It’s a public school art student’s worst nightmare: the moment a school tells that student it no longer has the grant money to fund his or her artistic endeavors. For UCLA world arts and cultures students, this nightmare became their reality. Read more...

Photo: WacSMASH’d is the largest annual student-produced showcase put on by the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA. Students present original dance, film, music, art and spoken word pieces in this three-day free event held at Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater. Historically, the WAC Undergraduate Society has been able to fund the show using only on-campus funding, but because of budget cuts, they had to fundraise this year.

Known for “Braid,” one of the most popular and successful independently created games to date, as well as for his somewhat controversial views on the mass video game market, independent game developer Jonathan Blow is currently developing his next game “The Witness.” Read more...

Photo: Jonathan Blow, creator of independent video game “Braid,” is developing a new game, “The Witness,” and is speaking at the Hammer.

From eerie, bloody portraits of shady figures to portrayals of Mickey Mouse’s death, the Llyn Foulkes exhibit at the Hammer Museum is highly emotive to say the least. Llyn Foulkes is an artist active since the 1960s whose art reflects his commentary on pop culture and mainstream society, including the Disney character Mickey Mouse. Read more...

Photo: References to Mickey Mouse, even his violent death, are just some themes in the art displayed at the Hammer’s Llyn Foulkes exhibit.