April 29–May 1, 2016
Preconference programming: April 28
Oakland Museum of California
1000 Oak St.
Oakland, CA 94607
openengagement.info
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Open Engagement (OE) is an annual, itinerant, artist-led conference dedicated to expanding the dialogue around and creating a site of care for the field of socially engaged art. Passes to Open Engagement 2016 — POWER are available now.
The 8th OE conference will take place April 29 through May 1, hosted by the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) and additional sites throughout the Bay Area. OE will bring together hundreds of artists, activists, educators, students, institutions, and thinkers to explore this year’s theme of “POWER”, as well as take stock of the field of socially engaged art and practice. Open Engagement is proud to welcome iconic political activist and scholar Angela Davis, and renowned feminist artist, educator and writer, Suzanne Lacy as this year’s keynote speakers.
“Power is the ability to make desired results happen. OE believes in the genius of the many so we invite presenters and attendees to define what power means for themselves as individuals and communities.” –René de Guzman, OE 2016 Curator
OE 2016 will highlight the work of over 225 local, national, and international presenters. In addition to a full weekend of programming onsite at OMCA, OE will host Thursday pre-conference sessions at California College of the Arts (CCA),UC Berkeley’s Arts Research Center, and Southern Exposure (SoEX), as well as feature an expanded conference model on Friday including the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Kala Art Institute, Birdhouse Art Collective / Oakland Omni Commons, The Exploratorium, The Center for Art + Public Life at CCA, San Francisco Art Institute, and SoEX. OE presenters will be be a central focus of OMCA’s popular Friday Nights @ OMCA event, which will serve as the opening party for the conference this year.
In preparation for the 2016 conference, OE has created A Reader on POWER.
This active blog features didactic responses from a wide range of contributors, and provides a designated space to share ideas, provoke questions, and focus interests leading up to the conference.
Founded in 2007, OE has evolved into a vital hub for practitioners and audiences of socially engaged art to assemble. OE is the only conference on this subject of this scale that operates on an inclusive open call model, that supports emerging and established artists, and collaborates closely with national institutions to further the networks of support for socially engaged art. OE works to honor multiple ways of engaging in dialogue and to build up the community surrounding socially engaged art. Open Engagement is ADA and family welcoming.
OE is graciously shaped and supported by the Open Engagement National Consortium. The organizations in the consortium, Oakland Museum of California, California College of the Arts, UIC School of Art & Art History, Queens Museum and A Blade of Grass, are committed to working alongside the OE core team to realize the 2016 through 2018 conferences: 2016’s POWER in Oakland, 2017’s JUSTICE in Chicago, and 2018’s SUSTAINABILITY in New York, which will mark the 10th year of Open Engagement. The 2016 Angela Davis lecture is generously supported by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Full details about OE programming will be available online throughout February. For more information, passes, and event updates, visit OE online.
