A living archive of creative expression

This fall, UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts is pulling back the curtain on six decades of groundbreaking artistic practice with "The Inoperative Community: Exhibition X Practice, UCI 1965-2025." Opening with a public reception on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 2 to 5 p.m., the landmark exhibition spans all three of the university's art galleries and anchors the School of the Arts' yearlong 60^th anniversary celebrations.

Far from a static walk through history, the exhibition is designed as an evolving conversation. With works, archival photographs, documentation and rare publications, "The Inoperative Community" charts how UC Irvine's University Art Galleries became a crucible for experimentation - helping to shape both the campus's identity and the broader cultural landscape of Southern California.

At 4 p.m. on opening day, visitors can also attend a talk by Irvine Mayor Larry Agran and the exhibition's curators reflecting on the intertwined histories of the university, the city and a region transformed by both art and ideas.

An exhibition rooted in legacy and renewal

The curators - Juli Carson, Kevin Appel and Sasha Ussef - conceived of the exhibition as both archival and forward-looking. Its title refers to philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy's essay "The Inoperative Community," which imagines community as fluid and collective rather than fixed or hierarchical. That ideology underpins the show's structure: Rather than a neat chronological march, the galleries unfold as overlapping "epochs," each capturing moments when curators, artists and students pushed the boundaries of what art could be.

From John Coplans' founding vision in the late 1960s to the trailblazing work of artists like Chris Burden, Mary Kelly, Carrie Mae Weems and Roy Lichtenstein, the exhibition reminds viewers that UC Irvine's arts community has never shied away from experimentation. The galleries have long been spaces where the avant-garde meets the academic, where political urgency and aesthetic daring intertwine.

"The archives show us that the galleries have always been a living, breathing organism," says Appel, chair of UC Irvine's Department of Art and executive director of University Art Galleries. "This exhibition isn't about freezing history in place. It's about recognizing how each generation reshaped the conversation - and how the next one will do the same."

More than just a retrospective

Alongside iconic artworks, "The Inoperative Community" creates an immersive environment in which visitors can see how successive directors and curators responded to broader cultural and political shifts - from the turbulence of the Vietnam era to the culture wars of the 1990s and the globalized art world of today.

That interplay is especially timely as the Claire Trevor School of the Arts marks its 60^th year. Founded in 1965, it remains the only comprehensive arts school in the University of California system, with departments spanning art, dance, drama and music. Its students and faculty have consistently blurred disciplinary lines, embodying the same spirit of innovation the exhibition now celebrates.

"An anniversary is both a milestone and an invitation," Appel says. "As we look back at the incredible artists and thinkers who passed through these halls, we're also asking: What comes next? How can we keep building communities that are just as daring, just as inclusive, just as transformative?"

A community celebration

The Oct. 11 reception is open to the public and promises to be both festive and thought-provoking. Guests can explore the three-gallery installation, then join Mayor Agran and the curators for an intimate conversation about the intersections of art, city building and education.

The exhibition will remain on view through Dec. 13, giving ample time for students, scholars, alumni and community members to engage with its layered stories. Admission is free, with gallery hours from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

For the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, the exhibition is both a capstone and a launching pad. It's a way of honoring six decades of bold risk-taking while reaffirming the school's role as a cultural engine for Orange County and beyond.

As the galleries fill with artworks and artifacts that once challenged - and continue to challenge - audiences, visitors will be reminded of one thing above all: that the arts at UC Irvine are, and always have been, a locus of creative expression where diverse voices and practices converge and shift over time.