San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
401 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
t: 415.554.6080
f: 415.554.6093
www.sfartscommission.org/gallery

The San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery’s Art at City Hall program and the International Museum of Women present a new exhibition at San Francisco City Hall on women and the global economy

Picturing Power & Potential
A juried exhibition featuring 50 photographic works by artists across the globe.

June 15 – September 4, 2010
Opening Reception: Tuesday, June 15, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Ground Floor, San Francisco City Hall
Opens online at www.imow.org on June 15

The San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) Gallery’s Art at City Hall program has teamed up with the International Museum of Women (IMOW) to coordinate and present a large-scale juried photo exhibition at San Francisco City Hall and online at the IMOW web site. Over 50 extraordinary and moving works by artists across the globe celebrate women as economic participants and agents of change. Picturing Power & Potential is project of Economica: Women and the Global Economy, an extensive and multi-faceted online exhibition presented by IMOW.

The jury reviewed works by 150 artists who responded to an international call for submissions. In the end twenty artists were selected: six artists from the Bay Area, four additional US artists, and artists from Japan, Kenya, Brazil, The Netherlands, China, India, Iran and Canada. The subject matter ranges from teen community leaders in Richmond, CA to entrepreneurs in Ghana. And from opera singers in Brazil to seaweed farmers in Zanzibar.

SFAC Gallery Director Meg Shiffler says, “This partnership has yielded one of the most diverse and stunning photo exhibitions we’ve ever created for City Hall. The artists have invested in their various subject matters and emerged with images that both inspire and take your breath away.

“These photographs speak to the breadth of experience women have as participants in the global economy,” notes IMOW Executive Director, Clare Winterton. “The exhibition shows that women are making incredible strides as powerful, economic change-agents, but that there are still significant challenges to be faced and more potential for growth than ever before.”

The exhibition is divided into two distinct sections: ten artists exhibiting multiple images from large bodies of work, alongside a single remarkable portrait from ten more artists. Note that we will be exhibiting seven images from Joanna Lipper’s Seaweed Farmers, nominated for a Prix Pictet award. Launched in 2008, the Prix Pictet is the world’s first prize dedicated to photography and sustainability. (see her work at here)

Artists: Anne Hamersky (USA), Ariko Inaoka (Japan), Alex Kamweru (Kenya), Brenda Paik Sunoo (USA), Dana Whitaker (USA), Elizabeth Colton (USA), Isabela Senatore (Brazil), Jennifer Samuel (USA), Joanna Lipper (USA), Margaret Silverman (USA), Mark Tuschman (USA), Mathilde Jansen (The Netherlands), Mehran Afshar Naderi (Iran), Michelle McCarron (USA), Miranda Mimi Kuo-Deemer (China),  Pattabi Raman (India), Rocio Russo (USA), Samyukta Lakshmi (India), Sanaz Mazinani (Canada), and Selvaprakash Lakshmanan (India).

Jurors: Catherine King (IMOW), Jasmina Bojic (United Nations Association Film Festival), Linda Connor (Artist/Curator/Educator), Meg Shiffler (SFAC Gallery)

Media contacts:
SFAC Gallery: Meg Shiffler, 415.252.2568 or meg.shiffler@sfgov.org
IMOW: Catherine King, 415.543.4669, ext. 29 or cking@imow.org
Photographs available upon request.

Exhibition Locations:

San Francisco City Hall, ground floor
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102
Monday – Friday, 8am- 8pm, Free

and online at imow.org

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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. The SFAC Gallery was founded in 1970 and is the exhibitions program of the San Francisco Arts Commission, the arts agency of the City and County of San Francisco.

About the San Francisco Arts Commission
The San Francisco Arts Commission 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. Our programs integrate the arts into all aspects of City life. The Commission was established by charter in 1932 (Charter sections 5.103 and 16.106).

About the International Museum of Women
The International Museum of Women–www.imow.org- is an innovative social change museum that inspires global action, connects people across borders and transforms hearts and minds.  We amplify the voices of women worldwide through global online exhibitions, history, the arts and cultural programs.

As a virtual museum, we use new technology and innovative multimedia presentations to inspire and connect a global audience.  Our work educates, creates dialogue and fuels action for women’s equity and empowerment. Our current online exhibition, Economica: Women and the Global Economy, showcases women’s diverse roles as economic change-agents, entrepreneurs, business leaders, caregivers, workers and investors.  Economica asks powerful and provocative questions on critical economic topics from philanthropy to macro-economy.