Organizations, Committees, and Groups Involved in the Arts

The Theater Group

      The Theater Group was established in 1960 by the University Extension. Robert Ryan, Sidney Harman, and Jeffrey Hayden approached the university about possibly starting a theater group of professional actors. The men were sent to talk to Abbott Kaplan, who was the Dean of UCLA Extension. Kaplan agreed and they set forth to form the group. In order to be hired by the university, a loyalty oath needed to be signed, yet the actors refused to do so. According to Frances Inglis’ oral history, she had to set up “different” contracts so that the loyalty oath wouldn’t be a problem; she found a loophole. The Theater Group was then able to get John Houseman, a theater great, to be their artistic director.
       Not being part of the university, and not being accepted by the Theater Arts Department, the group had difficulties finding places to put on their plays. The first year (1960-1) they didn’t perform; the group's resources limited them only to readings. As each year passed, the Theater Group’s success grew. However, in 1967 they left UCLA. The decision came after the group was told that their much needed theater wouldn’t be built. As a result, the group lost Houseman, and the Theater Group then left to the Mart Taper Forum.
                      

For more on Frances Inglis, please visit the Individuals page.     

                                                                                                                                                  

UCLA Art Council

       The UCLA Art Council, a support group for the visual arts at UCLA, sponsored lectures, exhibitions, and raised funds for scholarships and fellowships. Established in 1954, the UCLA Art Council’s main goal was to help the university’s artistic ventures.
       Members of the Art Council were prominent art collectors, artists, and art aficionados. The first president of the council was Gustave O. Arlt, who also headed the Committee on Fine Arts Productions for some time, and during much of the sixties Frances Brody was the council’s president.
       The UCLA Art Council was responsible for the exhibit celebrating Pablo Picasso’s 80th birthday. The council gave UCLA $400,000 in order to expand the UCLA Art Galleries, and later they came to be known as the Frederick S. Wight UCLA Art Galleries. The galleries were renamed to honor Frederick S. Wight who was the director of the galleries from 1953 to 1973.

For more on Frederick S. Wight, please visit the Individuals page.

For more on the exhibition "Bonne Fete" Monsieur Picasso, please visit the Art Exhibitions page.

 

UCLA Art Galleries

      The UCLA Art Galleries were established in 1953 for the purpose of assembling exhibitions and acquiring art. Frederick S. Wight was appointed director of the galleries in 1953 and held this position until his retirement in 1973. The exhibitions assembled by the UCLA Art Galleries were displayed in the Art Building/Dickson Art Center (what is now Perloff). After the creation of the College of Fine Arts in 1960, the UCLA Art Galleries begun to display student art; for example, in 1960 the exhibit Ten Painters from UCLA was showcased.
      At times the UCLA Art Council and the UCLA Art Galleries would collaborate to bring art to UCLA and assemble exhibitions.

For more on The College of Fine Arts, please visit the College of Applied Arts and College of Fine Arts page.

For more on exhibitions, please visit the Art Exhibitions page.

 

Committee on Fine Arts Productions and the Department of Fine Arts Productions

         As the UCLA Art Council, and the UCLA Art Galleries worked to elevate the visual arts at UCLA, the Committee on Fine Arts Productions and the Department of Fine Arts Productions sought to do the same for the fine arts.
         In the 1930s, Provost Moore wanted to increase the cultural development of the UCLA community, therefore he establish the Committee on Drama, Lectures, and Music. In the early 1950s, lectures were eliminated from the committee; during this time, the committee was renamed to the Committee on Fine Arts Productions.
        The Committee on Fine Arts Productions worked together with the Department of Fine Arts Productions to bring to UCLA great performances by prominent entertainers. Both were established in 1948, and Gustave O. Arlt was the first chairman of the committee.
The Committee on Fine Arts Productions was a committee of UCLA faculty of the arts. The committee met once a month, and they advised the Department of Fine Arts Productions on possible events to produce.
        The Department of Fine Arts Productions was the organization that oversaw and actually handled all the logistics for the events. Frances Inglis was the director of the department during the 1960s, and she listened to what the committee had to say but she ultimately made the decisions.
        During the 1960s, the Committee on Fine Arts Productions was restructured so that it was under the university and not the extension.
        For the 1960-1 season the Committee on Fine Arts Productions and the Department of Fine Arts Productions put on such events as: the 14th Annual Los Angeles Music Festival, Jose Limon: American Dance Company, L’ecole des Femmes: A Comedy by Moliere, An Evening with Steve Allen, and an Ella Fitzgerald concert just to name a few events.

For more on Gustave O. Arlt and Frances Ingles, please visit the Individuals page.