Arts INitiative (Arts IN)

ArtsIN is a program designed to blend artivism, healing, and collective joy through creative expression. Students engage in playful, party-like activities that use art therapy to foster emotional well-being and community connection. By focusing on sustainability and the power of art to inspire social change, ArtsIN creates a space where creativity becomes a tool for transformation.  

At ArtsIN, undergraduate juniors, seniors and first-year transfers join a cohort of students, where they will be invited to draw on the knowledge from places that they consider home:

1. Collective Learning & Artivism:
Our cohort will come together to explore and engage with arts-based research methods that align with their anticipated projects, with a particular focus on artivism—the intersection of art and community building. These methods will be selected to support their research on social justice, healing, and transformation within their communities. Participants will explore how art can be a powerful tool for both activism and personal/community healing. 

2. Immersing in Creative Practices for Healing and Fun:
Throughout the program, students will be encouraged to immerse themselves in an existing or emerging creative practice rooted in their communities. This could include dance, visual arts, poetry, performance, or other forms of expression. In consultation with the cohort coordinator and their peers, students will choose a practice that speaks to healing, collective joy, and sustainability, emphasizing the role of fun, play, and party-like engagement as vital components of creative expression and community building. 

3. Critical Research & Art Therapy:
By the end of the program, students will be expected to use their selected research methods to complete a research project that critically examines their chosen practices. This project may incorporate elements of art therapy, exploring how these creative forms can promote healing and collective well-being while also addressing larger social or political issues through an artivist lens. 

We place priority on urban creative practices that have been historically excluded as legitimate sources of research inquiry. 

The creative practices serve as the base for their work; we foreground this practice as an alternative to dominant academic practices in the university that uphold institutional hierarchies in research. 

As the cohort coordinator, my goal is to guide and learn alongside students, drawing from my experience in community organizing and my journey as a second-year MSW student at UCLA concentrating in mental health. Beyond my academic pursuits, I have a deep passion for poetry and the connections it fosters beyond the classroom. I am ready to hold space for your artistic adventure into the research world. Together we can visit museums, explore UCLA art archives, and most importantly make art together.  

-Genesys  

gsanchez@college.ucla.edu

First, make sure you are eligible.

Arts IN applicants must:

• Be an AAP Junior, Senior, and/or Transfer student
• Have an art practice, passion for the arts, and/or be engaged in social justice, critical praxis, and community-based arts
• Have the motivation to engage in independent research
• Be interested in learning about graduate or professional school programs

After ensuring eligibility review the following steps to apply:

Part I: Fill out the GPS Common Application *coming soon*.

Deadline: Monday November 18th, 2024 (week 8)

FALL QUARTER

• Meet with Arts IN Coordinator to learn more
• Apply

WINTER QUARTER

• Enroll in the weekly Arts IN Program 2-unit Honors Collegium Seminar (HC 193A)
• Attend weekly one-on-one meetings with the Arts IN Coordinator
• Learn the nuts & bolts of graduate or professional school application
• Procure a faculty mentor
• Develop a research proposal

SPRING QUARTER

• Enroll in a SRP 99 or Departmental 199 with faculty mentor
• Attend regular cohort meetings with the Arts IN Scholars
• Attend weekly one-on-one meetings with the Arts IN Coordinator
• Create a portfolio of relevant documents for graduate applications
• Present research project at the annual UCLA Undergraduate Research Week

2020-2021 Cohort (in alphabetical order): Sara Ballesteros, Giselle Littleton, Charleen Molina, Isa Moreno, Jocelyn Perez, Evan Sakuma, Amber Salazar, Brendan Thompson