The UCLA Arts Software Studio is a group of individuals who develop software within the context of the arts. We create, distribute, perform, modify, and critique software. We trace our history from systems and conceptual art in the 1960s, to internet experimentation in the mid 1990s, to the recent rise of Apps.

The Software Studio has three goals:

• Cultivate a discussion around software and the arts at UCLA and beyond
• Fund and assist graduate students who work in this area
• Provide infrastructure and knowledge around creating software

We propose the following actions to achieve our goals:

• Use simple networked software such as blogs, wikis, and code repositories to build a knowledge base and audience
• Attract focused graduate students and encourage this work through fellowships, scholarships, and/or grants
• Develop and maintain software infrastructure used within the arts

The Software Studio will enhance and build on existing knowledge within the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture. Over the last decade, many students have received MFA degrees for the software they’ve developed. Since 2001, the Software Studio founder Casey Reas has co-developed Processing, an open source programming environment for artists and designers. This tool is used heavily within the University of California system and by hundreds of schools around the world. The studio will continue this work and will potentially develop libraries and extensions for other programming systems.

The School of the Arts and Architecture at UCLA (UCLA Arts) is dedicated to training exceptional artists, performers, architects and scholars who are enriched by a global view of the arts and prepared to serve as cultural leaders of the 21st century. Graduate degree programs are offered in the Departments of Architecture and Urban Design, Art, Design Media Arts, Ethnomusicology, Music, and World Arts and Cultures. The School’s unique curriculum interweaves work in performance, studio and research studies, providing students with a solid creative, artistic and intellectual foundation. World-class faculty provides a depth of expertise and achievement that supports the most ambitious vision a student can bring to the campus. To enrich their coursework students have access to outstanding art collections, exhibitions and performing arts presentations through the School’s internationally acclaimed public arts institutions.