Based on a True Story

CHARACTER DESIGNER HEIDI SMITH BASED THE MAIN CHARACTER IN PARANORMAN ON CRITICAL STUDIES FACULTY NORMAN KLEIN, WHO WAS ONE OF HER FAVORITE PROFESSORS.

The first academic year of CalArts took place in 1970, on the campus of a former Catholic girls high school in Burbank called Villa Cabrini.

For most of the 1970s, the CalArts Spring Fair welcomed thousands of people to campus for a weekend-long event featuring booths, vendors, performances, food, and more.

Alison Knowles’ piece 99 Red was first staged on the CalArts tennis court. Consisting of 99 apples placed in three lines, the piece invited participants to take an apple if they had something to put in its place. One person left their car keys because they’d always wanted to walk to work.

TWO UP-AND-COMING BANDS—LOS LOBOS & THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS—PLAYED THE CALARTS HALLOWEEN PARTY IN 1982.

Sitar faculty Amiya Dasgupta, a student of renowned player and 1985 CalArts honorary degree recipient Ravi Shankar, came up around the time of The Beatles. A close friend of George Harrison’s, he also played tabla on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band track “Within You Without You.” Dasgupta taught at CalArts for two decades, during which he’s said to have founded and conducted the North Indian Music Ensemble.

F200 has served as a pop-up concert venue over the years, including playing host to the Henry Rollins-fronted hardcore punk band Black Flag on Nov. 11, 1982, and the noise punk group No Age on March 4, 2013.

Credit: Mallory Strong

SCHOOL OF FILM/VIDEO FACULTY DON LEVY TAUGHT A CLASS CALLED SEX, VIOLENCE, AND EXPONENTIAL NIRVANA, SAID TO BE

ACROSS THE INSTITUTE WANTED TO ENROLL. LEVY ARRIVED ON CAMPUS AMID CENSORSHIP THREATS FROM STUDIOS ABOUT HIS FILMS, .

IN CLASS, HE SCREENED FILMS THAT WERE BANNED IN HIS HOME COUNTRY OF AUSTRALIA

At graduation in 1980, one of the graduates pretended to cut off his own hand, which resulted in fake blood spurting onto CalArts President Bob Fitzpatrick’s suit. The student was then picked up by a helicopter and flown away. Later, during the same ceremony, Fitzpatrick took to the air himself, piloting his own hot air balloon. However, the president neglected to make arrangements for his return to campus after he landed his balloon and was unable to hitchhike back because he was drenched in fake blood from the earlier incident, and nobody was willing to pick him up.

AT A WEEKEND WORKSHOP LED BY ANDRÉ GREGORY, STUDENTS HAD TO FORGET ALL OF THEIR SOCIAL LEARNING AND CREATE

FROM SCRATCH (INCLUDING A BASIC LANGUAGE) BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO LEAVE.

CHARACTER DESIGNER HEIDI SMITH BASED THE MAIN CHARACTER IN PARANORMAN ON CRITICAL STUDIES FACULTY NORMAN KLEIN, WHO WAS ONE

“I got that disco ball from a friend of mine in 2009 to use during the CSSSA (California State Summer School for the Arts) dances. Because it’s so big, I had nowhere to put it so I keep it hanging in the Main Gallery. It’s been used at every event since then. Like a lot of things at CalArts, if you put something up, everyone assumes it’s supposed to be there. If I had my way, every room would have a disco ball in it. It just seems right.”

Michael Darling Faculty and Technical Director, School of Theater

SCHOOL OF FILM/VIDEO FACULTY DON LEVY TAUGHT A CLASS CALLED SEX, VIOLENCE, AND EXPONENTIAL NIRVANA, SAID TO BE

ACROSS THE INSTITUTE WANTED TO ENROLL. LEVY ARRIVED ON CAMPUS AMID CENSORSHIP

BANNED IN HIS HOME COUNTRY OF AUSTRALIA

AT A WEEKEND WORKSHOP LED BY ANDRÉ GREGORY, STUDENTS

SOCIAL LEARNING AND CREATE FROM SCRATCH (INCLUDING A BASIC LANGUAGE) BEFORE BEING ALLOWED TO LEAVE.

30 THE FUTURES OF MUSIC

12 FROM MEISNER TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE: A CONVERSATION WITH DON CHEADLE

18 FLAMIN’ HOT CHEETOS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN JAZMÍNWORKURREA’S

22AGENCY INACTION: CALARTIANS’ CONSERVATION INJOSHUA TREE

26 BUILDING THE HAUS OF SUGAR: JASMINE SUGAR TALKS DANCE, DRAG, AND FACING THE FEAR

32 THE CENTER FOR NEW PERFORMANCE CELEBRATES TWO DECADES OF ARTISTS

34 READY FOR ITS CLOSEUP: CALARTS IN CLASSIC FILM & TV

CalArts: Based on a True Story

THE POOL

CalArts' 50 th Anniversary Edition

ISSUE 12 — Spring 2023

Published by the Office of Marketing & Communications at CalArts thepool.calarts.edu

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Christine N. Ziemba

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Greg Houle

Stuart Smith, Creative Direction (art MFa 02)

Taya Zoormandan

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Rose Andersen (CritiCal StudieS MFa 18)

Katie Dunham

Juliet Bennett Rylah

Jo Siri (theater BFa 22)

Adam Smeltz

COPY EDITOR

Caroline Pardilla

ART DIRECTION & DESIGN

Handbuilt Studio, Los Angeles

Juliette Bellocq (art MFa 00)

Brooke Irish (art BFa 14)

Makena Janssen (art MFa 22)

PHOTOGRAPHY

Rafael Hernandez (art BFa 11)

PRODUCTION MANAGER

Debbie Stears

PRINTING

Clear Image Printing Co., Sylmar

TYPEFACES

Swear OH no Type Company

Degular OH no Type Company

Sunset Gothic Colophon Foundry

Space Mono Colophon Foundry

Founders Grotesk Klim Type Foundry

PRESIDENT

Ravi S. Rajan

VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER

Natalie Farrar Adams

VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Ann Wiens