Elissa Auther, art historian and independent curator
Summer Brenner, poet and novelist
Amy Franceschini, artist
Allison Smith, artist
Examining intersections of art-making and war efforts from the “trench art” practices of World War I to the Art and Skills Service program designed by SFMOMA and the Red Cross for World War II GIs, artist Allison Smith hosts making events that reflect on our own military conflicts and how we envision each American’s role in “the war effort.”
In this roundtable discussion, we turn to the homefront, examining how the public has been motivated to great acts of individual and communal “making.” Summer Brenner discusses her community projects in Richmond that reveal how the Bay Area shifted and served the larger war effort of the 1940s, while Smith discusses her research into the SFMOMA Arts & Skills Service program. Amy Franceschini and Elissa Auther respond to these historical accounts and open up an evening-wide discussion of such homefront activities today.