Our Crowdfunding Groups
Our crowdfunding campaign has ended but you can still support the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund by clicking here.
UCLA Arts invites you to join us as a philanthropic partner in co-creating a more equitable, inclusive, and diverse UCLA school community. Today, we ask you to make a gift to the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund to support our community of artists, scholars, educators, and activists who are committed to creating institutional change and combatting racism. The Fund provides new school-wide scholarships and fellowships to address disparities in student access to education and retention of underrepresented students who identify as Black or African American.
Last year, we debuted the inaugural Black History Month campaign to grow the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund, and with help of donors like you, we awarded five new scholarships to current students during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Meet two of our 2022-23 recipients: LaRissa Rogers and Nehemiah Cisneros.
Larissa Rogers is a current graduate student in the UCLA Department of Art. LaRissa's current art explores concepts of migration, belonging, and movement.
"Something that I aim to do with my practice is to start conversations that really expand the capaciousness of what Blackness is, can be, and what it looks like. As someone who is both Black and Korean, but gets read as a Black femme, I think it gives me a really great opportunity to think about the Diaspora and what that means and also the beauty of Blackness not being a person or a thing, but really being so much more expansive than that. being able to encapsulate this way of being, this way of life, this thing that is almost inarticulable with words. This magic that exists."
With your support, the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund is poised to have a tremendous impact on the recruitment and retention of UCLA Arts students for generations to come. Your gift will help us open a pathway for more students like LaRissa and Nehemiah to chart their academic and professional paths in the arts as the creators, scholars, and activists who will shape our future.
Nehemiah Cisneros is a graduate student in the Department of Art with a focus on painting. Nehemiah grew up in South Los Angeles. He shares that in receiving student aid support from the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund there was an acknowledgment of his identity as an ambassador of mid-city Los Angeles and this recognition strengthened his belief in the institution and lead him to continue his practice at UCLA Arts.
"When I was deciding which college to go to for my graduate degree, a few were out of state, on the east coast and in the Midwest, but then there was also the option to return back to Los Angeles. Being in Los Angeles and being an artist means that you're going to be thrown directly into the scene, which makes art your lifestyle. The professors here are artists that I studied while getting my graduate degree. So, it was kind of like taking the training wheels off and being thrown right into the lifestyle that I wanted."
Make your gift today to help us reach our goal of $10,000 in celebration of Black History Month! Your support will help us grow a robust scholarship fund to increase equity, inclusion, and the diversity of our school community.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE UCLA FOUNDATION'S DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS FOR DONORS
Should this fund reach the campus minimum required for the establishment of an endowment or quasi-endowment, The UCLA Foundation reserves the right to convert this fund to an endowment or quasi-endowment. Please click here to learn more about how the UCLA Foundation invests and manages its endowments.
For current UCLA Bruins... who want to support fellow and future Bruins! Donate $8 in honor of the 8-Clap to celebrate Black History Month.
In honor of the 18 volunteer students, staff and faculty members who came together to form the inaugural UCLA Arts Anti-Racism, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commission! Donate $18 in honor of their work to combat racism and advance social justice.
Only 5% of our UCLA Arts graduate students are US residents who identify as Black. Your gift will help us award scholarships and fellowships to support our recruitment of students and build a more diverse school community.
Today, Black Americans account for only 7% of our undergraduate students. Your gift will honor these students while building scholarship support for future generations of students on their journey toward shaping the future.
In Fall 2020, the undergraduate enrollment rate for Black students at UCLA was about 5%, which means that out of 31,636 undergraduate students, only 1,723 students are Black or African American. Your gift to the UCLA Arts Racial Equity Fund helps us to foster an environment that values difference, rejects inequity and actively works to advance social justice and amplify historically underrepresented and excluded voices.
Honor UCLA Arts' '23 graduating class with your gift in honor of these artists, dancers, performers, architects, and creators who will design our future.
Your generous gift will provide a scholarship award to a student in their journey at UCLA Arts —including support for materials, equipment, travel expenses, and other resources needed to help assist in their completion of our programs.