Intersection for the Arts - Gallery Exhibit

somewhere in advance of nowhere*:
youth, imagination and transformation
by Evan Bissell
September 26-November 22 | Free
Gallery Hours: Wednesdays-Saturdays | 12-5pm
Opening Reception: Friday, September 26 | 6-9pm

A new installation and public art project led by artist and youth educator Evan Bissell combines his painting and artistic vision with multiple writing, arts education, and creative community projects with Bay Area Youth. Bissell's vibrant portraits, created in collaboration with the young people he works with, are both at Intersection as well as
at public locales throughout San Francisco. Part of a larger Arts Commission funded "Civic Life Project," this project also includes public art, youth based workshops and civic engagement opportunities celebrating the importance and impact of writing, arts education and creative community in individual and social transformation.

Public Portraits | Events | Workshops for Youth | Workshop for Educators

Public Portraits
A series of 18 painted portraits of spoken word poets, ages 15-20, from the Bay Area who work for Youth Speaks. The portraits, installed in sites suggested by each poet, include quotes chosen by the poets from their thoughts on the importance of writing and creativity and audio recordings of their poems. To hear the poets, call; 415-200-4587 x 10-27. We will provide take-away maps of where the portraits are located, (designed by Susu Attar of Third Space productions)

Simone
Buen Dia Family School (est. 1977)
589 Guerrero Street (near 18th Street)
San Francisco CA 94110
Mission District

Simone chose this site because she went to Buen Dia Family School (www.bdsf.org), a preschool for children age three to five. The preschool's current Director there has known Simone as a little kid, when she was friends with her own son.

Luara
S.H. Frank Leathercraft
3075 17th Street (portrait around the corner on Folsom Street)
Mission District
San Francisco CA 94110

Luara chose this site because it was near the old offices of Youth Speaks,
when it was located in the Box Factory complex at 2169 Folsom Street

Tino
Corner of 7th Street and Folsom Street (portrait across the street from Oil Can Henry's)
SOMA
San Francisco CA 94103

Tino chose this site because he hangs around the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco a lot with his friends, and sometimes plays basketball at the basketball court a half block away.

Eugeniya
15 West Portal Avenue (near Ulloa Street, on small alleyway on the side of the West Portal Medical-Dental Building)
West Portal neighborhood
San Francisco CA 94127

Eugeniya chose this site because she lives in the neighborhood.

Terry
San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum
Intersection of Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr. & Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco CA 94118

Terry chose this site because of the openness of Golden Gate Park, and the environment in which people from all walks of life can meet each other and oftentimes talk and engage with each other.

Brandon
Cohen Alley (next to 509 Ellis Street)
Between Leavenworth and Hyde Streets, between Ellis and Eddy Streets
Tenderloin District
San Francisco CA 94109

Brandon chose this site because as a member of SPOKES with Youth Speaks, he coordinated the "Final Friday" monthly open mics that are held at the Luggage Store Gallery, a non-profit alternative arts center near Market and 6th Street. He developed a good relationship with the folks at The Luggage Store. One of the Luggage Store's other sites is 509 Ellis Street, as well as the adjacent Cohen Alley.

Ebony & Robin
Lilly's BBQ (AKA Da' Pitt BBQ)
705 Divisadero St (between Fulton St & Grove St)
Western Addition
San Francisco CA 94117

Robin chose this site because his good friend who taught him to write creatively lives just a block away from the restaurant. The owner of the restaurant also saw the promotional postcard for the project, and really liked Ebony's portrait, and asked if her portrait could also be installed on the restaurant's wall.

Intersection's Open Process Series emphasizes the infinite possibilities that exist within any creative process. This season's series examines youth, imagination and transformation-themes running through many of the projects that make up our fall season which includes youth and educator workshops, panels, civic engagement projects and performances aimed at fostering a creative community and cultivating creativity and imagination. Below are workshops for youth and educators aimed at opening up the creative dialogue. All workshops are open to youth ages 13-23 and are FREE. The Collaborative Aesthetics Workshop is open to adults and is also FREE. The art that results from these workshops will be incorporated into Intersection's Gallery and Theatre programs. To register for a workshop or for more information, please visit www.theintersection.org or call (415) 626-2787.

The exhibition offers a number of opportunities for people to collaborate and contribute, including a collaborative wall drawing where visitors can work with oil pastels on an image about imagination and art education. In another area, visitors can create portraits of people who have been educators and/or broadened their imagination. These portraits will be framed and displayed as part of the evolving exhibition. We are also working on an audio interactive station where visitors can respond to a series of questions about art, education and imagination. Their responses will be recorded and played back through an evolving mix that is broadcast in the stairwell leading up to the gallery. We are also including a reading station with a library featuring books on education, art and imagination. While these books are only available to audiences while in the gallery, we will also provide lists of recommended reading. The station will also feature a resource guide (created by participants in Intersection's Arts Leadership Internship Program) featuring over 100 low cost and no cost art classes available this fall to Bay Area youth.

