Actor/photographer/director Dennis Hopper is widely recognized as one of the singular creative figures of American Cinema. The USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA), which recently became home to a collection of the actor’s photographs and memorabilia, honored Hopper on October 10th with a reception to mark the public opening of the exhibition Part of Being An Artist: The Dennis Hopper Collection, Selected Works and Ephemera. The event was co-hosted by Visions and Voices, the initiative to bring dynamic arts events to the USC campus. The reception was followed by a screening of Apocalypse, Now which features one of Hopper’s most memorable performances.

SCA Dean Elizabeth Daley thanked the actor’s oldest daughter Marin Hopper, who was in attendance. She said Hopper was an icon to the School’s students and faculty.”His work is enduringly popular, a style of filmmaking that he pioneered with Easy Rider has inspired generations of students and filmmakers and certainly many of the students at SCA today,” said Daley. “In many ways, that style is as popular today as it was in 1969. And of course, Hopper is a favorite of film historians and scholars everywhere."

Marin Hopper said her father would be proud of the exhibition and the attention his work was receiving. "This is such a wonderful night and such a big honor. I know my father would be so proud to be a part of tonight and to be celebrated as an actor, director, and also the artist and photographer that he was so proud of being," she said. Glen Mazzara, the writer and showrunner of the Starz show Crash, spoke about working with Hopper on the 2008 series and showed a scene from the show that had never been aired. He said he had been honored to work with Hopper. “He taught me a lot about how to be an artist, how to take chances. He was just fantastic,” said Mazzara. “No matter how hard it was for him to do some of the scenes—it was very dense dialogue and we had a scene where he had to run around in the dessert in a bathrobe and slippers—and he never complained once. This was the game. This was the art, and he was totally up for it."

The exhibition Part of Being An Artist will be will be on view and open to the public through Wednesday, November 26, from 3-7 PM in the SCA Gallery. It features black and white photographs which Hopper took between 1961 and 67 featuring a range of subjects—from Hollywood actors like Paul Newman, artists like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns, to the bullfights in Mexico to events of the Civil Rights Movement.

A screening series of Hopper’s movies, which began with Easy Rider on September 12, will also continue at the School, with Blue Velvet on Wednesday October 15 at 7 p.m. and The Last Movie on Friday, November 14, 7 p.m.

For more information, please visit: http://web-app.usc.edu/web/ecal/event/detail/910075?calendar_id=113