Alumnus Tim Alt (Art BFA 75) recently shared photos from the 1970s with 24700 that capture student life at CalArts.
Several of the photos feature a structure called “the Mud Hut.” According to Alt, the Mud Hut was part of the African Hut Class taught by Beryl Bellman, an anthropologist and faculty in the School of Critical Studies. Students in this class built huts styled after those of the West African Forest belt and were located east of the dorm parking lot.
In an email, Alt wrote of his experience at CalArts:
I loved the independence at CalArts in the 70s. My experience was almost total freedom with what and how you wanted to study. Studying under and being mentored by well-known artists was a dream come true. We were encouraged to explore and expand on ideas. It was great to be there in the early years of electronic synthesizer music, video art, conceptual art and the Feminist Art Program. Even though I was not enrolled in the African Hut class, I was able to join in, as was anyone else who wanted to help out. I feel very fortunate to have had that experience.
We’ve posted a photo gallery of some of Alt’s photos, above, and if you know some of the people in the photos, please feel free to tag them in our comments.