Press Release - This Place Called Poetry
October 20th, 2008 by AdminFor Immediate Release
San Francisco, October 20, 2008
Media Contacts:
Janet Heller, WritersCorps Manager, 415-252-4655, janet.heller@sfgov.org
Meg Shiffler, SFAC Gallery Director, 415-252-2568, meg.shiffler@sfgov.org
Press preview by appointment. Photos available upon request.
This Place Called Poetry
WritersCorps 15th Anniversary Exhibition
Presented by the SFAC Gallery and WritersCorps
Dates: November 7, 2008 – January 24, 2009
Reception: Thursday, November 13, 2008, 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Location: SFAC Gallery, 401 Van Ness Ave (at McAllister), San Francisco, CA
Hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 12pm – 5pm
Lead Artists
Katharine Gin and Kjell Nordeson
Featured Poets
Jorge Aburto, Robin Black, Antonio Caceres, Dubb, Eric Foster, Shahid Minapara, Antoinette Osborne, Indiana Pehlivanova, Sandra Pulido, Lateefah Simon, and Annie Yu.
What happens when poetry comes into your life? Can poems make a difference? In celebration of the 15th anniversary of WritersCorps, the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery presents This Place Called Poetry, a multimedia exhibition about young people finding and claiming their place.
Multimedia artist Katharine Gin and sound artist Kjell Nordeson lead this installation along with 11 young San Francisco writers who developed their poetic voices in WritersCorps, a creative writing program serving urban youth. Since its inception in 1994, WritersCorps has helped more than 15,000 young people from neighborhoods throughout San Francisco improve their literacy ― and inspire them to learn.
For the past year, Gin and Nordeson worked with these 11 writers to create a bold collection of short film and audio portraits. These portraits introduce visitors to an eclectic group of San Francisco poets, diverse in their artistic visions and life experiences, but connected by their love of poetry and their belief in art’s transformative ability. Visitors can view short films, listen to audio recordings, respond to writing prompts, and even exhibit their own writing.
Sponsored locally by the San Francisco Arts Commission, WritersCorps ― with additional chapters in the Bronx and Washington, D.C. ― places professional writers into communities often underserved by the arts. WritersCorps’ in-depth programs provide rich opportunities for thousands of young people whose voices are often shut out and disenfranchised from mainstream society’s traditional media and culture.
WritersCorps 15th Anniversary Events:
This Place Called Poetry Opening Reception
November 13, 5:30-7:30 pm
San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
401 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco
Free
City Arts and Lectures Benefit for WritersCorps with Sherman Alexie
VIP Reception and Reading
December 1
6:00 pm VIP Reception / 8:00 pm Reading
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco
$100 for VIP Reception with Sherman Alexie / $20 for Reading only
About the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
Located in the heart of San Francisco’s Civic Center, the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery makes contemporary art accessible to broad audiences through curated exhibitions that both reflect our regional diversity and position Bay Area visual art production within an international contemporary art landscape. By commissioning new works, collaborating with arts and community organizations and supporting artist’s projects, the SFAC Gallery’s programs provide new and challenging opportunities for contemporary art to engage with a civic dialogue.
WritersCorps, now in its 15th year as a project of the San Francisco Arts Commission, places professional writers in community settings to teach creative writing to youth. Since its inception in 1994, the program has helped more than 15,000 young people from neighborhoods throughout San Francisco improve their literacy and inspire them to learn. The program is part of a national alliance with sites in the Bronx and Washington, D.C., whose shared vision is to transform and strengthen individuals and communities using the written word.
About the San Francisco Arts Commission
The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) is the City agency that champions the arts in San Francisco. We believe that a creative cultural environment is essential to the City’s well-being. Established by charter in 1932, SFAC programs integrate the arts into all aspects of City life. Programs include: Civic Art Collection, Civic Design Review, Community Arts & Education, Cultural Equity Grants, Public Art, SFAC Gallery, Street Artists Licensing, and the Summer in the City Concert Series. The agency’s core values are committed to the principle that all residents have equal access to arts experiences in all disciplines, that programs are provided comprehensively and evenly throughout the City, and that they are innovative and of the highest quality.
For film trailer, audio portraits and more, visit This Place Called Poetry main event page.
