Issue 12
Winter/Spring
The CalArts Gala at REDCAT on May 14 was reimagined after two years of pandemic pauses as an immersive experience that 278 event goers won’t soon forget! The evening was filled with arts, surprises, and good company—and also raised more than $1 million for CalArts student scholarships. The work of nearly 50 CalArtians (22 alumnx,…
On Tuesday, May 3, the Herb Alpert Foundation announced the recipients of the 2022 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. Administered by CalArts since 1994, the awards this year recognize 10 mid-career, risk-taking artists who challenge and transform art, society and their own disciplines. Panels of 15 top creative leaders chose the winners, honoring those…
“We were the first city to get filming back on track after the total and devastating shutdown in March of 2020 as COVID-19 swept through California and the rest of the world,” said Santa Clarita Director of Community Development Jason Crawford (Theater BFA 99). “By June 2020, we were filming again including the locally based…
In late June, a joint creative team and ensemble from CalArts and the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique in Paris took to the Conservatoire’s stage to present Augustine Machine ou Encore Une Nuit d’Insomnie. Led by Travis Preston, dean of the School of Theater and the CalArts Center for New Performance’s executive artistic director, the…
At this spring’s CalArts Board of Trustees meeting, 14 much admired, acclaimed, and longtime faculty members were awarded emeritus status in recognition of their contributions to CalArts. Each having retired in 2021, the list of newly designated faculty emeriti are: Thom Andersen Living in Los Angeles for most of his life, scholar and filmmaker Thom…
As outgoing CalArts Board of Trustees Chair Tim Disney passed the gavel to incoming Chair Charmine Jefferson, he called his tenure on the board “one of the greatest honors of my life” and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity “to serve the incredible staff, faculty, and students that make CalArts what it is—a leader in…
Troy Allen, Vice President for Facilities Development & Management Troy Allen joined CalArts this month as the new Vice President for Facilities Development & Management. Allen is well-versed in what is needed to further the strategic goals of renewing the Valencia campus for both current needs and our future vision, all the while strengthening our…
Twelve new limited series and editions by alumnx from both CalArts and Chouinard Art Institute—the predecessor of CalArts and one of the leading art institutions on the West Coast—were released in May as part of 50+50: A Creative Century from Chouinard to CalArts. Ranging across a variety of medias and themes, the works by Larry…
Among the standout episodes in the just-released third season of Netflix’s animated series Love Death + Robots (LDR) is the phantasmagoric spectacle “The Very Pulse of the Machine,” a retelling of Michael Swanwick’s 1998 short story of the same name. The episode, directed by CalArtian Emily Dean (Film/Video 13) and written by Philip Gelatt, was…
Charmaine Jefferson: In Her Own Words Meet the New Chair of CalArts Board of Trustees July 26, 2022 By Jo Siri CalArts Board Chair Charmaine Jefferson | Photo: Judy Starkman. Charmaine Jefferson, an L.A. native and a pillar of the CalArts community, has worked throughout her career to activate the intersections of art, culture, history,…
If you’ve been anywhere near the CalArts campus over the past few months, you’ve likely heard a cacophony of construction equipment—from banging jackhammers to thundering bulldozers and trench diggers to winching cranes. Sure, it’s noisy, but it’s progress! Over the past year, CalArts has been making a concerted effort to thoughtfully expand and update its…
Armando Martinez-Celis (Art BFA 13) and Roman Jaster (Art BFA 07) graduated from CalArts’ Graphic Design program and have also taught in the program. They consider themselves CalArts superfans and recently took on the momentous task of putting on a reunion for the Graphic Design program. Here’s their report on how they did it and…
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) is the Oscar-nominated animated sci-fi comedy directed by Mike Rianda (Film/Video 11) and co-directed by Jeff Rowe (Film/Video 11). The two also wrote the script, which follows Katie Mitchell and her quirky family as their road trip to drop her off at film school is unexpectedly interrupted by a robot…
Yellow boxes of Porto’s Bakery items, coffee containers, and other treats dotted the snack table as guests arrived at 2220 Arts + Archives cultural center in Los Angeles’ Historic Filipinotown neighborhood early in the afternoon on May 7. The attendees were there to watch films from several graduates of the School of Film/Video class of…
A thought that immediately registers upon stepping into the Academy Museum’s David Geffen Theater is “red.” From the walls to the seats, the carpet to the towering house curtains, the 1,000-capacity presentation space is resplendent in classic Old Hollywood red. And once a stream of jubilant Character Animation students from the School of Film/Video and…
