WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.300 align:middle line:84% So as everybody might know, I am not a literary artist. 00:00:03.300 --> 00:00:05.970 align:middle line:84% I am based in the visual arts community. 00:00:05.970 --> 00:00:07.860 align:middle line:84% I work currently in Portland, Oregon 00:00:07.860 --> 00:00:10.500 align:middle line:84% for Portland State University in the School of Art and Design. 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:12.660 align:middle line:84% And my practice is a combination of studio 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:16.860 align:middle line:84% based work around identity and the politics of difference, 00:00:16.860 --> 00:00:20.490 align:middle line:84% and also socially engaged work that is more about engaging 00:00:20.490 --> 00:00:22.265 align:middle line:90% with a larger public. 00:00:22.265 --> 00:00:23.640 align:middle line:84% So what I'd like to share tonight 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:26.070 align:middle line:84% for just a few minutes, what's scrolling behind 00:00:26.070 --> 00:00:29.380 align:middle line:84% you are some images from my studio based practice. 00:00:29.380 --> 00:00:31.800 align:middle line:84% This is a piece called How Many Licks, 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:35.820 align:middle line:84% and I can't remember which thousands, which sub number 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:37.290 align:middle line:90% goes along with it. 00:00:37.290 --> 00:00:39.900 align:middle line:84% But this is sculpture and installation based work, 00:00:39.900 --> 00:00:44.910 align:middle line:84% and it's a series of about 156 lollipops 00:00:44.910 --> 00:00:46.530 align:middle line:84% that-- they're actual candy that are 00:00:46.530 --> 00:00:48.990 align:middle line:84% filled with little balls of my own hair. 00:00:48.990 --> 00:00:50.940 align:middle line:84% And so this would be an installation presented 00:00:50.940 --> 00:00:54.510 align:middle line:84% in a gallery and kind of, oh, you know, postmodern 00:00:54.510 --> 00:00:56.363 align:middle line:90% grids, things of that nature. 00:00:56.363 --> 00:00:57.780 align:middle line:84% And so these are some of the ideas 00:00:57.780 --> 00:01:01.080 align:middle line:84% that I'm thinking about in terms of my work in physical terms. 00:01:01.080 --> 00:01:03.870 align:middle line:84% But a lot of the questions that have arisen for me 00:01:03.870 --> 00:01:06.450 align:middle line:84% during thinking its presence and over the past three years-- 00:01:06.450 --> 00:01:09.090 align:middle line:84% four years now, working with Prageeta, 00:01:09.090 --> 00:01:10.680 align:middle line:84% and now my fellow board members, which 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:12.570 align:middle line:84% has been absolutely fabulous, are 00:01:12.570 --> 00:01:15.000 align:middle line:84% how do we engage a larger public in the ideas 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:17.160 align:middle line:84% that we are interested in exploring, 00:01:17.160 --> 00:01:21.760 align:middle line:84% and how do we create agency for generations coming behind us? 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:25.305 align:middle line:84% And so the project I'd like-- this is so awkward. 00:01:25.305 --> 00:01:27.150 align:middle line:90% Sorry, is it me? 00:01:27.150 --> 00:01:29.100 align:middle line:84% I feel like I have to hold it but I don't. 00:01:29.100 --> 00:01:29.700 align:middle line:90% How's that? 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:30.450 align:middle line:90% Is that all right? 00:01:30.450 --> 00:01:31.230 align:middle line:90% OK, OK. 00:01:31.230 --> 00:01:32.400 align:middle line:90% Sorry. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.150 align:middle line:84% So what I thought I would do today is just talk to you 00:01:35.150 --> 00:01:37.275 align:middle line:84% a little bit about a project I've been working on-- 00:01:37.275 --> 00:01:39.830 align:middle line:90% 00:01:39.830 --> 00:01:41.540 align:middle line:90% it's so small on the screen-- 00:01:41.540 --> 00:01:43.340 align:middle line:84% with a colleague of mine at Portland State 00:01:43.340 --> 00:01:45.290 align:middle line:90% University, Harrell Fletcher. 