Fred Dust from IDEO: Talk Cancelled Tonight

From The White Boards:

We are very sorry to report that Fred Dust has a family emergency that has taken him out of the state. Tonight's talk at UCLA Extension is cancelled. We hope you will be able to attend the rescheduled event once we are able to determine a future date.

Explore LA Design with Michael Dooley

It's always fun when there's class crossover, and photography, fine art and design students all find themselves in the classroom or on an adventures together. In the spring, Michael Dooley will be offering a class that makes that happen. Exploring L.A. Design meets every Saturday for six weeks at a different design professionals' studio or firm. The guests are super diverse and awesome - last time the class was offered, they visited Jens Gehlhaar, Petrula Vrontikis, Clive Piercy, Mike Salisbury, Maureen Erbe, David Mayes, Yo Santosa, and Esther Pearl Watson and Mark Todd.

I heard from students that the class was a great learning experience, and I'm sure Michael will have another all-star lineup this spring (the picture above was taken by Eric Mathias during last year's class). Schedule and enrollment information can be found here.

C'mon Tourists, Mix It Up a Little

Artist Corinne Vionnet combes through photo sharing sites, pulls out hundreds of photos that tourists have taken of the same thing (for instance, 300 pictures of the Taj Mahal taken by 300 different people) and superimposes them to form one ghostly, layered image.

It kinda makes you think of the passage of time, the monuments standing for thousands of years as millions of people stream back and forth, snapping the shutter to capture a brief second, and then fading into the background of vast, annonymous humanity. Or it makes you think man, tourists all take the same pictures.

Via Gizmodo.

Building a Professional Art Practice

One of the things students ask for the most is guidance on the business side of the art world - how to approach galleries, how to build a portfolio, whether grad school is right for them. So, we're happy to announce that this spring we'll be offering a short seminar that deals with those very topics.

The class is taught by Jay Stuckey, a fine artist with ninja-like networking skills and a great, positive attitude about making it in the art world. I did an interview with Jay a while back that you can read here, and he also has an interview in this quarter's N-Vis-N newsletter. The class will cover applying to graduate art schools, and approaching galleries with your work. Classroom time includes lecture and visits from guest admission professionals and gallery owners. It should be a great chance to get some concrete, helpful feedback about a confusing, daunting process.

For a full course description and schedule, click here (painting by Jay Stuckey).

Art History Survey Series

I wanted to take a moment to shine a light on our art history survey series, since some students might not be aware that we offer it each quarter as part of our regular Visual Arts scheduling.

The series covers the history of Western art, from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia all the way through Dadaism, Surrealism, and new media like digital video art. The sequence is broken up chronologically over four quarters - this spring's class deals with Realism, Impressionism, and Post-Impressionism, emphasizing the work of Goya, Monet, Degas, Cézanne, van Gogh, and Rodin.

We are also very lucky to have the extraordinary Mary Beth Carosello leading this series. She brings great knowledge, energy and enthusism to the classroom. I once visited the class when they were learning about the different kinds of columns (Doric, Ionic and Corinthian), and now I'll never forget them. That's talent!

That's Mary Beth at the top of the page - doesn't she look excited to teach you about art? She is.

Anyway, this is just a wonderful class, and I wanted to call some attention to it. The schedule for spring quarter and registration info can be found here.

Our Very Own Banksy

Yesterday I saw a blog post about how two new pieces of Banksy graffiti art have appeared in LA. I left a note on our Visual Arts Facebook page (did you know we have a Visual Arts Facebook page? We do!) saying that I would love to visit them if I only knew their locations.

Then one of our students (thanks Beth!) chimed in to say that, in fact, one of them was three blocks away. So I grabbed the camera and headed out onto the streets of Westwood.

I had to dodge the Unknown movie premiere, but I found it in the alley behind Urban Outfitters, on Kinross Ave. There was a small crowd taking pictures.

I know Exit Through the Gift Shop was just nominated for an Oscar, so maybe Banksy is soaking in some LA flavor before awards night. Whatever the reason, it was cool to see his work in person, sprayed on our very own humble walls.

Happy Artsy Valentines!

The Visual Arts is proud to announce that we are the winners of a prestigious design-your-own-Valentine contest here at Extension.

Here's the winning piece (and 1/2 of Karen's head). Each heart has a baby picture of an Arts staff member. That's just how we roll here...craftily AND cutely.

Spring Has Sprung!

It may only be February, but Spring quarter is on its way! The Spring catalog was just released. This quarter's cover is by Woody Pirtle.

You can view a PDF of the catalog here, and browse art classes to your hearts' content. We have some interesting new offerings on the schedule this spring.