celebrate.calarts.eduCelebrate CalArts' 50th Anniversary

Timeline Memories Events Weekend Resources About Timeline Memories Events Weekend Resources Menu About Timeline Memories Events Weekend Resources 50th Anniversary Weekend SLIDESHOW Scroll through the slideshows below, and click on each image to download. Visit our Flickr site to view all the 50th galleries . CalArts’ 50th Anniversary (Friday) CalArts’ 50th Anniversary (Saturday) CalArts’ 50th Anniversary: Saturday Awards Night CalArts’ 50th Anniversary (Sunday) Schedule Tickets Sponsorship Letter from CalArts' President Ravi S. Rajan Dear CalArtians and friends, old and new: Just over a half-century ago, Walt Disney imagined building a school which was a community of artists without walls. His brother Roy, and friends Nelbert Chouinard and Lulu May Von Hagen worked with him to turn that vision into reality. Instead of separating solely by discipline, CalArts was to be a place where artists would find inspiration in one another, spark new thought and reshape not only the arts and culture but also the world. This season we honor the lasting accomplishments of that collaborative spirit as we mark the 50th anniversary of the California Institute of the Arts in Valenica. Our cooperative art-making has empowered people around the globe to see their communities, their own potential, and life itself in vital new ways. CalArtians have indeed changed the world. Because we always look forward, we celebrate this landmark by recommitting CalArts to the future — to transforming ourselves, one another, and the world with bigger, bolder strokes. Our extraordinary legacy calls on us to define the future together. Through our Strategic Framework, we’ve set a firm foundation to support this journey. In recognizing where we’ve been, we energize where we’re going. And so as you cheer and marvel at CalArts, do embrace and decide what comes next. Take the reins and lift up one another. In this moment and for the years to come, it’s the best way to celebrate. With gratitude, Ravi S. Rajan President, California Institute of the Arts Exploring the Last 50 Years of CalArts 1971-2021 Over the years, various CalArts timelines have been created to capture the Institute’s milestones and memories. We’ve created this one as a special 50th anniversary edition. Click on the decades below to view CalArts throughout the years. 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s MemoriesFeatured Memory I remember one of my first days at CalArts going to see what used to be called a Yokoncert in the Main Gallery. I was enjoying a nice concert of chamber music when a group of theater students approached the audience with plastic rifles and rope. They surrounded the audience with the rope and stole them all. They took them to a theater performance that was going on at the same time in a different location. That was truly a captive audience! Countless memories … that is just one of the first.” Stuart Horn (Music MFA 83) CalArts Memories Matias Viegener In the first year I taught at CalArts there was a lunchtime or afternoon concert by the composer John Cage, Read More Jose Antonio Aguirre I started my MFA program in the winter of 1988, very soon I realized that there was a big cultural Read More Alexis Krasilovsky I remember the first West Coast Women’s Art Conference, organized at CalArts in 1972. I wrote a brochure summarizing the Read More Domi LaRussa-Policastro CalArts shaped me into the person I am today, and I couldn’t be more proud and thankful to be an Read More Megan Reisel It is remarkable how many pop-up faculty concerts from the Music School remain in my memories. Hearing Ravi Shankar and Read More Joanna Priestley Having Jules Engel as a mentor and teacher was a life and career changing experience. Nearly very weekday, for part Read More Load More Submit Your Memory In the first year I taught at CalArts there was a lunchtime or afternoon concert by the composer John Cage Matias Viegener I decided in the fall of that year, to create the first Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead Celebration in the history of the school Jose Antonio Aguirre Meeting Judy Chicago and Mimi Shapiro, who ran the Feminist Art Program together, was life-changing. Alexis Krasilovsky CalArts shaped me into the person I am today Domi LaRussa-Policastro It is remarkable how many pop-up faculty concerts from the Music School remain in my memories. Megan Reisel Having Jules Engel as a mentor and teacher was a life and career changing experience. Joanna Priestley 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Events Events CalArts 50th Anniversary Graduation Ceremony in Valencia May 12, 2023 2023 World Music Festival at CalArts April 28-30, 2023 Airing Out Our Drawers: 50-ish Years of CalArts’ History and Creativity from the Library and Institute Archives Oct. 13, 2022–Oct. 13, 2023 CalArts 50th Anniversary Kick-Off Celebration Oct. 13, 2022 AestheticsPolitics Lecture Series Sept. 16, 2022, 7 pm–Dec. 2, 2022, 9 pm Resources Archives Books History CalArts Store Zoom Backgrounds Archives Books History CalArts Store Zoom Backgrounds TOP Follow CalArts on a yearlong journey as we share memories, celebrate milestones and explore the future of CalArts through the eyes of students, faculty, staff and alums. When posting your memories, observations, and predictions, we encourage you to use #CalArts50. Explore CalArts Support CalArts CalArts Store The Pool 24700 REDCAT 50+50 Center for New Performance Explore CalArts Support CalArts CalArts Store The Pool 24700 REDCAT 50+50 Center for New Performance Instagram Twitter Facebook Instagram Twitter Facebook Designed by FISK Designed by FISK 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA 91355 1970's All 1970 1971 1973 1975 1978 1979 Postcard, 1970 Opening day Burbank, 1970 'House of Dust,' 1970 Burbank campus classes, 1970 Move to Valencia, 1970 Valencia campus construction, 1971 'Womanhouse,' 1971 Graduation, 1973 CalArts Pool, 1975 Contemporary Music Festival, 1978 Contemporary Music Festival, 1978 Character Animation Exhibition No. 2, 1979 Character Animation Exhibition No. 2, 1979 Character Animation Exhibition No. 2, 1979 1980's All 1983 1984 1988 1989 Jazz faculty, 1983 LA Olympic Art Festival, 1984 LA Olympic Art Festival, 1984 LA Olympic Art Festival, 1984 Steven D. Lavine inauguration, 1988 'The Little Mermaid,' 1989 1990's All 1990 1994 1995 1999 CAP class, 1990 CAP students, 2004 CAP students, 2004 Jazz students recording at Capitol Records Jazz students recording at Capitol Records Jazz students recording at Capitol Records CalArts in the aftermath of the Northridge Earthquake, 1994 Makeshift class for dance students in aftermath of Northridge Earthquake, 1994 John Bache teaching at Lockheed, 1994 Critical Studies writing faculty, 1995 Herb Alpert Press Conference at the Biltmore, 1995 'King Lear,' 1999 'King Lear,' 1999 'King Lear,' 1999 2000's All 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 REDCAT, 2003 REDCAT, 2003 Sign for Walt Disney Concert Hall construction, 1999 School of Theater students at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2004 President Steven D. Lavine and Sharon Disney Lund 'Tomorrowland' exhibition at MoMA, 2006 'What to Wear,' 2007 'What to Wear,' 2007 'What to Wear,' 2007 John D'Amico speaking in Aesthetics and Politics class, 2008 NEXT Dance Company, 2008 Wild Beast construction, 2009 Wild Beast construction, 2009 Wild Beast construction, 2009 2010's All 2010 2011 2012 2013 2016 2017 2019 'East of Borneo,' 2010 'East of Borneo,' 2010 'East of Borneo,' 2010 'The Experimental Impulse,' 2011 'The Experimental Impulse,' 2011 'The Experimental Impulse,' 2011 John Baldessari Studio, 2012 'Prometheus Bound,' 2013 Pete Docter wins Oscar, 2016 Ravi S. Rajan, 2017 Image from 'Where Art Might Happen' exhibition, 2019 2020's All 2020 2021 2022 CalArts hallway, 2020 Empty Main Building, 2020 Entrance to facilities, management, and security offices, 2020 Zoom class, 2021 Remote dance class, 2021 Zoom class, 2021 School of Dance graduates at CalArts Graduation, 2022 Character Animation...