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:47.150 align:middle line:84% And this project is called KSMoCA, 00:01:47.150 --> 00:01:49.580 align:middle line:84% it's the King School Museum of Contemporary Art, 00:01:49.580 --> 00:01:52.550 align:middle line:84% and it is a contemporary art museum 00:01:52.550 --> 00:01:56.210 align:middle line:84% that we have founded that lives inside a functioning pre-K 8 00:01:56.210 --> 00:01:58.612 align:middle line:84% public school in northeast Portland. 00:01:58.612 --> 00:02:00.320 align:middle line:84% I thought that I would share a little bit 00:02:00.320 --> 00:02:01.880 align:middle line:84% about the ideas behind the project 00:02:01.880 --> 00:02:03.830 align:middle line:84% and maybe show a few images, just to give you 00:02:03.830 --> 00:02:07.310 align:middle line:84% a sense of how these ideas fit in with so many other things 00:02:07.310 --> 00:02:11.120 align:middle line:84% that have been relevant for us during thinking its presence, 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:15.587 align:middle line:84% and the kind of agency we're trying to foster in our youth 00:02:15.587 --> 00:02:18.170 align:middle line:84% communities because they really are the ones that we're trying 00:02:18.170 --> 00:02:21.290 align:middle line:84% to create and hold these spaces for, I feel. 00:02:21.290 --> 00:02:22.790 align:middle line:84% Working in academia, there certainly 00:02:22.790 --> 00:02:26.570 align:middle line:84% is a population of students that I foster and facilitate 00:02:26.570 --> 00:02:28.110 align:middle line:90% projects with regularly. 00:02:28.110 --> 00:02:30.483 align:middle line:84% But in terms of my own work and my own goals, 00:02:30.483 --> 00:02:32.150 align:middle line:84% creating this sense of agency and having 00:02:32.150 --> 00:02:35.240 align:middle line:84% impact in a community that lasts longer than an art exhibition 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:39.230 align:middle line:84% that you walk into and walk out of and perhaps contemplate, 00:02:39.230 --> 00:02:41.540 align:middle line:84% it has grown increasingly meaningful for me. 00:02:41.540 --> 00:02:44.870 align:middle line:84% So working in socially engaged arts practices 00:02:44.870 --> 00:02:47.570 align:middle line:84% and social practice specifically has really 00:02:47.570 --> 00:02:50.570 align:middle line:84% started to make a lot more sense for me. 00:02:50.570 --> 00:02:53.122 align:middle line:84% So very simply, I have some slides-- 00:02:53.122 --> 00:02:54.830 align:middle line:84% I'm going to try to toggle back and forth 00:02:54.830 --> 00:02:57.288 align:middle line:84% between a lot of things because I don't have much time here 00:02:57.288 --> 00:02:59.060 align:middle line:90% tonight-- 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:01.310 align:middle line:84% that frame some of the questions. 00:03:01.310 --> 00:03:04.400 align:middle line:84% And this is-- how do-- am I in presentation mode? 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:05.480 align:middle line:90% No? 00:03:05.480 --> 00:03:06.740 align:middle line:90% What does this look like? 00:03:06.740 --> 00:03:08.690 align:middle line:90% Not right. 00:03:08.690 --> 00:03:10.400 align:middle line:84% The questions that frame this project 00:03:10.400 --> 00:03:12.020 align:middle line:90% goes something like this. 00:03:12.020 --> 00:03:15.560 align:middle line:90% Where does real art happen? 00:03:15.560 --> 00:03:20.140 align:middle line:84% Whose histories inform our knowledge in our practice? 00:03:20.140 --> 00:03:23.080 align:middle line:84% How are identities related to and impacted by the work 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:25.450 align:middle line:90% that we do? 00:03:25.450 --> 00:03:29.330 align:middle line:84% What is the value of making mistakes? 00:03:29.330 --> 00:03:31.490 align:middle line:90% And who gets to be an artist? 