CalArts President Steven D. Lavine (left) and German Consul General Dr. Bernd Fischer at the awarding of the Order of Merit on Nov. 6.

Dr. Bernd Fischer, the German Consul General in Los Angeles, presented CalArts President Steven D. Lavine with the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on Nov. 6. Lavine was honored for his “tireless commitment in the cultural exchange between the United States and Germany.”

The small ceremony was held at the Villa Aurora in the Pacific Palisades, an artists residence and historic landmark located in the former home of exiled German-Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger. During his brief remarks, Lavine thanked the audience on behalf of CalArts, which has served as a conduit for several German-American exchanges, as well as many other international programs in recent years.

Among the CalArts-German exchanges:

* In 2011, a CalArts student, faculty and alumni contingent presented a range of new works at PACT Zollverein in Essen, Germany, as party of the larger Ruhrtriennale 2011 festival.

* CalArts School of Art students and faculty members Shirley Tse and Kaucyila Brooke presented the Artist as Traveller exhibition at the Braunschweig University of Art (HBK) in Braunschweig, Germany, in July 2012 as part of an exchange program between the university and CalArts. In November 2012, the Artist as Traveller exhibition was mounted at CalArts featuring work by HBK faculty member Corinna Schnitt and 11 students.

About Steven D. Lavine

Steven D. Lavine has been president of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) since 1988.  The CalArts community includes the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), a center for innovative visual, performing and media arts, in downtown Los Angeles.  Dr. Lavine, a graduate of Stanford University (B.A.), and Harvard University  M.A. and Ph.D.), a leader in the cultural life of Los Angeles as well as the nation, was recognized with the “2005 Los Angeles Highlight Award” given by W.O.M.E.N. Inc. of Los Angeles.

Dr. Lavine currently serves on the board of the Idyllwild Arts Foundation, the Cotsen Family Foundation, and Villa Aurora Foundation for European-American Relations, as Co-Chair of the Arts Coalition for Academic Progress for the Los Angeles Unified School District.  He has served on the board of directors of Endowments Inc., KCRW-FM National Public Radio, The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, The Operating Company of the Music Center of Los Angeles, KCET-Public Broadcasting, Arts International, Inc., the American Council for the Arts, and the American Council on Education, and as a member of the Visiting Committee of The J. Paul Getty Museum.   Dr. Lavine has also been co-director of The Arts and Government Program for The American Assembly at Columbia University and co-chair of the Mayor’s Working Group of the Los Angeles Theatre Center.  He participated on the Architectural Selection Juries for the new Los Angeles Cathedral and the Los Angeles Children’s Museum.  In 1991, he co-edited with Ivan Karp, Exhibiting Cultures:  The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display; in 1992, the Smithsonian Institution Press released their second co-edited volume, Museums and Communities: The Politics of Public Culture.