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A low-angle view of the Contemporary Arts Center, with bronze letters spelling its name along a red-orange entrance canopy, a facade of teal and navy glass panels and a red brick wall against a clear blue sky.

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UCI Arts Summer 2026 Faculty Highlights

October 23, 2026

A look at faculty news and creative activity from summer 2026

Camilo Zamudio plays marimba behind a drum kit as co-leader Wilfrido Terrazas gestures beside a cajón and a table of singing bowls and frame drums during a rehearsal in a wood-paneled studio.

Music

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Cauces Sónicos to Perform at UC Irvine

October 21, 2026

The concert will feature music from artists in Southern and Baja California that explores life on the borde

A desert landscape with saguaro cacti and low shrubs appears layered with translucent, overlapping abstract forms in muted pink, orange, blue and green tones.

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BEFORE THE LOOK OF LAW

September 29, 2026

Organized by Simon Leung and Sora Han; on view from Oct. 3–Dec. 13, 2026, in the Contemporary Arts Center Gallery, University Art Gallery, Room Gallery, with an opening reception on Sat., Oct. 10, 2-5 p.m.

Performers in trench coats and fedoras point upward in unison onstage in a production choreographed by Andrew Palermo, with an orchestra and chorus seated behind them.

Dance

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Already in Practice

September 28, 2026

At UCI Arts, curriculum and collaboration turn arts education into a professional pathway

About a dozen students and faculty stand smiling in a row in front of a large screen reading "Boundless Entertainment."

Drama

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Drama Students Reimagine La Llorona in an Immersive Experience designed for Noguchi Gardens

June 23, 2026

Lighting and scenic designers in the Digital Imaging course collaborated on a digitally rendered installation that honors the legend's cultural roots and the Costa Mesa sculpture garden that inspired it

Overhead view of audience members seated in the round of the New Swan Theater, a circular performance space with railings and vivid blue, pink and purple theatrical lighting - photo by Steve Zylius

Drama

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Shakespeare with a twist

June 16, 2026

New Swan’s summer festival reimagines ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ through distinctly 20th-century American settings

Collage of 17 headshots of student awardees above text reading Medici Circle 2026 Scholarship Awardees on a blue background

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Music

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2026 Medici Circle Scholars

June 11, 2026

UC Irvine Claire Trevor School of the Arts names 17 new Medici Circle Scholars

Bryan Reynolds, wearing a gray fedora and dark button-up shirt, stands in front of a red textured wall.

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Art Beyond the Edge

June 9, 2026

The new University of California Press book, written by UC Irvine Professors Bryan Reynolds and Mark LeVine, explores how art emerges from sociopolitical conflict and war across five continents

Photo of UCI Professor Simon Penny seated outdoors on a beach, wearing a neon green hoodie and backpack, with a clear blue sky and ocean behind him.

Art

Research

After the Fire

May 26, 2026

Professor of Art Simon Penny and Eaton Fire evacuee join UCSC panel on climate change

Promotional poster for "at the very bottom of a body of water," a play by Benjamin Benne, directed by Juliette Carrillo. Features a white origami crane against a dark blue underwater background. Labeled "a developmental production."

Drama

Research

A New Play Finds Its Form at UCI Drama

May 22, 2026

Benjamin Benne’s at the very bottom of a body of water, receives a developmental production at the Robert Cohen Theatre ahead of its world premiere