Hailey Loman, 2020
Interdisciplinary Studio at UCLA
The Interdisciplinary Studio focuses not on artistic mediums but on artistic methods. ID students work across artistic mediums, academic disciplines, and social concerns to combine artistic production and focused research in the development of site- and debate-specific forms of critical cultural engagement that extend beyond the framework of individual studio art practice.
Interdisciplinary Studio faculty Andrea Fraser and Cauleen Smith serve as the primary advisers to graduate students admitted to this area of study. Students in graduate ID are encouraged to work with faculty across other areas within the Department of Art and to take advantage of UCLA's extensive academic resources over their three-year course of study.
All M.F.A. students are offered the use of individual studios off-campus in the UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, located in Culver City. In addition to individual studio spaces, the studio building houses photography, sculpture, ceramics, and computer labs, as well as open spaces for exhibitions, lectures, and group critiques. Although the Department of Art does not offer graduate level courses in the summer, the graduate studios are open year-round.
Background
Interdisciplinary Studio was established as a graduate area of study in 1997 by Mary Kelly during her tenure as Art Department Chair. Kelly created ID in response to a growing demand among young artists for a graduate program in which they could pursue project-based work driven by social purpose and grounded in interdisciplinary research. Andrea Fraser took over as Area Head in 2017, developing an undergraduate ID curriculum in 2021. Cauleen Smith joined the faculty in 2022. ID alumni have worked in activism and advocacy, architecture, archives, books, chemistry, community organizing, dance, film, food, human rights, installation, law, music, painting, performance, photography, publishing, sculpture, social practice, sound, theater, and video, among other field of practice. They include Ph.D. candidates from leading universities; founders of activist groups, archives, dance companies, foundations, journals and presses; participants Documenta, Made in LA, PERFORMA, the Sundance Film Festival, the Whitney Biennial; recipients of Herb Alpert and Mohn Awards, and Foundation for Contemporary Art Grants, and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships; and faculty at art schools and universities across the United States and Europe.
Interdisciplinary Studio Faculty
Professor and Interdisciplinary Studio Area Head
Andrea Fraser
Professor
Cauleen Smith
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Interdisciplinary Studio Lab Supervisor
Kyle Tata
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Location & Contact Information
Interdisciplinary Studio Area Location
Interdisciplinary Studio is one of six areas of study offered in the M.F.A. Art program. Class meetings are held at the Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios in Culver City.
Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studio equipment checkout is in Broad Art Center room 2100b.
Interdisciplinary Studio Lab Supervisor
Kyle Tata
T: (310) 206-8393
Office: 2100b Broad Art Center
Faculty Office Hours
Email faculty directly to arrange virtual office hours
Interdisciplinary Studio Faculty
Andrea Fraser, Professor and Interdisciplinary Studio Area Head
T: (310) 206-6752
Office: 2275 Broad Art Center
Cauleen Smith, Professor
T: (310) 825-3281
Office: 2275 Broad Art Center
Facilities & Equipment
In addition to studios in UCLA MLGAS and an office in the Broad Art Center, M.F.A. Candidates in the Interdisciplinary Studio Area have access to a range of Departmental Facilities, including the Digital Studio, and may arrange to use the equipment and facilities of other Art Department Areas. A list of equipment available to undergraduate and graduate Interdisciplinary Studio students can be found here. Beyond the Department of Art, UCLA and Los Angeles offer a broad range of artistic, academic, and professional resources.
Interdisciplinary Studio Courses
Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studio Courses
Art 149. Advanced Interdisciplinary Studio
Units: 5
Studio, eight hours; seven hours arranged. Requisites: courses 31A, 31B, 31C. Varied project-based studies in conceptually-driven approaches to art making in which students' core concerns and aims determine all aspects of projects, including medium, method, and presentational context. Combination of courses 149 and 149A may be repeated for maximum of 20 units. Letter grading.
Art 149A. Advanced Interdisciplinary Studio: Topics in Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Units: 5
Studio, eight hours; seven hours arranged. Requisites: courses 31A, 31B, 31C. Varied project-based studies in conceptually-driven approaches to art making that advance anti-racism, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Students' core concerns and aims determine all aspects of projects, including medium, method, and presentational context. Combination of courses 149 and 149A may be repeated for maximum of 20 units. Letter grading.
Interdisciplinary Studio M.F.A. Candidates
Felix Li, felixyli.com
Lucas Wrench, lucaswrench.info
Graduate Interdisciplinary Studio Courses
Art 278. Interdisciplinary Studio
Units: 2 to 8
Studio, eight hours. Tutorial focused on directed research, studio visits, and group discussions of recommended readings. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.
Art 276. Graduate Group Critique
Units: 4
Discussion, four hours; tutorial, to be arranged. Group critique/discussion of students' research. Additional tutorial meetings by arrangement with instructor. May be repeated for credit. Letter grading.
Art C280. Graduate Seminar
Units: 4
Seminar, three hours. Advanced topics in critical theory and study of contemporary art, with emphasis on individuals, issues, and methodologies. Possible areas of study from structuralism, deconstruction, feminist and psychoanalytic theory, commodification, and censorship. May be repeated for credit. Concurrently scheduled with course C180. Letter grading.