
What we do
Artists create meaning, solve problems, and challenge expectations. The Arts Research Institute at UC Santa Cruz supports UC faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students involved in creative research, scholarship, and publicly-engaged practice. We are particularly interested in fostering critical interdisciplinary collaborations that reach across disciplines and genres and engage a broad range of off-campus partners, organizations, and communities. We are committed to supporting the diverse artists and scholars of our campus in an environment of respect, support, innovation, and exploration. We do this by building and supporting Arts Division research initiatives, coordinating and managing strategic planning and fundraising to elevate the visibility of the arts, placing equity and inclusion at the center of our work, coordinating cross-divisional, multi-campus, and national arts research collaborations, administering the ARI faculty grant program.
Diversity Equity and Inclusion
The arts are a powerful vehicle for social change. As an institution, we are committed to supporting and promoting arts research, pedagogy, and cultural production that foster social justice and address historic and systemic inequities. We are committed to supporting projects that address the many critical environmental, human, economic, and cultural crises of today, including mass incarceration, racial and gender violence, economic disparity, climate chaos, displacement, gentrification, and more. Through our programs, we aim to change the status quo, inspire honest and rigorous reflection, and ensure a diversity of voices, subjects, and perspectives.
ARI Fellows, 2021-2022
Each year ARI supports a small number of Faculty Fellows who are developing innovative projects, allowing them to continue their research, develop new collaborations, and bring their work to fruition. ARI Fellows deliver a public lecture or hold a seminar related to their work during the fellowship year.





