Talks: Art & Politics / 2007-2010

Primary Source

Shaping San Francisco hosts Public Talks on a variety of topics on Wednesday nights, about 18 times a year. One recurrent theme has been Art & Politics. This has mostly featured solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics. Here are the Talks we held at CounterPULSE at 1310 Mission Street in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.


October 27, 2010

A Staged Reading of Money, a WPA Comedy from 1937

Money: A Comedy with Music is a satiric portrayal of an economically troubled society in which an American banker tries to explain how money works. The new play written in 2010 in San Francisco moves from Brazil to New York, from scenes of wealth to scenes of bankruptcy, accompanied by cabaret songs, chicanery, and financial chaos. Indebted to the Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project from the 1930s, Money incorporates puppetry, film clips, news headlines, music, circus, and more as production elements explore ideas about capitalism, supply and demand, and the burning question of happiness. The cast of characters includes such crazy and noted celebrities as Stalin and Hitler, Huey Long, and F.D.R., along with a seventeenth-century Elizabethan and a W.C. Fields-like banker. Presented by the SFSU Drama Department.

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September 22, 2010

Art & Politics: RIGO

Rigo 95, Rigo 23, Rigo Rigo Rigo! He’ll be here to give us a taste of his amazing work, from huge mosaics and building-size murals, street sign satires, and commemorative sculptures. Rigo is one of the giants of our local scene, who also happens to be an international star, and yet is one of the most relaxed people you’ll ever meet. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

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May 19, 2010

History of San Francisco's Carnaval

Willy Lizarraga gives an incredible one-man performance of the history of San Francisco's Carnaval. Fast-changing hats and voices, accompany a slide show of historic images from Lou Dematteis and others of those early days.

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March 10, 2010

Socially Engaged Printmaking Today

A dozen political print and poster makers discuss Josh MacPhee's new book Paper Politics, as well as the current state of political graphics making: What are we doing? Why? And is it working? Short presentations by a couple of the artists followed by a large roundtable discussion with audience participation. Co-presented by PM Press.

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February 17, 2010

New Emerging Political Artists: Art & Politics Featuring Melanie Cervantes and Jesus Barraza

Melanie Cervantes has made a life long commitment to being an artist for the people. Trained by library books, family, peers, and experimentation, she produces her work in pen and ink, acrylic, screenprinting, embroidery, fiber arts, and spraypainted stencils. Melanie infuses her indigenous internationalist worldview, spirituality, and politics into all her art. She follows the tradition of such artists as Juana Alicia, Malaquias Montoya, Judy Baca, Emory Douglas, Mujeres Muralistas, and Diego Rivera.

Jesus Barraza is an activist printmaker and digital artist based in San Leandro, California. Using bold colors and high contrast images his prints reflect both his local and global community and their resistance in a struggle to create a new world. Barraza’s work continues the tradition of graphic art in the spirit of Jose Gaudalupe Posada, OSPAAAL, and Juan R. Fuentes. In 1998 Barraza was a co-founder of ten12, a collective of digital artists. He has also worked as Graphic Designer for the Mission Cultural Center/Mission Grafica, where Calixto Robles, Juan R. Fuentes, and Michael Roman mentored Barraza in various screen printing methods. In 2003, he co-founded the Taller Tupac Amaru printing studio.

This is part of a series of artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

<iframe src="https://www.archive.org/embed/ArtPoliticsZacharyKazaresMelindaCervantesJesusBarraza" width="411" height="30" frameborder="0"></iframe>


January 20, 2010

Patricia Rodriguez: Art & Politics

Patricia Rodriguez has been involved in San Francisco’s public art movement as an original member of Mujeres Muralistas and as an anchor from her home on Balmy Alley during the 1970s and 1980s to that remarkable flowering of public art, of which she was a major participant. She’s a window into the Chicano art and politics of decades past but also the present! This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

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December 9, 2009

Keith Hennessy: Art & Politics

Twenty years ago, in 1988/89, Keith Hennessy created Saliva, an interdisciplinary dance performance-ritual under a freeway in downtown San Francisco. Deep within the rage and grief of the AIDS crisis, Hennessy performed a ritualistic reclamation of the body, the queer male body, as holy. Video excerpts, live performance, and special guests Kirk Read, Philip Huang join the conversation. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

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November 18, 2009

Philippines: Immigration Politics and the Body

What do people really know about the history and culture of the Philippines? How does a history fraught with war, Spanish colonization, American imperialism, historical erasure, and racism affect the ways Filipinos perceive and experience the body? Aimee Suzara, founder of the Pagbabalik Project and CounterPULSE Performing Diaspora artist, discusses the experiences of women and effects of diaspora on them, colonization/decolonization and creation of cultural forms and transnational and shifting identities, and the political economic relationships historically and now between the Philippines and US. Aimee Espiritu, visual artist, designer, and educator and Jorge Emmanuel, author-activist join in to consider what it means to decolonize through art and literature. Presented in conjunction with CounterPULSE's Performing Diaspora Program.

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September 23, 2009

From India to the Bay Area: Culture and Economy

Devendra Sharma, playwright and CounterPULSE Performing Diaspora artist, and Jaysi Chander, a physician and kathak dancer/tabla player, poet, and activist, in conversation on a variety of issues surrounding the Bay Area Indian community. Topics include: immigration politics, women in forced marriage, Indian Invitro industry, the political economy of Silicon Valley and Indian outsourcing industries. Presented in conjunction with CounterPULSE's Performing Diaspora Program.

