Hill event combines art, sustainability

Even after Earth Day, the spirit of being ecologically friendly remains alive at UCLA as students prepare to showcase acoustic music and sustainability-inspired artwork. 

Tonight, students will have the opportunity to continue learning more about sustainability while enjoying art and music as part of the Unplugged event taking place in De Neve Plaza. Unplugged, put on by the USAC Facilities Commission, the Community Service Commission and Team Green on the Hill, will start off with a student eARTh art show, followed by an acoustic concert featuring student groups The Street Hearts and Manzanita as well as soloists Courtney Randall, Rebecca Lee and Josef Gordon.

Hannah Doan, a second-year environmental science student and Team Green coordinator, said although Monday was officially Earth Day, the entire week is considered Earth Week. The Unplugged event will educate students on sustainability-related topics while hosting student-produced art and musical performances.

“We thought this would be a good program for residents because it will help them be aware of (topics) like energy consumption and sustainable works on campus,” Doan said.

In order to incorporate both the eARTh show and the concert, Doan said preparation for this event began at the end of last quarter, when art submissions were first requested. The eARTh show consists of four categories – drawing, painting, photography and sculpture – and each piece is inspired by nature or sustainability. Art history professor and Sproul Hall faculty-in-residence Charlene Villaseñor Black will judge the pieces, and the first place winner in each category will receive Disneyland tickets.

Throughout the evening, the USAC Facilities Commission, Community Service Commission and Team Green will also table with sustainability-related instructional materials on topics such as pollution in Los Angeles and sustainability on the Hill. While the songs themselves may not be directly related to Earth Day, the concert encourages students to gather together and educate themselves through the information provided by these organizations.

Following the eARTh show, the music performances will begin with third-year psychology student Courtney Randall, who was the overall winner of Spring Sing 2011 as well as the 2012 winner in the soloist category. Randall, who regularly posts videos of her cover performances on her YouTube channel, also said she has been writing original music, like her Spring Sing-winning song “The One,” and will share this new music tonight.

“I think I have a lot of different lanes that I would like to go down in terms of genre, but I’m kind of just mixing and trying to see what my sound is,” Randall said. “I’m excited to share some original (material) at this concert and show what I’ve been working on for the past year.”

Fourth-year nursing student Rebecca Lee, who is also a resident assistant, will perform as a soloist tonight and said she is looking forward to being part of an event that relates to one of the Office of Residential Life’s core values – fostering social responsibility.

Lee, who has performed at talent events on the Hill, said she will sing covers of David Guetta’s “Titanium,” Justin Bieber’s “As Long as You Love Me” as well as her original song “Pink Elephant” for the first time.

As a resident assistant, Lee said she especially hopes first-year students, who make up a large portion of De Neve’s residents, will recognize the variety of opportunities for sustainability at UCLA.

“They’re still learning about the vast resource that is UCLA in terms of what kinds of groups you can be involved in and what kinds of options you have in terms of sustainability,” Lee said. “I think a big benefit of this program is making that available to them … and opening their eyes to what they could be interested in and how they can be involved in promoting sustainability on the Hill.”