The way Meryl (and David) set up the class allowed students to really understand why we were doing everything and why each activity was useful.

TL/DR: Fascinating class looking at art in all of its various forms. There is a fair amount of work spread across a bunch of stuff, but the class itself is very easy and a very interesting class. Highly recommend for covering the VPA GE. For more on the class and the assignment breakdown, see the link (didn't want to paste the whole thing into this site) https://docs.google.com/document/d/15vILblHwWrnV7KnB-sOFzTRnQE2QPA7nmHxj4gdNKBU/edit?usp=sharing

TAKE THIS CLASS! I loved this class as it was fun, engaging, and overall a great time to relax. This class was really easy and all you have to do is complete some weekly assignments, which would be doable as long as it complete the work on time. Dr. Friedman and Dr. Gere are wonderful professors and they are the sweetest.
Highly recommend!!

Meryl and David are amazing professors, and the art assignments were fun and sometimes pushes you outside of your comfort zone. All the guest speakers were interesting and brought in a different aspect of art. And as long as you do all the work, you'll get an A. I highly recommend this class!

Very easy class. Textbook was only used in the first week, though, so I would say it probably isn't even necessary to buy it. Meryl is a very encouraging, expressive, and compassionate instructor though. Some of the activities we do in class will take you out of your comfort zone. However, along with prof. David Gere, Meryl created such a welcoming environment where we all felt comfortable putting ourselves out there.

Grade relies entirely on participation, weekly creative assignments, weekly blog posts, submission of in-class assignments, and one group project at the end of the quarter. I'd say all the assignments are very easy, just make sure to reflect that you actually put effort into your work.

This review is for both Professor Meryl and Professor David who co-taught the class during my quarter. Honestly, there isn't much to say that hasn't already been said. This is a very easy GE class. There are a lot of athletes who take this class when it's offered. Every week, there are in class activities which can take you out of your comfort zone and make you feel slightly uncomfortable, but what's an easy A without a little risk? My only gripe was probably how my TA took a substantial amount of time to grade assignments (but I don't know if that was the case with other TAs) and that some students would ditch lecture (yeah it's 3 hours long and once a week but what's the point of showing up in the first place if you ditch in the middle of lecture?)

The TA's literally say at the begining of the quarter "this is suppose to be a chill class that you take in between your hard major classes; it's not suppose to be stressful." As long as you do your assignments and show up to class, you will get an A. Each week, you have to go to an arts encounter (like attend an art museum, the address of which they will provide), write a blog post on CCLE, and then do a creative art assignment (of which you will upload a picture to CCLE). Literally the easiest class I have taken here at UCLA. We walked in circles one discussion. Please, do yourself a favor, and take this class

One of the most stereotypically North-Campus-esque class I've ever taken. Workload is practically nil and when there is work, it's easy and graded based on effort rather than result. One of the easiest A's in UCLA, to be honest. And the professor is fantastic. The biggest issue I have with this class, though, is its scheduling. It is a nightmare to schedule for this class. Every week, you must attend an art show (generally Friday, Saturday, or Sunday). Make sure that you have the time to set aside to attend them. This, plus the fact that lecture is 3 hours long, makes scheduling feel like I'm scheduling my life and my other classes around this class. Make sure to manage your time wisely when taking this class.

This class was by far the easiest class I have taken at UCLA. There is barely any homework and everything you do is in class for participation. There is weekly homework, and you have to go to weekly performances that are mandatory, but I enjoyed such events and they take you out of your comfort zone. So basically all you have to do is show up. Also, I have never seen a professor speak with so much passion for art. She made me want to take more art classes and was so encouraging in validating things I would say in class. She made me a better student and more confident in speaking up in class. Don't take the class if you are not willing to be pushed out of your comfort zone. If you are looking for an easy A, take this class for sure! It counts for visual and preforming arts I believe!

Best class I've taken at UCLA, and it will most likely remain that way until I graduate. I've never seen a professor speak with that much passion for education in the arts and be able reach all the students with different majors found within this class. I'd say 60% of the students were involved in a STEM related major and they were all engaged. Each week was a different topic on art, so for example, there were lectures on performance art, spoken word poetry, puppetry, music, dance, and much more. The professor brought in working artists from each field to give a demonstration. There are in-class workshops each lecture that are required to complete the weekly assignment. Attendance in lecture is worth much of your grade, and they do check whether or not you are there by having you turn in a separate in-class assignment. There are no tests or quizzes in this class. Each week require you to make a piece of art and write about it. Blogs are on CCLE and require at least 200 words. You have one final project that's assign to you by another student, so no final project is the same. Everyone must make art. You will have to attend performances outside of class, and the total cost of all the tickets is around $100, which is basically the same as a textbook. The professor is very skilled in spoken word poetry, and will offer you the chance to perform at lecture-wide open mic. This was my favorite lecture of them all because of all the talent I got to see. You become pretty close with your section and your TA because most of the course requires you to talk about how you feel about art in interpretation and analysis. I wish I could take this class again.