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Nathaniel Meek, a graduating fourth-year theater student, performs Shel Silverstein’s ̶

Armed with nothing but a broom and his voice, graduating fourth-year theater student Nathaniel Meek performed June 1 as part of Project A.R.T.S., or Art Realized Through Students.

Meek, who performed a piece by Shel Silverstein titled “The Devil and Billy Markham,” was able to experiment with the work because of Project A.R.T.S.’ creative freedom.

“Project A.R.T.S. was an opportunity to try out if this (kind of performance) would work or not,” Meek said.

The year-end event, which was put on by the Student Committee for the Arts and ran May 31 and June 1, proved to be a useful forum for first-time exhibitors and veteran artists alike.

Emika Abe, the education liaison for the SCA and a graduating fourth-year theater student, feels programs such as Project A.R.T.S. are valuable experiences for students preparing for arts careers.

“I am planning on going into a career in some sort of producing or theater management, so it’s been really beneficial to have firsthand experience with producing shows,” Abe said.

As part of that experience, SCA committee members went through a year-long process to select artists and performers for this year’s event.

“We make a call at the beginning of the year for any type of student artwork,” said Alisha Flecky, visual arts coordinator for Project A.R.T.S. and a third-year global studies and art history student. “It’s meant to show the rest of the UCLA campus what our artists are producing.”

Part of the funding SCA receives is allocated to pay the student artists who participate in the event.

As a member of the UCLA a cappella group Scattertones, which performed at the event, Abe says opportunities for artists to get paid for their work is what makes Project A.R.T.S. unique.

“It’s rare that (artists) actually get paid gigs on campus, and that’s what really sets Project A.R.T.S. apart – the ability to actually pay the student artists to do what they do,” she said.

In addition to theatrical and musical performances, the festival also included various visual arts exhibits.

Angelica Hernandez, a graduate student in social science and comparative education, presented an eight-piece exhibit illustrating male sexual predators.

“What I’m presenting is an autobiographical piece of sexual assault and child abuse,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez has also exhibited her artwork at other colleges and events. However, she says Project A.R.T.S. was an important venue in which to display her work and her message.

“This is an opportunity (for me) to give voice to the issue of abuse,” Hernandez said.

According to Hernandez, it is important to take advantage of student-run activities such as Project A.R.T.S. because future opportunities to present work will not be as available.

“Once you get outside of UCLA, sending out proposals is more tedious, and when you don’t have a foundation it’s harder to break in,” Hernandez said.

For attendees, this year’s Project A.R.T.S. will be remembered as a venue for free-thinking student work.

“Project A.R.T.S. demonstrates the diversity and eclectic artwork that the student body produces at UCLA,” Flecky said.