Works In Progress
When times are challenging, how can the arts help us find our way forward? Works In Progress is a podcast from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, a forward-looking interdisciplinary center for creativity and scholarship. The show's host, Sean Arenas, looks at current topics and trends through the lens of art, architecture and design, and explores the ideas and practices of UCLA’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Learn more at https://podcast.arts.ucla.edu.
Episodes
72 episodes
Zach Blas: From Appalachia to Artificial Intelligence
UCLA Arts alumnus, artist, and filmmaker Zach Blas joins the podcast to discuss his upbringing in Point Pleasant, West Virginia; his initial interests in film and what ultimately inspired his passion for art and technology; his life-saving expe...
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Episode 71
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38:43
Davida Persaud: Community, Activism, and Education
UCLA Arts alumna and lecturer Davida Persaud joins the podcast to discuss her passion for community-based work, activism, and the arts; her experience in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance Ph.D. program; and the origin and future o...
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Episode 70
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34:30
Amir H. Fallah: The Art of Resilience
UCLA Arts alumnus and artist Amir H. Fallah M.F.A. ‘05 joins Works In Progress to discuss his initial interests in art, skateboarding, and graffiti; how he has time after time had to sink or swim; the ups and downs of being an independ...
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Episode 69
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36:12
Osman Khan: From the Tech World to the Art Field
UCLA Arts alumnus and Detroit-based artist and professor Osman Khan M.F.A. ‘04 joins "Works In Progress" to discuss his remarkable journey from the tech world to the art field, how he arrived at UCLA, the inspirations behind his provocativ...
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Episode 68
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33:08
Lindsey Kunisaki: Arts and Music Education for All
UCLA Arts alumna, emerging researcher, and education evaluation specialist Lindsey Kunisaki ‘15 joins "Works In Progress" to discuss what initially drew her to the arts, what she gained from her time in UCLA’s Visual and Performing Arts Educati...
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Episode 67
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37:04
Dami Olufowoshe and Katie Chuh: Form and Function
UCLA Arts alumni and active practitioners Dami Olufowoshe M.Arch. ‘16 and Katie Chuh M.Arch. ‘16 join "Works In Progress" to discuss what initially drew them to architecture, what they gained from their time at UCLA, how they have adapted to ra...
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Episode 66
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33:20
Jackie Lopez, Harry Weston, and Alli Gray: Versa-Style Dance Company
Dancers and UCLA Arts alumni Jackie Lopez ‘04, Harry Weston ‘12, and Alli Gray ‘10 join "Works In Progress" to discuss what initially drew them to Hip Hop; what they gained from their time at UCLA; the history and future of Versa-Style Dance Co...
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Episode 65
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37:00
Jackie Amézquita and Roksana Pirouzmand: "Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living"
Artists Jackie Amézquita M.F.A. ‘22 and Roksana Pirouzmand M.F.A. ‘22 both currently have work on view at the Hammer Museum at UCLA’s biennial "Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living." For the first episode of the new season, the UCLA Arts alumnae j...
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Episode 64
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30:19
Designing with climate change in mind
Design media arts students worked alongside environmental science students this spring to create design and art projects that draw attention to climate change and ecological inequality. Professor and department chair Rebeca Méndez led the “Intr...
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Episode 63
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23:23
Mercedes Dorame: Making art on Tongva land
Native American Indigenous artist and UCLA alumna Mercedes Dorame will deliver the keynote address at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture’s 2022 commencement on Saturday, June 11th at 4 p.m. This will be the first commencement ceremony...
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Episode 62
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37:41
Australian Aboriginal screen-printed textiles at the Fowler
The Fowler Museum exhibition Aboriginal Screen-Printed Textiles from Australia’s Top End invites us to explore more than 70 distinctive, screen-printed textiles made by contemporary artists at five Aboriginal-owned art centers across n...
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Episode 61
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27:44
Mapping climate justice in Los Angeles
This winter quarter, design media arts students researched Los Angeles and its ecologies through the lens of climate change. Department of Design Media Arts professor and vice chair Peter Lunenfeld emphasized the importance of design research i...
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Episode 60
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23:50
Twenty years of Dance Camera West
Dance Camera West, the world-renowned dance film festival, marks its 20th anniversary this year. From March 24-April 2, the festival will screen the top films selected from a record of over 400 submissions from around the world, in a live in-pe...
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Episode 59
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26:05
AEDI in the Classroom
Classes rooted in AEDI – anti-racism, equity, diversity, and inclusion – are being taught across the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. This winter quarter, two undergraduate Art studio classes – painting and new genres – are being taugh...
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Episode 58
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37:37
Dancing to the words of Angela Davis
UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance will present award-winning choreographer Ronald K. Brown and his company EVIDENCE’s newest dance work, The Equality of Night and Day: First Glimpse, at Royce Hall on Saturday, March 5. The work features ...
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Episode 57
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15:28
Edgar Arceneaux on his new play “Boney Manilli”
Edgar Arceneaux is an artist-in-residence at UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance, where he is developing his work-in-progress "Boney Manilli," a live performance, exhibition, and single-channel film. On the latest episode of "Works In Prog...
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Episode 56
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26:21
Jimmy Wu: How writing in prison saved my life
At just 16 years old, Jimmy Wu committed a crime that led to 13 ½ years of incarceration. In a Los Angeles juvenile detention facility, IOW introduced him to creative writing. He now runs the organization and is an advocate for juvenile justice...
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Episode 55
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29:59
'Destination Crenshaw’ pays tribute to Black creativity and history
A cultural and economic corridor that's central to Southern California’s Black community is getting a new look. Destination Crenshaw is a $100 million revitalization project that will bring public art, pocket parks and small business investment...
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Episode 54
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28:28
Reconnecting with nature through immersive exhibition “Ritual of Return”
Art and science students at UCLA want you to reconsider the human relationship with nature, even if it means shrinking you down to the size of an insect – or at least creating an immersive environment that helps shift your perspective to the sc...
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Episode 53
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15:20
Dr. Thanh Neville: Life and death in the ICU
As we approach the end of 2021 and the second holiday season of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us are tired, frustrated, and impatient to see transmission rates drop and restrictions further loosened.Meanwhile, our front-line medical wo...
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Episode 52
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37:16
Arturo O’Farrill: Orchestrating connections through music
The composer, bandleader, and pianist Arturo O'Farrill has his hands full. The seven-time GRAMMY Award-winning jazz musician is a professor of global jazz studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he is also the associate dean of e...
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Episode 51
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27:21
Adam Bradley: The power and poetry of hip-hop
Rap and hip-hop are the most popular musical genres in the United States. At the end of 2017, Nielsen Music, which tracks music listenership, noted that the combined genre of R&B and hip-hop had surpassed rock to become the most-consum...
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Episode 50
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39:20
D’Artagnan Scorza: Education as a tool for justice and empowerment
In July of 2020, soon after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police along with the murder of many other Black men and women, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors established an anti-racist County policy agenda. They...
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Episode 49
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34:28
Safiya Noble: Decoding bias in our digital lives
The search engines that we use throughout the day, like Google and Yahoo, aren’t just useful digital tools. They’re also multi-billion dollar companies that track our browsing habits and sell that data to advertisers and marketers. They also in...
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Episode 48
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45:08
Diane White-Clayton: The healing power of music
Diane White-Clayton found her voice in the church. As a little girl in Washington DC, the church was central to her community. The classically trained singer and pianist studied music at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and at UC-S...
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Episode 47
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35:39
