The Creative City
April 7, 2018
The intention of this session is to explore the utopian idea of the creative city, where artists and arts organizations are viewed as critical components of a healthy ecosystem. We’ll ask what role the arts and culture sector can play in “civic creativity” or “cultural strategy” that creates “social wealth” and helps shape public sentiment, city planning and policy.
Location: Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), 2727 Mariposa St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Skills Development Objectives:
- Cultivating practice of critical inquiry
- Asset / Network Mapping
- Adaptability / Group Communication and adjustmentsDeveloping sustainability practicesCultivating practice of critical inquiry
Agenda Outline: 9:30am – light breakfast, 10am – Program begins, 12:15pm – lunch provided, 4pm – day ends
- Settling into the space
- Reflection in small groups
- 11am-12:15pm Guest Speakers
- 12:15pm-1:15pm Lunch
- BAVC Tour
- Morning Debrief via tableau
- Project Team Time + Presentations
- Closing with intention
Guest Speakers
Tyra Fennell
Founding Director, Imprint.City
Tyra Fennell is founding director of Imprint.City, an organization seeking to activate industrial, underutilized spaces with art projects, encouraging community and economic development. Prior to launching Imprint.City, Tyra Fennell spent over five years developing and implementing programs for the San Francisco Arts Commission and is also credited for starting then SF49ers Vernon Davis’ Visual Arts Scholarship Fund, now the Vernon Davis Foundation for the Arts and 3rd on Third, an activation which continues to occur every third Friday in Bayview. Tyra currently serves on the board of the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) and Bayview Community Legal. She is also a resident of the Bayview Hunters Point and a Howard University graduate.
Shuai Chen
Found, Chieg Puzzle Officer, Gr8er Good Games
Shuai Chen is the Founder and Chief Puzzle Officer of Gr8er Good Games, a social enterprise that empowers people to do social-good through fun experiences such as scavenger hunts, races and games. Prior to Gr8er Good Games, Shuai was the Executive Director of SCRAP, a SF nonprofit institution. She is also currently an event coordinator with the SF Urban Adventure Club, a co-organizer of the No Ordinary Week (NOW!) Festival, a founder of Adult Recess, and a co-founder of Middle Circle, a nonprofit that fosters “church-like” community without religious dogma. Shuai has produced, coordinated or hosted over 700 events in the past 10 years, including educational summits, creativity workshops, field days, music concerts, cross-factional volunteer events, crafter-noons, fashion shows, augmented reality games, art exhibitions, DIY MBA workshops, Amazing Race-like challenges, corporate teambuilding games, escape rooms and more. She holds two degrees from MIT and one from Stanford in fields completely unrelated to everything she’s doing.
Readings & Assignments
- Oakland Cultural Affairs Manager sheds light on creative placemaking, placekeeping by Matthew Kredell
- Knight Cities: Civic innovators share ideas on shaping communities with Theaster Gates ( audio 30 min)
- Future Arts Forward interview with Nikiko Masumoto (video 7 min )
- Carmen Papalia: Mobility Device (video 9 min )
- The Creative City by Charles Landry p.11-31
Optional:
- Imprint City: Art, Artists To Redefine Traditional Spaces In SF’s Bayview Interview with Tyra Fennell (video)
- Access and the Arts, curriculum from Megan Friel
- Disability Justice Intersection with Racial Justice, and Queer/Trans Liberation by Lydia Brown (video)
- MAKING SENSE OF CULTURAL EQUITY: When visions of a better future diverge, how do we choose a path forward? by Clara Inés Schuhmacher, Katie Ingersoll, Fari Nzinga and Ian David Moss
