistic and cultural programming.

𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗷𝗼 is 𝙇𝙖𝙨 𝙁𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙨 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩’s Community Engagement Manager, uplifting and centering student voices in the creation of workshops, events, and opportunities for teenage girls and gender expansive youth as they explore photography and the arts.

𝗙𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗙𝘂𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲𝘀 holds the position of Senior Manager, 𝙔𝙊𝙇𝘼 (𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙊𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖 𝙇𝙤𝙨 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨) with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and is a board member with Arts for LA.

We’d also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Executive Director Sabra Williams and Social Enterprise Director Helen Alonzo Hurtado for supporting their colleagues on the panel. 🙌❤️

     

Thank you to our Arts Ed 20 guest panelists who spoke on the topic of Art and Community in K-12 Schools.

Olivia Armas, Itinerant K-5 Art Teacher - Arts Ed Branch, LAUSD

Anvar Camacho, Education Specialist, UCLA Community School

Mahyan Lynch, senior theatre student, Los Angeles County HS for the Arts (LACHSA)

Elizabeth Dennehy, actress, educator, former LACHSA theatre teacher

Jantré Christian, Principal, Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts



     

We had an exciting day today at the Urban Artists class at the UCLA Community School!

Guided by VAPAE Teaching Artist Blaze, students started outlining and painting their school mural focused around climate change. 🌎💚

We’re so excited to see the project come to life in the upcoming weeks!

Thank you to guest speaker Silvia Tinajero for presenting to our students in Arts Ed 107: Visual Arts Methods for the Teaching Artist, and leading a lesson on symbolic self portraiture!

Born and raised in Los Angeles to Mexican parents, Silvia Tinajero is a proud product of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where she attended South Gate City Schools from K-12.  Being part of the LAUSD Family and an employee for 34 years has guided her and led her to thrive in a variety of ways.  Along the way, Silvia had mentors who believed in her and knew that her passion had always been to help all students achieve, especially in the arts. At 18, she became a Teacher's Assistant, transitioned into being a Visual Arts Teacher, left the classroom to become an Intervention Coordinator/Instructional Coach and later served for 4 years as the only Local District Arts Specialist at Local District East.

Today Ms. Silvia Tinajero is the proud Assistant Principal at Grand Arts - Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts. She is dedicated and committed to preparing all her students with an equitable, first-class arts education; one that is well-rounded, provides real-world experiences, and opportunities that will guide all of her students to be college and career ready.

Repost from VAPAE Director Dr. Kevin Kane
🌀🌀🌀
Presenting our at the conference
… Thanks & the brilliant .kunisaki for your support & partnership!!

Oh and in was gorgeous 🌸🌺🌹🌻🌼

Tonight Dr Davida Persaud and Dr Kevin Kane welcomed back Arts Ed 20 & VAPAE alum to speak with this year’s Intro to Community Engagement through the Arts class.
Thanks Blaze, Nyah, Brian, Bailey & Jackie for sharing all the amazing community arts work you’ve been doing since taking the class. Inspiring!

Building community with the Urban Artists class at the UCLA Community School 🌳

Students were asked to draw and share something they care about. After sharing, we collaged all the pieces together to create a paper quilt! 💚

We’re looking forward to creating more collective artwork with our new mural project this semester.

to this year's unforgettable Classroom in Residence program at the ! 📚🎓 Reminiscing on the fun times we had & success we achieved 🎨

Thanks to Jessica Wolf for this writeup 😊 - check out the link our bio to read all about it!

VAPAE’s spring quarter is off to a great start.🌿 We are very happy to introduce two new lecturers and three new teaching assistants!

🧑‍🎨Arts Education M102 – Intro to Arts Education for Multiple Publics: Theory and Practice 🖌️

Please join us in welcoming Joannza Lo, our new VAPAE lecturer for this course working alongside TA Aquilah Ohemeng.

