A message from the dean

Dear Friends,

No — the robot camera is not looking at you, but at the remarkable pieces on display in the Contemporary Arts Center Gallery as part of The Black Index, the extraordinary exhibition curated by art history professor Bridget Cooks. In this case, “wellbeing” means not being there: Currently, the show is only accessible virtually. But we’ve done everything we can to make your experience as compelling and impactful as we can through a pretty incredible video tour. The full story of “Art in Absentia” starts on page 6.

Carefully maintaining our distance is essential to our future wellbeing so that our artists, actors, designers, dancers, musicians and scholars can have long and successful lives in the arts. This is Molly Lynch’s goal in UCI Dance, as the profile of her work clearly shows. Molly herself has such a rich history as a dancer and choreographer. We also feature five CTSA alumni in this issue, each of whom has turned CTSA preparation into extraordinary artistic and professional successes.

We focus on philanthropist Sheila Peterson, a long-term, consistent partner with CTSA. Sheila is a central member of the Dean’s Arts Board, working to find support for scholarships to ensure that no student is prevented from pursuing a dream of being in the arts. Sheila’s children have set a standard for pursuing the arts, so we’re doubly grateful that she’s so passionate about her work with CTSA.

A glimpse at Jesús López Vargas’s multitalented involvement in CTSA reminds us of the central role the arts can play in creating a better society. Jesús has developed so many technical and artistic skills at CTSA (he already had the talent!) that he will excel in many areas of professional work post-UCI. He is precisely the kind of multidisciplinary artist we love to inspire us!

We are delighted to give you another glimpse into the world of CTSA. In a time of generally reduced activity, we’re doing much, much more. Please visit our website to see what’s available to you across our artistic disciplines. Stay artful and stay well.

Stephen Barker, Ph.D. Dean