Our commitment to developing citizen artists

Stephen Barker, Ph.D., Dean of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine.

Photo: Steve Zylius

The spring quarter is the busiest time of year for the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. All four departments in the School are whirlwinds of activity. It’s all exhilarating, rich in creativity, innovation, and excellent work as both undergraduate and graduate students are busy mounting, writing, editing their final projects for the quarter and the year.

As a great public research university, we have a special responsibility to our students which goes beyond their developing skills as artists: We are committed to working with them to develop their skills as citizens, equipped to confront and to master skills that will make them successful in a complex global culture. We take this responsibility very seriously. You’ll notice numerous references to this strategy as you read through this edition of CONNECT. From the wonderful example set by the late H. Colin Slim in UCI’s early days, to Daniel Cadena’s remarkable story of gaining life confidence through music and through his commitment to “give back” — which is the very heart of citizenship — you’ll see this citizenship theme shining through. Many of our programs taking students off campus are aimed at that same development, whether it be Edgar Aguirre’s commitment to sharing with elementary school students, Tomoko Ozawa’s remarkable experiences as part of our Medici Scholarship program, or Isaiah Tadros’ explorations of New York City in Drama’s New York Satellite Program. Behind each of these wonderful stories is a dedicated “citizen-maker” either from the School of the Arts (professors S. Ama Wray, Stephen Tucker, Myrona DeLaney) or from our wonderfully supportive friends such as Cheryll and Richard Ruszat and Sheila Peterson.

In each issue of CONNECT you’ll learn more about our citizen-artist commitment and what that means. In the meantime, come share the energy with us through one of our many events on campus this spring.

- Dean Stephen Barker, Ph.D.