🎨Arts Education 107 – Visual Arts Methods for the Teaching Artist 🖼

Lecturer Christina Korn + TA Farshid Bazmandegan will guide students in building strong strategies, techniques, and methods to design and teach original visual arts lessons.

🌍Arts Education 20 – Intro to Community Engagement through the Arts🤝

Introducing new VAPAE lecturer Davida Persaud & TAs Kyle James Abraham, João Paulo Paiva, & Olivia Salas!

🏫Arts Education M192XP – Arts Education Teaching Practicum & Capstone Project 🖍

Next week, our Spring 2023 cohort of M192XP students will begin teaching their very first lessons at local K-12 schools, under the guidance of lecturer Marissa Magdalena Sykes + TA MiRi Park.

             

Reflecting on some magical moments from winter quarter 💭🏠🪄

Repost from VAPAE Teaching Artist Blaze Bautista
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What is Community?

What does it mean to you? How does community or the lack thereof impact those affected by the prison system? And how can art heal them?

On Wednesday night, students from , writers from , and artists from joined together to share art, photography, and poetry answering these questions. It was incredible to witness such vulnerability and authenticity from all participants and see community building from sharing art.

I was privileged to work with five UCLA students to design and create a digital collage that intersected all the learned themes from their class, Arts in Correctional Facilities. Words like transformation, rehabilitation, and creativity sparked visuals and illustrations that we brought together within each letter of Community.

So grateful to and for the opportunity!

Crafting Connections at the UCLA Community School is back again with explorations of self and community!🩷 This week, students brought in found objects ranging from shirt buttons to newspaper clippings to any found ephemera in their community. With wire and creativity, they created unique sculptures that beg the question: How can objects transform us? How can we transform objects?

So thrilled for this new semester of community building. 🎨

After a 3 year hiatus is SO excited to relaunch the program this week, one of our favorite special projects & a chance to once again collaborate with our dear colleagues at !
We’re loving spending a whole week with from the UCLA Community School

Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Valentin Nguyen, VAPAE Graphic Designer!

Valentin Nguyen (she/her/hers) is a designer and illustrator from San Francisco. She is wrapping up her last year at UCLA and is on track to graduate with a B.A. in Design | Media Arts. She loves storytelling and breaking down complex ideas into simple content. In the summer of 2020, she worked with UCLA medical student Matt Daly to illustrate and publish A Voyage to Virus Land, a picture book that educates youth about COVID-19. Valentin is dedicated to making work that creates fun, accessible, and impactful experiences for everyone.

Congratulations to Valentin on winning the Highest Distinction Award in the 2023 DMA undergraduate exhibition for her piece 𝘓𝘖𝘚𝘚.

Swipe to see more of her work!🌟

⚠️📢 VAPAE minor apps are due tomorrow, Friday February 10!
👉Click the 🔗 in bio to apply. 🎨🖌️

Feel free to DM with any questions 😊

We are pleased to introduce you to a new member of the VAPAE team, Toby Britton, VAPAE Program Assistant!

Toby Britton (he/him/his, b. 2002) is currently a second-year UCLA undergraduate Art major born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA. He has primarily worked with painting and drawing but as he takes more classes and learns, he continuously expands into mediums such as ceramic, video, and sculpture. His artistic output has generally been autobiographical and seeks to document and display the changes, moments, and feelings that stick out and linger as he navigates each day through introspection and by focusing inwards. Through his work, he is questioning and reworking his relationship to self-image, familial relationships, and the concept of home. He also loves cats, listening to music, and going on walks.

Swipe to see some of his previous pieces and what he is currently working on. You can also find him on Instagram

Happy New Year, Bruins! VAPAE looks forward to another quarter of growth and creativity! 🌱

Arts Education 101 – Somatic Pedagogies: Body and Voice Awareness for Teaching Artists and Facilitators🗣️👣

Lecturer Christine Suarez + TA Kyle James Abraham will guide students in building mind/body awareness and vocal skills for more impactful and effective teaching, communicating, and connection.