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:34.792 align:middle line:84% So at KSMoCA, we have about this many programs, 00:03:34.792 --> 00:03:36.500 align:middle line:84% I don't know how many there are anymore-- 00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:37.400 align:middle line:90% [LAUGH] 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:39.980 align:middle line:84% --that we've initiated to essentially have 00:03:39.980 --> 00:03:42.140 align:middle line:84% this functioning museum run side by side. 00:03:42.140 --> 00:03:44.870 align:middle line:84% So my colleague Harrell often refers to P.S. 1, 00:03:44.870 --> 00:03:47.420 align:middle line:84% we're all familiar with P.S. 1 in New York, right? 00:03:47.420 --> 00:03:49.820 align:middle line:84% A museum that exists in what was a school. 00:03:49.820 --> 00:03:52.770 align:middle line:84% We're not trying to use the shell of the school, 00:03:52.770 --> 00:03:55.940 align:middle line:84% we're trying to function inside the school simultaneously 00:03:55.940 --> 00:03:58.310 align:middle line:90% and in tandem with the school. 00:03:58.310 --> 00:04:03.980 align:middle line:84% And the kids at our museum are our curators, they are docents, 00:04:03.980 --> 00:04:06.530 align:middle line:84% they are artists, they are copywriters, 00:04:06.530 --> 00:04:11.810 align:middle line:84% they are advisory board members, they are workshop developers, 00:04:11.810 --> 00:04:15.380 align:middle line:84% they take on the roles that the adults typically take on 00:04:15.380 --> 00:04:18.170 align:middle line:84% in the art world, and they try to give some exposure 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:21.140 align:middle line:84% to the children about what these roles right are-- 00:04:21.140 --> 00:04:22.220 align:middle line:90% what these roles are. 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:24.680 align:middle line:84% So in a sense, to demystify what the art 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:26.840 align:middle line:90% world is in some senses. 00:04:26.840 --> 00:04:29.540 align:middle line:84% And that comes very much out of my education practice, 00:04:29.540 --> 00:04:30.920 align:middle line:84% my teaching at the college level, 00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:33.470 align:middle line:84% I encounter more students than I could 00:04:33.470 --> 00:04:36.980 align:middle line:84% imagine telling you about that have no idea what a curator is. 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:38.660 align:middle line:84% They don't know what preparator is. 00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:41.180 align:middle line:84% They don't know what a gallery director really does. 00:04:41.180 --> 00:04:45.500 align:middle line:84% They sort of know about Van Gogh, and that's it, right? 00:04:45.500 --> 00:04:48.830 align:middle line:84% And that's when they come to you saying, I want to be an artist. 00:04:48.830 --> 00:04:51.620 align:middle line:84% And we're kind of looking at them saying, well, 00:04:51.620 --> 00:04:52.947 align:middle line:90% what does that mean? 00:04:52.947 --> 00:04:54.530 align:middle line:84% And so we begin at the beginning, well 00:04:54.530 --> 00:04:55.795 align:middle line:90% what is art, right? 00:04:55.795 --> 00:04:57.920 align:middle line:84% And so I'm just going to run through a few projects 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:01.842 align:middle line:84% here and maybe close with a little Instagram moment. 00:05:01.842 --> 00:05:03.800 align:middle line:84% If you do want to follow us, you're invited to. 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:07.400 align:middle line:84% We're @KSMOCA on Instagram, K-S-M-O-C-A. 00:05:07.400 --> 00:05:09.950 align:middle line:84% This is a project called Our Civil Rights Revisited, 00:05:09.950 --> 00:05:12.500 align:middle line:84% and this is-- we try to partner with what's 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:14.540 align:middle line:84% happening in the schools for teachers, 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:16.740 align:middle line:84% but without trying to deliver their curriculum. 00:05:16.740 --> 00:05:18.590 align:middle line:84% So we want a bridge between what's 00:05:18.590 --> 00:05:20.590 align:middle line:84% happening in the classroom and how that might be 00:05:20.590 --> 00:05:22.580 align:middle line:90% relevant to an arts practice. 