Playwright, Executive Join CalArts Trustees

Luis Valdez, who founded the theater group El Teatro Campesino in 1965 and later gained fame as the writer-director of the hit movie “La Bamba,” has been named as one of two new trustees at CalArts in Valencia.

Valdez’s “Zoot Suit” was the first play by a Latino writer to be presented on Broadway. He joins an arts school whose theater alumni include such eclectic actors as Ed Harris, Laraine Newman and Pee-wee Herman.

Los Angeles businessman Lawrence J. Ramer was also added. Ramer is on the board of governors for the Music Center and the board of directors for the Non-Traditional Casting Project in New York.