Unveiling the 2024-25 Season

UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts announces its academic year programming

Claire Trevor School of the Arts is thrilled to share the 2024-25 season. As part of our commitment to creating interdisciplinary connections between the arts and diverse industries, we are excited to launch our new “Arts &” campaign. This initiative will delve into the intersection of artistic expression and scholarly research, highlighting innovations in sustainability, science, restorative justice and more.

"Our academic community is where creativity flourishes, boundaries are challenged and the power of research and collaboration illuminates new horizons," shared Tiffany Ana López, Claire Trevor Dean of the Arts. "This season, we are committed to demonstrating how each discipline within our school contributes to the broader academic and creative community."

CTSA Season Highlights

Art

The 2024-25 season opened with Future Tense: Art, Complexity, and Uncertainty, an exhibition curated by David Familian and presented at the Beall Center for Art + Technology. Future Tense, an ambitious exhibition in the Beall Center’s 25-year history, developed with support from the Getty Museum’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative, invites audiences to engage with cutting-edge works that explore the ever-evolving complexities of art, science and technology.

The Department of Art will present Learning from ACT-UP: Tactics of Direct Action, co-curated by Juli Carson and Sasha Ussef in the Room Gallery at CTSA. Founded in March 1987 in New York, ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) is a diverse, nonpartisan group committed to ending the AIDS crisis through direct action. The exhibition serves as a laboratory to explore ACT-UP’s achievements in curbing the epidemic through art, politics and science.

Dance

Dance enthusiasts can look forward to New Slate 2024, under the artistic direction of Vitor Luiz and Cyrian Reed, showcasing original choreography by M.F.A. candidates. Artistic directors Diane Diefenderfer and Tong Wang will present Dance Visions 2025, with performances that will feature an array of genres choreographed by faculty members, integrating dance, music and theatrical elements as a culmination of artistic expression. Professor Molly Lynch will be the artistic director for Physical Graffiti, a performance exhibiting undergraduate choreographers who take audiences on a captivating journey through contemporary ballet, high-energy hip-hop and more.

Drama

The Department of Drama is set to captivate audiences with a powerful lineup, including
9 to 5: The Musical, directed by Myrona DeLaney, features music and lyrics by the iconic Dolly Parton and a book by the original screenwriter Patricia Resnick. This adaptation of the 1980 film follows three coworkers — Violet, Judy, and Doralee — who are fed up with their boss, and plot to overthrow him, leading to hilarious and empowering events. The provocative Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by Andrew Borba, offers a satirical look at the modern media landscape as a group of twenty-something editorial assistants at a prestigious Manhattan magazine navigate ambition, opportunity and the pursuit of success.

Music