00:05:22.580 --> 00:05:24.470 align:middle line:84% Our Civil Rights Revisited was a series 00:05:24.470 --> 00:05:28.220 align:middle line:84% of photographs in which the kids re-enacted images 00:05:28.220 --> 00:05:31.200 align:middle line:84% from the Civil Rights movement that were both local, regional, 00:05:31.200 --> 00:05:32.025 align:middle line:90% and national. 00:05:32.025 --> 00:05:33.650 align:middle line:84% And so you're seeing the March on Selma 00:05:33.650 --> 00:05:35.090 align:middle line:90% here on the left hand side. 00:05:35.090 --> 00:05:36.830 align:middle line:84% And then at the opening reception, 00:05:36.830 --> 00:05:39.920 align:middle line:84% one of our students giving a tour to another child 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:41.930 align:middle line:84% from the community who has come in, 00:05:41.930 --> 00:05:44.240 align:middle line:84% explaining the relevance of this image to her 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:46.160 align:middle line:84% and what it was like to pose and sort of 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.517 align:middle line:84% try to re-enact and re-live this moment. 00:05:49.517 --> 00:05:52.100 align:middle line:84% It's really kind of lovely, the docents, their favorite things 00:05:52.100 --> 00:05:54.080 align:middle line:90% are their badges, interestingly. 00:05:54.080 --> 00:05:56.240 align:middle line:84% When they come in, it's like they run to the table, 00:05:56.240 --> 00:05:58.718 align:middle line:84% we have like a table set up so they can get their badges. 00:05:58.718 --> 00:06:01.010 align:middle line:84% It says KSMoCA docent, and they write their name on it, 00:06:01.010 --> 00:06:04.220 align:middle line:84% and then they will take you for a tour of their museum, which 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:06.800 align:middle line:84% incidentally, is also a tour of their school. 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:08.720 align:middle line:84% We've also executed projects by artists 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:11.600 align:middle line:84% like Stephanie Syjuco, who is based in Berkeley, I believe, 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:13.220 align:middle line:90% and this is called Not MoMA. 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:15.470 align:middle line:84% Not MoMA is a project that Stephanie developed 00:06:15.470 --> 00:06:19.040 align:middle line:84% where students are invited to recreate works of art 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:22.110 align:middle line:84% from the Museum of Modern Art's online collection. 00:06:22.110 --> 00:06:23.570 align:middle line:84% So it's an attempt to sort of close 00:06:23.570 --> 00:06:26.120 align:middle line:84% the gap between what you can access physically 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:29.660 align:middle line:84% between your geography and what you can access I guess, 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:32.990 align:middle line:84% digitally, or what's the word that we use now? 00:06:32.990 --> 00:06:34.910 align:middle line:90% I don't know the word anymore. 00:06:34.910 --> 00:06:35.960 align:middle line:90% I [INAUDIBLE]. 00:06:35.960 --> 00:06:38.330 align:middle line:90% Virtually, that's the word. 00:06:38.330 --> 00:06:39.530 align:middle line:90% Thank you, thank you. 00:06:39.530 --> 00:06:40.497 align:middle line:90% Help me out whenever. 00:06:40.497 --> 00:06:42.080 align:middle line:84% And so the work that the kids created, 00:06:42.080 --> 00:06:44.130 align:middle line:84% you can sort of see on the left hand side of the screen. 00:06:44.130 --> 00:06:45.838 align:middle line:84% It's actually better than the real thing. 00:06:45.838 --> 00:06:48.280 align:middle line:84% Like, the Pollock is better than the real thing. 00:06:48.280 --> 00:06:49.100 align:middle line:90% [LAUGH] 00:06:49.100 --> 00:06:50.360 align:middle line:90% The Joseph Beuys. 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:52.100 align:middle line:84% I mean, there were so many amazing works. 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:54.800 align:middle line:84% The teachers all wanted to like steal them and take them home. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:56.270 align:middle line:84% They kept saying, can I have that painting? 