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September 16, 2009

Conscious Youth Media Crew: Art & Politics

Meet the Bay Area's next generation of filmmakers with a screening of selected short films: "No Justice No Peace" by Chantal Renous about the Oscar Grant BART shooting; "Hustla" by Michelle Sieng is a story of a young girl struggling with her attraction to the streets; in "A Choice of Weapons" CYMC 2009 examines the Bayview's redevelopment plan; "Grind for the Green" is an exploration by the CYMC Summer Youth Crew of who's really going green in the 'hood. This is part of a series of artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

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May 27, 2009

Susan Greene: Art & Politics

Susan Greene - a public artist, activist, educator, and clinical psychologist - has an extensive background in community mural painting, teaches art in the San Francisco County jail, and is founder of the Break the Silence Mural Project, a 4-story high community mural project between Americans, American Jews, and Palestinian youth and artists in the Dheisheh Refugee Camp in occupied Palestine. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

<iframe src="https://www.archive.org/embed/SusanGreeneArtPolitics" width="411" height="30" frameborder="0"></iframe>


April 15, 2009

Russell Howze: Art & Politics

With dynamically illustrated perspectives across the art form of stencils, hundreds of photographs and numerous essays have been curated by StencilArchive.org’s founder, Russell Howze in Stencil Nation. This great contribution builds upon published works to give the most extensive and up-to-date history of stencil art, as well as how-to tips from the artists. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

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March 18, 2009

Jet Martinez: Art & Politics

San Francisco-based muralist Jet Martinez hails from Mexico originally, and he paints magical realist images of nature, incorporating metallic paints and repetitive geometric patterns (that in turn evoke both pre-industrial textiles and industrially homogenous designs) with natural forms from trees, leaves, and more. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

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February 18, 2009

Doug Minkler: Art & Politics

Doug Minkler was one of the first political artists to embrace the Mac and he’s been making scathing collages and edgy, often hilarious posters for several decades. Learn how he’s kept himself going all these years! This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

<iframe src="https://www.archive.org/embed/ArtPoliticsDougMinkler" width="411" height="30" frameborder="0"></iframe>


October 8, 2008

San Francisco Print Collective: Art & Politics

The San Francisco Print Collective has been postering striking silk-screened images on the City’s walls for years, speaking to politics, police, immigration, and much more. This is part of a series of artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

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September 10, 2008

Art as Intervention

Dr. Milton Rand Kalman of the Billboard Liberation Front and Xago Jaurez and Rosa Gonzales of headRush/hip-hop theater highlight creative works that disrupt mundane expectations of daily life as critique or education such as guerrilla art, street installations, and flash mobs and talk about possibilities for youth creative empowerment. This talk was part of Expo for Independent Arts (www.artsandmedia.net/expo/) and co-presented by Independent Arts & Media

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March 19, 2008

Favianna Rodriguez: Art & Politics

Favianna Rodriguez has been making art to make change for years. She presents remarkable posters, illustrations, stickers, and more. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

<iframe src="https://www.archive.org/embed/ArtPoliticsFaviannaRodriguez" width="411" height="30" frameborder="0"></iframe>


February 20, 2008

Eric Drooker: Art & Politics

Eric Drooker’s art has provided iconic imagery for countless political initiatives, as well as showing up on covers of the New Yorker, and in a number of gorgeous graphic novels. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.


January 16, 2008

Andrew Schoultz: Art & Politics

Andrew Schoultz’s distinctive murals full of strange animals, twisting buildings, and floating birdhouses caught the angst of modern life. Lately he’s gone to a surrealistic sea. Hear him describe this shift. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

<iframe src="https://www.archive.org/embed/ArtPoliticsAndrewSchoultz" width="411" height="30" frameborder="0"></iframe>


October 17, 2007

Hugh D’Andrade: Art & Politics

San Francisco artist Hugh D'Andrade presents a slideshow of his diverse body of work, ranging from rock posters to anti-war flyers to original paintings, and talks about the ways his politics have informed his art— and vice versa. This is part of a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

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September 19, 2007

Mona Caron: Art & Politics

Mona Caron presents a slide show of her famous Bay Area and Peninsula murals and many other illustrated works, from the Duboce Bikeway mural to her Critical Mass poster celebrating 10 years of the ride to her recent work in Noe Valley. She talks about the politics of her art, and her ideas about the relationship of art and politics. This is the first in a series of solo artists giving a behind the scenes and in depth look at what inspires them in the interrelationship between art and politics.

<iframe src="https://www.archive.org/embed/ArtPoliticsMonaCaron" width="411" height="30" frameborder="0"></iframe>


September 12, 2007

Grant Funding for the Arts in San Francisco: A Discussion

San San Wong of the SF Arts Commission, John Killacky of the SF Foundation, Frances Phillips of the Walter & Elise Haas Sr. Foundation, Jessica Robinson of CounterPULSE, Colleen Marlow of Art Head, and Krissy Keefer of Dance Mission discuss the question, “$56 million a year and Where’s The Art?” or where all the big money spent on the arts in San Francisco is going. From city arts entitlements to grantmaking by private foundations, funders struggle to be fair, while local artists and arts organizations are torn between their creative mission and market forces. This event was co-presented by Independent Arts & Media as part of the annual Expo for the Artist and Musician.

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