The Arts and Public Service

What role can artistic engagement play in imagining the future of public life? How might artistic research support public policy or strategies of social change? Join us as speakers from a variety of organizations come together to discuss current programs, projects, and collaborations, and explore the complex interplay between art and public service in the Bay Area. An opportunity for dialogue and an investigation into possibilities for resource sharing, this event also invites participants to identify and map upcoming activities that can occur at the intersections of art, design, architecture, activism, and government.

The Arts and Public Service is presented in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Art + Design Initiative and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. It marks the launch of Public Knowledge, SFMOMA’s new initiative with the San Francisco Public Library, as well as the publication of Public Servants: Art and the Crisis of the Common Good, edited by Johanna Burton, Shannon Jackson, and Dominic Willsdon.

Participants

Deena Chalabi (moderator), Barbara and Stephan Vermut Associate Curator of Public Dialogue, SFMOMA

Christian Frock, Founder, Invisible Venue; independent curator and writer

Shannon Jackson, associate vice chancellor for the arts and design; Cyrus and Michelle Hadidi Chair in the Humanities; professor, rhetoric, performance studies, UC Berkeley

Michelle Jeffers, community programs and partnerships, San Francisco Public Library

Ebony McKinney, program officer, San Francisco Arts Commission

Lucía Sanromán, director of visual arts, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Dominic Willsdon, Leanne and George Roberts Curator of Education and Public Practice, SFMOMA

The Arts and Public Service is presented in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Art + Design Initiative and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.