00:06:56.270 --> 00:06:57.950 align:middle line:84% We're like no, it's part of a permanent collection 00:06:57.950 --> 00:06:58.450 align:middle line:90% in a museum, 00:06:58.450 --> 00:06:59.242 align:middle line:90% [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] 00:06:59.242 --> 00:06:59.750 align:middle line:90% Right? 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:01.940 align:middle line:84% And that-- so it's like really trying 00:07:01.940 --> 00:07:04.310 align:middle line:84% to elevate this work that the kids are thinking about 00:07:04.310 --> 00:07:06.560 align:middle line:84% and doing, and making it real and relevant. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:10.940 align:middle line:84% This is Eliazar on the left, presenting his Gustaf Klimt. 00:07:10.940 --> 00:07:12.792 align:middle line:90% It was really phenomenal. 00:07:12.792 --> 00:07:14.250 align:middle line:84% And this is on the right hand side, 00:07:14.250 --> 00:07:16.680 align:middle line:84% you can see them working on their Pollock on the floor 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:17.180 align:middle line:90% here. 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:19.080 align:middle line:90% This is just the cafeteria. 00:07:19.080 --> 00:07:20.720 align:middle line:90% It was really kind of fantastic. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.800 align:middle line:84% And the wall labels at KSMoCA all privilege 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:25.953 align:middle line:90% the voice of the children. 00:07:25.953 --> 00:07:28.370 align:middle line:84% So whatever they said about the work when they were making 00:07:28.370 --> 00:07:30.080 align:middle line:84% it is what we put up for you to read. 00:07:30.080 --> 00:07:31.890 align:middle line:84% And eye level is their eye level. 00:07:31.890 --> 00:07:36.380 align:middle line:84% So when you come as an adult, you're down here. 00:07:36.380 --> 00:07:40.448 align:middle line:84% And they-- and you have to squat, and they present to you. 00:07:40.448 --> 00:07:41.990 align:middle line:84% So it's really geared toward thinking 00:07:41.990 --> 00:07:43.650 align:middle line:90% about things like that. 00:07:43.650 --> 00:07:45.800 align:middle line:84% We also have a robust artist in residence program 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:47.810 align:middle line:90% and we're in our second year. 00:07:47.810 --> 00:07:50.000 align:middle line:84% This program is about four years strong now, 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:52.370 align:middle line:84% and our second year, we started this artist 00:07:52.370 --> 00:07:53.602 align:middle line:90% in residence program. 00:07:53.602 --> 00:07:56.060 align:middle line:84% And we were able to host artists this past year like Carson 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:58.220 align:middle line:84% Ellis and Hank Meloy, Chitra Ganesh, 00:07:58.220 --> 00:08:00.230 align:middle line:90% thank you, Prageeta Sharma. 00:08:00.230 --> 00:08:01.610 align:middle line:90% Also Laylah Ali. 00:08:01.610 --> 00:08:04.220 align:middle line:84% And we're looking forward to many really diverse, beautiful 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:06.200 align:middle line:84% group of artists again this year. 00:08:06.200 --> 00:08:09.260 align:middle line:84% Carson and Hank-- Hank was nine at the time that he did this 00:08:09.260 --> 00:08:12.140 align:middle line:84% project, but Hank is autistic, and Carson and Hank worked 00:08:12.140 --> 00:08:15.650 align:middle line:84% together to create a book of illustrations in which Hank 00:08:15.650 --> 00:08:16.910 align:middle line:90% described-- 00:08:16.910 --> 00:08:20.150 align:middle line:84% it's called Introduction to Galactic Alienology. 00:08:20.150 --> 00:08:22.430 align:middle line:84% And that is Hank's title, and that is the best title 00:08:22.430 --> 00:08:24.470 align:middle line:90% of anything ever. 00:08:24.470 --> 00:08:26.780 align:middle line:84% Hank described the aliens that he imagined 00:08:26.780 --> 00:08:28.857 align:middle line:90% and Carson illustrated to them. 00:08:28.857 --> 00:08:30.940 align:middle line:84% You may be familiar with the children's book named 00:08:30.940 --> 00:08:32.590 align:middle line:90% Wildwoods, called Wildwoods. 