Los Angeles can be a competitive place, especially for those in the arts and entertainment industry. Thankfully, there is a group at USC providing opportunities for those who want to create art without intense pressure or competition: CommUnity Arts Collective.

CommUnity Arts Collective is an independent student group that focuses on breaking down barriers to entry for students and creating opportunities on campus to make live theatre without the long-term commitment of a full-scale production. The group was founded during the pandemic—a time when everyone involved with live entertainment was in need of community—and has continued under the leadership of current president Cesar Serrano (BA Theatre and Public Relations & Advertising ’27).

“[The founders of CommUnity Arts Collective] felt that the theatre world here in L.A. is really competitive by nature,” Serrano explained. “They wanted to bring back the joy of theatre you had as a kid, the joy of doing it in middle school and high school.”

CommUnity Arts Collective emphasizes productions that provide lots of opportunities to perform with relatively low time commitment, including shorter rehearsal periods. They also accept and find a place for anyone who wants to participate.

“We take in anyone who auditions,” said Serrano. “We don’t have very long rehearsal processes, so it’s more accessible to full-time students.”

“What this organization does is give chances to everyone,” added Paulette Alvarez (BA Theatre with an Emphasis in Acting ’27). “I think CAC gives a pretty broad space for everyone to be part of something special.”

Opportunities to learn and participate don’t stop at the stage. Carolina Ayala (BA Theatre with an Emphasis in Acting ’28) joined the board as a first-year student after seeing last year’s CAC production of Little Women while still in high school. Though joining the board of a student group as a first-year student might be intimidating for some, Ayala said that CAC’s welcoming environment made it an easy decision.

“As a freshman, there’s so much here, it can be overwhelming,” she said. “But coming to this board with a really supportive community, getting to know more people and more about ISPs, has been great.”

She has been working as a marketing and outreach coordinator for the organization, which has taught her about promoting shows, working with social media, and sharpening her graphic design skills. “Joining CAC has pushed me to not only learn about the process of production, but also to hone my skills in graphic design, which is something I had an interest in in high school,” she said. “Now I get to do more of it here.”

Creating bonds and connections

In addition to providing low-pressure opportunities to create art at USC, CommUnity Arts Collective prides itself on providing a space to showcase the works of other student-artists. One way they do that is by producing original student-written theatre with an emphasis on lifting up marginalized voices.

This year’s staged reading of You Just Do, an original play by Isadora Swann (BA Theatre with an Emphasis in Acting and Non-Governmental Organizations & Social Change ‘25), focused on themes of chronic illness and cancer. In addition to organizing the reading, CommUnity Arts Collective extended invitations to patients being treated at Keck Medicine of USC, pre-med students, narrative medicine students, hospital clowns, and theatre students, encouraging a dialogue inspired by the reading.

“The goal of the reading was to bring these groups together to view and discuss the themes of the play,” explained Swann. “Questioning how we can work towards a more effective hospital system, how we can best support those with chronic illness around us, and how we deal with uncertainty in our lives.”

“We try to uplift marginalized stories,” added Serrano, pointing to last year’s production of Little Women, which was told from an LGBTQIA perspective, in addition to the reading of Swann’s play. “We try to uplift stories that are harder to see represented.”

In November, CommUnity Arts Collective hosted an arts festival at SDA’s new Stop Gap Theatre, featuring a variety of events and performances from student artists and organizations. The festival showcased groups like the a cappella group The Trojan Men, the USC Magic Association, and Voice Crack, a new organization on campus that produces musical theatre game shows. The festival also included a workshop by the organization’s SDA faculty advisor Paul Urcioli, who coached students from a variety of schools and majors on auditioning with a prepared monologue.

“We’re bringing other organizations into our community by giving them a space to perform,” said Serrano. “We want to continue to create these bonds and connections throughout campus, to really unite our artists and make us feel less separated.”

CommUnity Arts Collective plans to find new ways to deliver opportunities to make art for students on campus who might not otherwise consider making it, as well as host events to showcase artists at USC and build community between various organizations.

“I think our organization is so unique,” Serrano said. “Other ISPs are centered around making the best productions. Ours is centered around making the best opportunities.”

Ayala agreed, adding that the organization is providing opportunities to engage with making art even for students who may not be able to commit to doing it full-time. “It’s about having the practice of being in a production, to make sure you’re still working on your craft,” she said. “It’s important to keep practicing your craft, and we want to make that accessible to everyone.”