About

We design and implement arts-based public health interventions.

Founded in 2006, the UCLA Art & Global Health Center devises new methods for stigma reduction, reinforces human empowerment, and catalyzes behavioral change. Our work blends community engagement, arts activism, and research to advocate for comprehensive sexual health education, women’s empowerment, gender equality, LGBTQ+ identity and inclusion, anti-racism, and mental health.

Our Guiding Principles

The Power of a Global Network of Artists

We aim to facilitate collaboration between artists and advocates working for the advancement of global health, strengthening public health interventions through improved communication and participation in an international artists’ network.

The Creative Process as a Catalyst for Change

Our programs seek to create points of personal identification through art as a means to elicit empathy, understanding, and emotional growth through recognition of a shared humanity.

De-Centered Sites of Artistic Encounter

We aim to expand our audience into sites of encounter beyond elite spaces. These sites are portable, virtual, village level, street level; they reach all populations.

Education as Action

We seek to develop, implement and evaluate arts-based educational programs, taking advantage of the laboratory provided by UCLA to ascertain the most effective means to educate and empower.

People

We engage a global network of artists, academics, students, and advocates. Working across continents, we use creativity to find new solutions to health problems and effective ways to communicate health information.

Staff

David Gere, PhD
Founder & Director

dgere@arts.ucla.edu

Wilna Julmiste Taylor, MS
Interim director

wjt8@arts.ucla.edu

Isaiah Baiseri, BA
Communications Director & Media Designer

ibaiseri@ucla.edu

Arianna Taboada, MSW, MSPH 
Research Coordinator

ataboada@hopelab.org

Amanda Giuliano, MA, PhD Candidate 
Research Fellow

acgiuliano@g.ucla.edu

Hanni Ress, MPhil
Through Positive Eyes Community Coordinator

hanni.ress@gmail.com

Maya Kelly, MA 
Social Media & Marketing Consultant

mayakelly98@gmail.com

Supporters

The UCLA Art & Global Health Center is supported by these generous foundations and organizations. You can be a champion of our work too, by making a gift today.

Past and Current Funders

  • The David and Linda Shaheen Foundation
  • The Herb Ritts Foundation
  • The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
  • The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • The Ford Foundation
  • UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
  • UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance
  • AIDS Healthcare Foundation
  • AIDS Project Los Angeles
  • City of Los Angeles AIDS Coordinator’s Office
  • The Clarence and Anne Dillon Dunwalke Charitable Trust
  • Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation
  • Gere Foundation
  • Gilead Sciences, Inc.
  • Godrej Industries
  • Gold Shield Alumnae of UCLA
  • Los Angeles Unified School District HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit
  • Resnick Family Foundation
  • UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research
  • UCLA AIDS Institute
  • UCLA International Institute
  • Ueltschi Service Learning Course Development Grant (University of North Carolina)
  • University of North Carolina Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
  • U.S. Office of Population Affairs
  • U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)

Past and Current Collaborators

  • ArtGlo, Art & Global Health Center – Africa
  • Breakthrough Accelerator, Child Trends, Inc.
  • Center for Media and Alternative Communication, India
  • Center for Theater of the Oppressed, Brazil
  • Cornell University College of Human Ecology
  • Curate.a.space, South Africa
  • Cut & Cue
  • Emory University Department of Anthropology
  • Emory University Rollins School of Public Health
  • Gates Discovery Center
  • Harvard University Global Health Institute
  • International AIDS Society
  • The Policy & Research Group
  • Positively Speaking, Los Angeles Unified School District HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit
  • SisterLove, Inc.
  • Storytellers for Change
  • UCLA Art|Sci Center
  • UCLA Fowler Museum
  • UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity
  • UCLA WORLD Policy Analysis Center
  • University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Department of Communication Studies
  • University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Gillings School of Global Public Health/Health Behavior Capstone Project
  • University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

The UCLA Art & Global Health Center is housed within the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture.

Land Acknowledgment

The UCLA Art & Global Health Center acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands) and is grateful to have the opportunity to work for the taraaxatom (indigenous peoples) in this place. As a land grant institution, we pay our respects to Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders), and ‘eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging.