Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A version of this video with audio description track is available here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ui0Xfbji2r8
Art can connect personal history, community, and social change. Janelle Iglesias, Assistant Professor of Studio Art at UC San Diego, traces her path from a multicultural childhood in Queens to anthropology, ceramics, sculpture, and public art. She explains how objects in her family home sparked an interest in material culture, and how a reconciliation program in South Africa changed her view of what artists can contribute to society. Iglesias also describes nearly two decades of collaboration with her sister Lisa through Las Hermanas Iglesias, including projects involving their mother. Her teaching emphasizes play, curiosity, resourcefulness, and the idea that sculpture can be made from almost anything. By linking creative practice with care, connection, and community, Iglesias shows how art can help people respond to uncertainty and imagine more equitable futures. [Show ID: 41254]
0:00 Growing Up Between Cultures in Queens
5:09 From Anthropology and Ceramics to Sculpture
15:10 What an MFA Offered an Emerging Artist
19:26 Building Las Hermanas Iglesias with Her Sister
28:32 How Art Responds to Crisis, Care and Social Change
35:14 From Working Artist to UC San Diego Professor
40:41 Teaching Creativity, Curiosity and Possibility
46:10 Public Art, Language and Community in San Diego
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uctv.tv/donate
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(uctv.tv/education/mi-universidad-english/)
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(uctv.tv/arts)
Art can excite, provoke, calm and inspire us. UCTV showcases excellence in arts and music from classical, jazz, folk, opera and contemporary music to theater, poetry, media arts, dance and fine arts.
UCTV is the broadcast and online media platform of the University of California, featuring programming from its ten campuses, three national labs and affiliated research institutions. UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects for a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, business, education, and agriculture. Launched in January 2000, UCTV embraces the core missions of the University of California -- teaching, research, and public service – by providing quality, in-depth television far beyond the campus borders to inquisitive viewers around the world.
(https://www.uctv.tv)
Q: How did Janelle Iglesias become an artist?
A: Iglesias studied anthropology at Emory University and initially considered medicine or public health. Working with ceramics and participating in a reconciliation program in South Africa helped her see how artists can address personal and social issues, leading her to pursue sculpture and an MFA.
Q: What is Las Hermanas Iglesias?
A: Las Hermanas Iglesias is the collaborative art practice of Janelle Iglesias and her sister, Lisa Iglesias. The collaboration began when they exchanged works on paper through the mail during graduate school and later expanded to include textiles, public projects, other collaborators, and work involving their mother.
Q: What does Janelle Iglesias want students to learn about creativity?
A: Iglesias encourages students to combine work with play and to approach creative problems with curiosity and an experimental mindset. She teaches that sculpture can be made from almost anything and that creative thinking can be useful far beyond a career in art.
A version of this video with audio description track is available here:
youtube.com/watch?v=ui0Xfbji2r8
Art can connect personal history, community, and social change. Janelle Iglesias, Assistant Professor of Studio Art at UC San Diego, traces her path from a multicultural childhood in Queens to anthropology, ceramics, sculpture, and public art. She explains how objects in her family home sparked an interest in material culture, and how a reconciliation program in South Africa changed her view of what artists can contribute to society. Iglesias also describes nearly two decades of collaboration with her sister Lisa through Las Hermanas Iglesias, including projects involving their mother. Her teaching emphasizes play, curiosity, resourcefulness, and the idea that sculpture can be made from almost anything. By linking creative practice with care, connection, and community, Iglesias shows how art can help people respond to uncertainty and imagine more equitable futures. [Show ID: 41254]
0:00 Growing Up Between Cultures in Queens
5:09 From Anthropology and Ceramics to Sculpture
15:10 What an MFA Offered an Emerging Artist
19:26 Building Las Hermanas Iglesias with Her Sister
28:32 How Art Responds to Crisis, Care and Social Change
35:14 From Working Artist to UC San Diego Professor
40:41 Teaching Creativity, Curiosity and Possibility
46:10 Public Art, Language and Community in San Diego
Donate to UCTV to support informative & inspiring programming:
uctv.tv/donate
More videos from: Mi Universidad
(uctv.tv/education/mi-universidad-english/)
More from: Education Channel
(uctv.tv/education)
Explore More Arts & Music on UCTV
(uctv.tv/arts)
Art can excite, provoke, calm and inspire us. UCTV showcases excellence in arts and music from classical, jazz, folk, opera and contemporary music to theater, poetry, media arts, dance and fine arts.
UCTV is the broadcast and online media platform of the University of California, featuring programming from its ten campuses, three national labs and affiliated research institutions. UCTV explores a broad spectrum of subjects for a general audience, including science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, arts and music, business, education, and agriculture. Launched in January 2000, UCTV embraces the core missions of the University of California -- teaching, research, and public service – by providing quality, in-depth television far beyond the campus borders to inquisitive viewers around the world.
(https://www.uctv.tv)
Q: How did Janelle Iglesias become an artist?
A: Iglesias studied anthropology at Emory University and initially considered medicine or public health. Working with ceramics and participating in a reconciliation program in South Africa helped her see how artists can address personal and social issues, leading her to pursue sculpture and an MFA.
Q: What is Las Hermanas Iglesias?
A: Las Hermanas Iglesias is the collaborative art practice of Janelle Iglesias and her sister, Lisa Iglesias. The collaboration began when they exchanged works on paper through the mail during graduate school and later expanded to include textiles, public projects, other collaborators, and work involving their mother.
Q: What does Janelle Iglesias want students to learn about creativity?
A: Iglesias encourages students to combine work with play and to approach creative problems with curiosity and an experimental mindset. She teaches that sculpture can be made from almost anything and that creative thinking can be useful far beyond a career in art.