00:08:32.590 --> 00:08:34.690 align:middle line:84% Carson, her work is really lovely. 00:08:34.690 --> 00:08:37.450 align:middle line:84% And so this work that you see, this 00:08:37.450 --> 00:08:40.512 align:middle line:84% is Hank and Carson on the left hand side, yeah. 00:08:40.512 --> 00:08:42.220 align:middle line:84% And on the right hand side are the aliens 00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:45.560 align:middle line:84% that the children imagined following a similar process. 00:08:45.560 --> 00:08:48.280 align:middle line:84% So in workshop with Carson, she had them do things 00:08:48.280 --> 00:08:50.920 align:middle line:84% like you blindfold one student, one student describes, 00:08:50.920 --> 00:08:52.960 align:middle line:84% another student draws, and they came up 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:54.340 align:middle line:90% with their own creatures. 00:08:54.340 --> 00:08:57.730 align:middle line:84% And then we projected them onto the wall as a giant mural. 00:08:57.730 --> 00:09:00.400 align:middle line:84% Carson also had opportunity to work with our college students, 00:09:00.400 --> 00:09:03.280 align:middle line:84% and that's kind of an amazing opportunity as well. 00:09:03.280 --> 00:09:06.850 align:middle line:84% We host a partnership class in-- at the King School every week. 00:09:06.850 --> 00:09:09.850 align:middle line:84% So it's just what some of it looks like. 00:09:09.850 --> 00:09:12.340 align:middle line:90% Some docenting. 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:13.728 align:middle line:84% The docents often have activities 00:09:13.728 --> 00:09:15.520 align:middle line:84% that they will draw for you, so you usually 00:09:15.520 --> 00:09:18.160 align:middle line:84% come home with a portrait or an alien of your own. 00:09:18.160 --> 00:09:20.080 align:middle line:84% Chitra Ganesh did an amazing project 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:21.880 align:middle line:84% with us called Everyday Superheroes, 00:09:21.880 --> 00:09:23.650 align:middle line:84% and invited the children to imagine people 00:09:23.650 --> 00:09:27.040 align:middle line:84% in their everyday lives as they would exist as a superhero. 00:09:27.040 --> 00:09:29.950 align:middle line:84% And we produce little zines for each artist 00:09:29.950 --> 00:09:31.660 align:middle line:84% to help every child in the school 00:09:31.660 --> 00:09:35.740 align:middle line:84% learn about the artist's work, so 400 copies of this zine. 00:09:35.740 --> 00:09:37.840 align:middle line:84% Laylah Ali came in and did a project called not 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:40.420 align:middle line:84% self-portraits with the kids, and she 00:09:40.420 --> 00:09:42.340 align:middle line:84% was one of the most wonderful artists to host. 00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:43.967 align:middle line:90% She was so great with them. 00:09:43.967 --> 00:09:46.300 align:middle line:84% Taught them to be brave and not scared of their drawing, 00:09:46.300 --> 00:09:48.730 align:middle line:84% at the fifth grade level, that's really interesting, 00:09:48.730 --> 00:09:50.278 align:middle line:84% and here are a couple of portraits 00:09:50.278 --> 00:09:51.820 align:middle line:84% from a couple of docents who are also 00:09:51.820 --> 00:09:55.900 align:middle line:84% brothers in the same class, it was really quite adorable. 00:09:55.900 --> 00:09:57.550 align:middle line:84% We had Hank Willis Thomas last year 00:09:57.550 --> 00:10:00.100 align:middle line:84% as well come and give a lecture and hosted his project 00:10:00.100 --> 00:10:01.810 align:middle line:84% The Truth Booth, which is a collective-- 00:10:01.810 --> 00:10:03.310 align:middle line:84% a project from the Cause Collective, 00:10:03.310 --> 00:10:04.780 align:middle line:90% of which he is a part. 00:10:04.780 --> 00:10:07.060 align:middle line:84% But we also had Jamison do the introduction. 00:10:07.060 --> 00:10:10.360 align:middle line:84% And Jamison would be better than me and any of us up here. 