Lauren is committed to building the San Francisco and extended arts network (the whole system of interconnectedness and styles) and to encouraging public involvement with the arts. She is fascinated by art which comments on contemporary or historical social issues. A Californian to the core, she is seduced by other places and peoples. She studied Anthropology and Psychology at UC Santa Cruz and also worked with the Museum of Art & History, which strives to be an arts hub for the city and with the California Association of Museums (CAM) and one of its committees, the Green Museums Initiative. She is currently living in Oakland and working on a variety of projects: business development for the Emerging Arts Professionals/SFBA; development and fundraising for Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the East Bay, a hyper-local social services agency; Project Transit, a start-up focused on breaking gender and sexuality boundaries through art and awareness; the completion of a certificate in Museum Studies at JFK University; and the negotiation of all of this emergence and new opportunity! Lauren focuses a lot of her time on art rooted in social issues, plant cultivation, design and sewing, nature escapades, seat-of-the pants cooking, education, friendship and local community.