CalArts, OMG!

In 1970 CalArts hired John Baldessari to teach what became his legendary post-studio art class. LACMA's Unframed blog has reminiscences from Baldessari and famous students. For a completely different take on early CalArts, check out this incredible 1964 video. Walt Disney was trying to raise funds to build his dream school of the arts, then proposed for a site opposite the Hollywood Bowl. He did a short promotional film, The CalArts Story, that was presented at the premiere of Mary Poppins. The titles alone are jaw-droppers. The echt-plummy voice of Sebastian Cabot ("Mr. French") leads the viewer on a survey of L.A.'s cultural meccas, existing and planned. There's the pre-Disney Hall Music Center, the not-yet-open "County Art Museum" ("it will attract to its galleries the finest of the world's art treasures"), the never-opened Hollywood Museum, and of course, CalArts. The students' retrosexual outfits are as amazing as Cabot's ruminations on art and society. "The well-trained artist is a decidedly useful member of society."… "Our treasure is talent—a natural resource as precious as diamonds, as valuable as rubies."
Whatever happened to that annual CalArts fashion show?

Comments

Anonymous said…
The designers modeling their dresses in the middle of the road = too genius. I agree, bring back the CalArts fashion show.
Jeff said…
Walt Disney must be turning in his grave. LOL (Of course, I'm a UCLA art school grad --and of course, the natural assumption is that I am very jealous of Cal Arts.)