Content Authored by: Jessica Weber

Two books open on table with books on a shelf in the background

Renowned mystery writer Walter Mosley to headline UC Riverside’s 43rd annual Writers Week

The 43rd annual Writers Week, California’s longest-running free literary event, is heading to UC Riverside, bringing a diverse array of emerging and established authors to the Inland Empire Feb. 10-14.
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Fisherman against skyline of Leningrad, USSR, now St. Petersburg, Russia

Comprehensive digital photography collection and $500k endowment donated to UCR ARTS

The gift from Jim and Georgia Steinhart marks the art center’s inaugural born-digital collection and first-ever endowment
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Prometheus Project Snow Globe. Courtesy Jeff Weiss Collective

Resurrecting Prometheus

Limited-edition snow globes commemorate the world’s oldest tree while supporting UCR ARTS
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Dozens of flags in the grass

UC Riverside-led project offers new opportunities to commemorate veterans

Several resources, including a series of documentary vignettes, provides visitors numerous ways to enhance their own Veterans Day celebrations
By Jessica Weber | | University
Beyond Brilliant: Regina Louise

Beyond Brilliant: Regina Louise

Regina Louise has never known a “normal” childhood. Throughout her tumultuous youth, she was shuffled through over 30 foster homes and psychiatric facilities, all before the age of 18. Subjected to neglect, abuse, overmedication, and solitary confinement while in foster care, Louise’s trauma was compounded by a racially motivated ruling,...
By Jessica Weber | | Students, Beyond Brilliant
Reverse Refraction, 1974. Inkjet print.

Power play: Manipulation and absurdity in photography

California Museum of Photography exhibition explores how artist Robert Cumming exposed the truth and trickery of photography
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Reflection Eternal

Decoding race, monstrosity, and desire in ‘Candyman’

“Reflection Eternal,” on view at the Culver Center of the Arts Aug. 31-Jan. 19, unpacks the iconic horror film figure
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture

‘In the Country of Women’ celebrates the ‘love of thousands’

Straight’s new memoir, published Aug. 6, extols the strength and resiliency of six generations of women
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Photo of albatrosses in a field and in flight on Midway Island

Finding grace through waste in ‘Intolerable Beauty’

The new exhibition from artist and environmental activist Chris Jordan runs July 6-Jan. 5 at the Culver Center of the Arts
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Arkansas Maytagers, Maytag Spring Party in Newton, Iowa, March 28-29, 1955. Courtesy of John Divola.

Dual exhibitions from photographer John Divola examine social identity and the sublime

“STRATUM” and “Clive Wearing’s Dilemma” are on view at the California Museum of Photography May 11-Sept. 8
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Image of artwork by Emory Douglas featuring a boy holding a paper that reads "All Power to the People". Photo by Essence Harden. Archives of Southern California Library

The enduring power of art as activism in “Emory Douglas: Bold Visual Language”

Although the Black Panther Party dissolved nearly 40 years ago, the movement’s legacy endures — largely through the iconic imagery created by former party member Emory Douglas. As the minister of culture for the Black Panther Party and graphic artist for the organization’s newspaper, Douglas was charged with establishing the...
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Ginnifer Goodwin and Angela Fairly in "I Am Somebody's Child"

New movie aims to foster change in a broken system

“I Am Somebody’s Child,” a film based on UCR alumna Regina Louise’s memoir about growing up in foster care, premieres April 20 on Lifetime
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
floating book display at book store

Join UCR faculty and alumni at the LA Times Festival of Books

Attend panel discussions and book signings featuring UCR writers at the USC campus April 13-14.
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Mojave Desert

Being ‘Other’ in America

When Nora Guerraoui receives word her father has been killed in an apparent hit-and-run, she is forced to return to the small California desert town she left behind and contend with the many memories she’s tried to forget. So sets the stage of “ The Other Americans ,” the latest...
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Doug McCulloh

Leaving it all to chance

Douglas McCulloh is not a man ruled by fate, but rather, chance. In fact, McCulloh, who joined UCR ARTS as the new senior curator for the California Museum of Photography , or CMP, in July has made chance his primary modus operandi. He traces his preoccupation with chance back to...
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Katie Ford

Confronting loss and loneliness in “If You Have to Go”

Loneliness, while inherently isolating, is also a universal experience. This dichotomy lies at the heart of poet Katie Ford’s newest collection, “ If You Have to Go .” Dominated by a crown of 39 sonnets — each linked by the repetition of the last line of a poem as the...
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Photo of author Margaret Atwood by Liam Sharp

UC Riverside to host 42nd-annual Writers Week

Writers Week , California’s longest-running free literary event, will return to the University of California, Riverside, for its 42nd installment Feb. 4-5 and Feb. 11-16, 2019, featuring 22 writers across the two-week span. The conference will open with a reading and Q&A with renowned novelist Margaret Atwood. Atwood, whose prolific...
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture

Deconstructing the indestructible ‘Luke Cage’

“How do you show that he’s bulletproof?” asks artist and University of California, Riverside professor John Jennings, while discussing Marvel superhero Luke Cage. “You have to shoot him. You have to have a black man during the Black Lives Matter movement shot every episode to prove that he’s bulletproof. And...
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Cover of "God's Will for Monsters"

UCR poet wins 2018 American Book Award

There was a time when Rachelle Cruz, M.F.A. ’12, had all but given up on getting her poetry collection published. A 10-year labor of love, she recalled sending out “ God’s Will for Monsters ” 20-25 times before taking a two-year break from her attempts. As a last-ditch effort, Cruz...
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture
Red Carpet in C at the Culver Center of the Arts

Rolling out the ‘Red Carpet’

"Yunhee Min & Peter Tolkin: Red Carpet in C" (Nikolay Maslov) Walk into the Culver Center of the Arts, and you’ll immediately find yourself immersed in the new, large-scale exhibition by Yunhee Min and Peter Tolkin. Three gigantic, undulating swathes of red fabric extend toward the entryway, inviting viewers to...
By Jessica Weber | | Arts / Culture