Events

		Youth, Imagination and Transformation Tuesday October 7 \| $5–$15 (18 & under Free) \| 7pm This Open Process event will highlight successful models and projects that explore the role of the imagination for personal and social transformation. This event includes performances, readings and interactive exercises and features performances from the Hybrid Project in association with Campo Santo’s Angry Black White Boy, ESP’s After All, spoken word and poetry by Youth Speaks SPOKES, featured in the gallery exhibit somewhere in advance of nowhere* and an interactive art exercise with internationally recognized poet, performer and activist, Jason Mateo of Youth Speaks. Designed to share work as it is being shaped and encourage new perspectives and ideas, the Open Processseries helps to facilitate community building and democratizeand enhance the artistic experience. click here for tickets

		Transitions BAVC’s Next Generation Youth Videos Tuesday October 14 \| $5–$15 (18 & under Free) \| 7pm Featuring works produced in Bay Area Video Coalition’s (BAVC) San Francisco based Digital Pathways Video Program and Oakland based Factory Video Program, this screening will showcase youth using art to document personal transformation and social transformation. These youth fi lmmakers use their cinematic lenses to document what matters to them in the world. At the heart of BAVC’s youth programming is the belief that when given the chance of expressing themselves through digital media, young people become engaged makers of media and community members. click here for tickets

		Art as Education Tuesday November 11 \| $5–$15 (18 & under Free) \| 7pm This Open Process features a panel discussion with local arts educators discussing the role and experiences of the educator in arts education. Join us as arts educators from around the Bay Area share their perspectives and stories, challenges, practices and inspirations as they foster environments for self-expression and critical refl ection among today’s youth. This evening will also feature youth graduates from the Bay Area Video Coalition’s (BAVC) Audio Production Class, as well as artists and educators Evan Bissell and Favianna Rodriguez. click here for tickets
Worskshops

		Linocut Workshop with celebrated printmaker, digital artist, and activist Favianna Rodriguez August 31 & September 6 \| 11am-2pm \| FREE (open to ages 13-23) In this workshop, participants will learn the historical context of printmaking as agit prop along with practice in the techniques needed to produce prints without studio facilities or expensive specialized equipment. We will produce one-of-a-kind hand made prints. *Students pre-selected from Community Partner organizations.

		Portrait of a… Workshop with Youth Speaks Poet and Mentor Lauren Whitehead September 10 & 17 \| 4pm-6pm \| FREE (open to ages 13-23) Lauren Whitehead introduces young poets to the craft of painting a picture with words. We will create poems that depict, in detail, people who have changed our lives. Come with a pen, paper and an actual picture of someone you have loved, cherished, missed, or adored. We will incorporate these into framed paper, as portraits to be displayed in the gallery space.

		Girls on the Mic Workshop by GirlSource (Community Partner GirlSource has been providing meaningful employment and leadership opportunities for low-income, high-school-age girls in San Francisco since 1998.) October 1-November 19 \| 4pm-6pm \| FREE (open to ages 13-23) What matters to you most in your neighborhood and world? This unique writing workshop for young women will combine poetry and performance with social justice education. Young women who successfully complete this eight week spoken word workshop will be part of a performance at Intersection for the Arts in November 2008. register for this workshop here

		Creating a Portrait Workshop with public school health educator and artist Mahader Tesfai October 7 \| 4pm-6pm \| FREE (open to ages 13-23) Raised in the San Francisco Bay Area to parents who fought in the struggle for Eritrean independence, Tesfai grew up with a constant recognition of his roots. In this workshops, participants will use a variety of mediums to create dynamic portraits of people who have inspired or influenced their lives. register for this workshop here

		The Unclosed Mind Workshop with Rapper, Artist, Poet, Activist and Educator Daniel Gray-Kontar October 20 \| 4pm-6pm \| FREE (open to ages 13-23) Performers and writers in this workshop unite to take their individual creativity and pieces to the next level as they work in collaboration with each other towards a group performance. Bring a piece that you are willing to continue to work with and make it grow along with the ideas, writings and talents of other poets and performers. Pieces made during this workshop will have the opportunity to be performed at an Intersection event. register for your workshop here

		Teen Hip Hop Dance Workshop by Destiny Arts Center Community Partner Organization, DESTINY (De-Escalation Skills Training Inspiring Nonviolence in Youth) Arts Center exists to end isolation, prejudice and violence in the lives of young people. October 28 \| 4pm-6pm \| FREE (open to ages 13-23) This dance class will challenge both beginning and advanced performers and encourage them to develop their own personal style. register for this workshop here

		Collaborative Aesthetics Workshop with celebrated public artist Brett Cook November 5 \| 7pm-9pm \| FREE (for artists and educators) Brett Cook will facilitate a dialogue on the role of creative collaborative processes in building community by looking at the work of artists engaged in practices that produce extraordinary personal and social transformation. With nearly twenty years experience in making public work through a variety of participatory models, Brett will showcase a shift from conceptions of visual art as object and/or entertainment driven to also include progressive educational pedagogy, contemplative theory, and an emphasis on collective humane values. register for this workshop here

		Two Sides One Picture Writing Workshop with Writer, Spoken Word Artist, and Youth Speaks Mentor Chinaka Hodge November 18 \| 4pm-6pm \| FREE (open to ages 13-23) Participants will create portraits of people who have been models and teachers in their lives. The workshop will look more closely at the subtleties of the private vs public of the people that we respect, who are the people we imagine them to be? Who are we by what we choose to see in them? register for this workshop here

* from poet Jayne Cortez's 1996 book Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere

home