June 2, 2004

University Of California, San Diego’s John Welchman Named
Chair Of The Southern California Consortium Of Art Schools (SoCCAS)

By Patricia Quill

University of California, San Diego Visual Arts faculty member John Welchman has announced UCSD’s participation in the creation of the Southern California Consortium of Art Schools (SoCCAS). A unique programming body formed in 2003, SoCCAS is a project of the graduate art departments of Art Center College of Design; California Institute of the Arts; Claremont Graduate University; Otis College of Art and Design; University of California, Irvine; University of California, Los Angeles, University of Southern California, and UCSD. Welchman is a founding member of SoCCAS and has been named the inaugural chair of the consortium.

“SoCCAS will promote exchange and engagement between the art schools of Southern California, the wider community and international audiences,” says Welchman. “Through lectures; publications by local, national and international artists and cultural critics; panels and discussion; and themed mini-symposiums, SoCCAS offers an exciting way to headline the extraordinary concentration of outstanding art schools in Southern California and cement the identification of this region as a world leader in art practice, criticism and pedagogy.”

“UCSD’s leadership role in the formation of the Southern California Consortium of Art Schools (SoCCAS) speaks to our deep engagement with both the local and national art communities,” says Steve Fagin, chair of the Department of Visual Arts. “We encourage our faculty and our students to develop new and challenging ways to connect with colleagues throughout the United States. SoCCAS will provide our students with unique opportunities to collaborate, discuss ideas and develop new work with artists and arts professional in Southern California.”

The inaugural event Recent Pasts: Art in Southern California From the 90s to Now, a symposium co-sponsored with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles will feature faculty from participating institutions, as well as artists, writers, curators and cultural planners from the Southern California region. The symposium will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. June 13 at the Silver Screen Theater, Pacific Design Center 8687 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood.

Noted writer and urban/media historian, Norman Klein, will present the keynote lecture, Southern California: 5 Reimaginations.

Recent Pasts: Art in Southern California From the 90s to Now will be held in conjunction with SUPERSONIC: 1 Wind Tunnel, 8 Schools, 120 Artists, an artist-organized exhibition of the work of 2004 MFA graduates from SoCCAS schools. The exhibition, held at Art Center College of Art and Design’s Wind Tunnel Exhibition and Event Hall, is on view June 12 to Aug. 21. An opening reception for the artists will be held from 6 until 11 p.m. June 12.

For a complete schedule of Recent Pasts: Art in Southern California From the 90s to Now, see below or go to www.artcenter.edu/Supersonic or call (213) 621-1751. For directions, calendar of events, and additional information about SUPERSONIC, go to www.artcenter.edu/Supersonic or call (626) 396-2380.

For more information about John Welchman, go to http://visarts.ucsd.edu/faculty/jwelchma.htm. For more information about the UCSD Department of Visual Art, go to http://visarts.ucsd.edu.

Recent Pasts: Art in Southern California From the 90s to Now
Symposium Schedule

10:30
Introduction
John C. Welchman (founder/inaugural chair, SoCCAS, UCSD faculty)

10:45
Keynote
Norman Klein (writer and urban/media historian), Southern California: 5 Reimaginations

11:45
1: INSIDE
Connie Butler (curator, MOCA), WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution
Frances Stark (artist and writer, Los Angeles), First Draft: Toward a History of the Chinatown Art Scene

2:00
2: OUTSIDE
Julie Silliman (Cultural Arts Planner, City Redevelopment Agency, City of Los Angeles), Public Art: New Practices
Dave Muller (artist and ambient DJ), Three Day to Today
Anne Bray (artist, teacher; director of LA Freewaves), Micromedia in the Age of Megalomedia

3:45
3: NEW LOCATIONS
Osvaldo Sanchez (curator, inSite), inSite: Mapping Borders
Erik Knutzen (Center for Land Use Interpretation), A Guided Tour of the Center for Land Use Interpretation
Marcos Ramirez (artist and alternative gallerist, Tijuana), Zero Art in TJ

5:15
4: ENDPAPERS: SoCal Futures:
Meg Cranston (artist and writer)
Malik Gaines (critic and curator, Los Angeles)
Daniel J. Martinez (artist and professor)
Yanira Cartagena (exhibition committee, Supersonic)

Media Contact: Patricia Quill, (858) 822-0661
Comment: John Welchman, (323) 258-8957