Arts Education 105 – Arts Programs in Correctional Institutions: History, Theory, and Practice 🖌️

Lecturer Jimmy Wu and new VAPAE TA Antonia Fabian will engage students’ imaginations of how arts programs can support the positive transformation of individual and systemic traumas sustained as a result of our nation’s relationship to crime and incarceration.

Arts Education M192– Arts Education Teaching Practicum 🚌👩‍🎨

Lecturer Marissa Magdalena Sykes + Teaching Associate MiRi Park will support students as they develop original arts-based lesson plans geared towards their assigned K-12 classrooms.

           

The Urban Artists mural at the UCLA Community School is coming along!

For the last month, the class has been working collaboratively to sketch and paint their community mural! 🌻 We’re so excited for the reveal in a couple weeks!

Dear friends of VAPAE, this , help VAPAE move arts education forward. ✨Our mission is to:

⭐️ prepare the next generation of teaching artists to teach in schools and communities

⭐️ bring arts education to creative learners and teachers of all ages

⭐️ build our field’s understanding of social justice in arts education

Any donation - large or small - is very appreciated! 💜 Link in bio.

Your contribution will HELP VAPAE invest in the future of art education, today. 🎨🖌

Second project completed at Studio Sessions @ SAGE! 🎶🎨🎧After two weeks of exploring acrylic paint, final works of album cover art were conceptualized. Students were given the option to either recreate album art based on a preexisting piece of music they identify with, or to imagine a song they would identify with, based on what they might play if they were to make music. We had a range of response to this broad prompt and very insightful reflections, as displayed on the written labels (photos 5 & 8). Each class included discussions about the relationship between music and visual art, questioning why we envision sounds in certain ways.

As teaching artists, our intention at SAGE @ Louis Armstrong Middle School this fall has been to strengthen a bridge for students between visual art and music making. We hope that by letting students shine with their preexisting artistic skills, they can begin feel comfortable trying a new medium. We hope that targeting Social Emotional Skills while doing this through community art making and critical discussion also nurtures a space for student to step into confident creating!

Have a great Thanksgiving break and see you in two weeks Louis Armstrong Middle School!

The MÁS x Urban Artists mural project at the UCLA Community School is underway! ✏️

For the past two weeks, students have been working collectively to establish topics/themes, sketch drafts, and select a final design for their class mural. We were so excited to start gridding and sketching this past Friday!

Look out for more updates as this beautiful artwork comes to life!🌻

Studio Sessions @ SAGE this Monday was a blast! 🧡 We began our next project by exploring a new medium. After a brief warm up on music history, teaching artist Gabriela demonstrated techniques with acrylic paint while students practiced alongside the tutorial. As we prepare to make self portraiture through album art, this week’s space was all about experimenting with different materials (and Halloween, of course)🎃Students surprised us with a flash mob dance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller after clean-up🎨

See ya next week, SAGE!

Huge congratulations to VAPAE lecturer Felix Quintana for his feature in the LA Times! We’re lucky to have Felix on the VAPAE team ❤️

Repost from
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All love to for spending time with me and speaking to the layers of my work, endlessly grateful for all that you poured into this piece. Lynwood / Southeast LA and El Salvador in the today ✌🏽🌴💙🎉
・・・
Felix Quintana puts heart into everything he does: teaching youth and uplifting Southeast L.A. communities and areas throughout.

Quintana examines themes of surveillance and infiltration in our neighborhoods, while honoring the people that live within them. He also moves with humility and grace, a reflection seen in his artistic approach as he takes on complex and layered techniques with photography, almost like there is a poetic rhythm in his process.

Thank you for inspiring me and sharing your story with every detail I eagerly (and anxiously) consumed.

And truly appreciate my editor Paula Mejia for shaping this piece with me adding the care and insight it deserved.

