Off to school

UCLA Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) is dedicated to the advancement of contemporary performing arts in all disciplines — dance, music,spoken word and theater, as well as multidisciplinary collaborations. We support artists from around the globe by providing cultural, experiential programs that provoke inquiry and facilitate connection and creativity. Our mission aligns with UCLA’s commitment to education, research and civic engagement. CAP UCLA is one of three public arts institutions — along with the Fowler and Hammer Museums — housed in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.

Design for Sharing (DFS), our K-12 arts education program, brings thousands of students from Los Angeles-area public schools to CAP UCLA venues for free performances and art-making activities. Students encounter extraordinary professional artists from around the world as well as brilliant creators and educators working in our local communities. For the past fifteen years, Design for Sharing has been in partnership with UCLA Community School, providing in-school arts residencies for hundreds of third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade students. Residencies are developed in collaboration with classroom teachers and allow students to expand their own creativity by exploring curriculum through the lens of the performing, literary and visual arts.

UCLA Community School is a TK-12 public school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Located on the former site of the Ambassador Hotel in one of the state’s most densely populated immigrant neighborhoods, the school has a rich cultural legacy and represents a dynamic community of learners. We expect all our students to be self-directed passionate learners, masters of academic content, bilingual and biliterate and active participants in our community. We accomplish this goal by creating teaching and learning spaces that ask students to think critically about what they are learning, and the ways in which their learning will contribute to their community and society at large. Our unique partnership with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) means we are at the forefront of educational practices that seek to redefine public education.