📸 .la | 🔗 in bio for

What amazing art from students at SSAGE @ Louis Armstrong Middle School!🎨🎶💛Our third lesson concluded studio time for “Music is…” poetry and art. This week, students explored various ways to illuminate their poetry.

See you next Monday, SSAGE!

SAGE Magnet at Louis Armstrong Middle School

Stacie Aamon Yeldell presented in AE 101: Social Emotional Learning in the Arts during Uncertain Times last week. VAPAE is grateful to all our guest speakers for enriching our students’ experiences!

Stacie Aamon Yeldell is an award-winning vocalist, speaker, and music psychotherapist with over 15 years of experience in mental health treatment. As the founder of Amöntra, a consulting company based in California, she has facilitated a range of therapeutic mindfulness practices for individuals and organizations, including The Grammy Foundation, Americans for the Arts’ National Policy Roundtable, GoogleArts and Culture, Netflix and YoungArts. In addition to being a core faculty member for UCLArts & Healing, Stacie has spoken at events like Women In Music, DisclosureFest and the SoundHealth Summit. She has also appeared on CBS News, in Renée Fleming’s "Music and Mind Live," and is featured in the documentary "Proven." Stacie holds a Masters degree in Music Therapy from New York University, in addition to certifications in Sound and Music Healing from the Open Center and Vocal Psychotherapy (AVPT) from the Vancouver Vocal Psychotherapy Institute. 🎤

Students are continuing to work on poetry and visual art at Studio Sessions @ SAGE Magnet at Louis Armstrong Middle School in Sherman Oaks.

This past Monday, teaching artists Annabelle & Gabriela began with a word illustration warm up and continued poetry revisions from Week 1. Then, Dr. Kevin Kane demonstrated drawing skills for students to apply to their poetry cards. After, students intently created during their studio time.

We cannot wait to see everyone’s poetry art as we wrap up this activity next Monday! Thank you SAGE & see you next week!

Thank you to Noé Montes for visiting AE 101: Right in Your Pocket- Photography and Video As Tools for Activism and Media Literacy this week!

Noé Montes is an award-winning artist based in Los Angeles. For more than 20 years, Montes’ work has documented underrepresented communities to effect change through storytelling, education and advocacy around social, economic, and environmental issues.

Montes’ list of commissions includes work for the Annenberg Foundation, the California Air Resources Board, the California Community Foundation, The Getty Foundation, L.A. Metro, Lift To Rise, The Palm Springs Art Museum and The University of Southern California among others.

Thanks to Noé for sharing with students how artists can create create powerful images about relevant social issues with a clear activist lens.

Happy Friday and end of Week 3!

What has M102: Intro to Arts Education for Multiple Publics been up to? Students studied and presented on
different educational models, philosophies, and approaches: John Dewey’s Progressive Education, Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Lab Schools, Community Schools, and TIE-IN schools! Thanks to our great teaching team - lecturer Marissa Magdalena Sykes and Teaching Associate MiRi Park. 😃✏️

VAPAE was excited to launch its 2022-23 community arts programs today, starting with Studio Sessions @ SAGE Magnet at Louis Armstrong Middle School in Sherman Oaks.

SAGE is one of our treasured community partners and building on last year’s momentum, we’re excited to offer a fall unit called Identity & Community through Songwriting, Music Making and Visual Arts.

Today VAPAE teaching artists Annabelle H & Gabriela A met this year’s wonderful group of students, grades 6-8, and began with introductions, creating norms, group ice breakers & poetry writing - starting to think about our cultural practices, musical preferences and family heritage, through music and poetry.

How would you respond to these first day prompts:
- When my family makes noise, it sounds like…
- When I listen to music with my family, we feel…
- The sounds of my community are…
- When I listen to my favorite song I feel…
- My early memories sound like…

Thank you SAGE, looking forward to a great fall quarter!
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