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:13.060 align:middle line:84% He said, I have tons of public speaking experience, 00:10:13.060 --> 00:10:14.540 align:middle line:90% where's my lectern? 00:10:14.540 --> 00:10:15.340 align:middle line:90% [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] 00:10:15.340 --> 00:10:17.650 align:middle line:84% This was in the practice, like the dry run. 00:10:17.650 --> 00:10:20.830 align:middle line:84% And you know, he's presenting to his peers, but also 00:10:20.830 --> 00:10:22.670 align:middle line:90% the large and general public. 00:10:22.670 --> 00:10:24.940 align:middle line:84% And so we're thinking about kids as community partners 00:10:24.940 --> 00:10:25.990 align:middle line:90% and activists. 00:10:25.990 --> 00:10:28.030 align:middle line:84% We're thinking about teaching them artistic 00:10:28.030 --> 00:10:30.490 align:middle line:84% processes they might not ever have exposure to. 00:10:30.490 --> 00:10:33.850 align:middle line:84% We're thinking about getting them access to kids in museum-- 00:10:33.850 --> 00:10:35.950 align:middle line:84% or getting them access to artists 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:38.350 align:middle line:84% the caliber of which they would typically encounter only 00:10:38.350 --> 00:10:40.870 align:middle line:84% at a place like MoMA, or the Portland Art 00:10:40.870 --> 00:10:45.760 align:middle line:84% Museum, or the Missoula Art Museum, or SAM, or DAM, or BAM, 00:10:45.760 --> 00:10:47.320 align:middle line:90% or any of them, right? 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:49.180 align:middle line:84% But instead, they have their own space, 00:10:49.180 --> 00:10:51.100 align:middle line:84% and these are students that don't typically 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:54.340 align:middle line:84% have an opportunity to get out to these places. 00:10:54.340 --> 00:10:55.840 align:middle line:84% This year for our inaugural year, 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:57.550 align:middle line:84% and I will be done in just a moment here, 00:10:57.550 --> 00:10:59.590 align:middle line:84% we hosted our first international art fair 00:10:59.590 --> 00:11:03.730 align:middle line:84% at KSMocA as part of a large city-wide art celebration 00:11:03.730 --> 00:11:05.247 align:middle line:90% called Converge 45. 00:11:05.247 --> 00:11:07.330 align:middle line:84% And we've been selected to present that work again 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:09.310 align:middle line:84% next year with a significant budget. 00:11:09.310 --> 00:11:12.220 align:middle line:84% And we did a build out in the cafeteria of an art fair 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:15.430 align:middle line:84% modeled exactly after an international art fair, 00:11:15.430 --> 00:11:18.830 align:middle line:84% and took the kids on a summer program to the Seattle Art Fair 00:11:18.830 --> 00:11:22.000 align:middle line:84% so that they could experience that, get trained by about 25 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.250 align:middle line:84% different galleries and organizations in the area, 00:11:24.250 --> 00:11:26.530 align:middle line:84% and host an art fair of epic proportions 00:11:26.530 --> 00:11:28.990 align:middle line:84% in which they were buying, selling, hawking, wheeling, 00:11:28.990 --> 00:11:32.140 align:middle line:90% dealing, it was amazing. 00:11:32.140 --> 00:11:35.350 align:middle line:84% This is one of our students and some work 00:11:35.350 --> 00:11:38.290 align:middle line:84% that he and one of his friends made at the last minute 00:11:38.290 --> 00:11:41.000 align:middle line:84% and decided he wanted to put up for sale outside of the KSMoCA 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:41.500 align:middle line:90% booth. 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:43.992 align:middle line:84% Sold every drawing, had people down in the corner 00:11:43.992 --> 00:11:45.700 align:middle line:84% looking through the back stock, you know, 00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:47.260 align:middle line:84% and it's like what else do you have? 00:11:47.260 --> 00:11:50.950 align:middle line:84% I mean, they really took it on and made it their own. 00:11:50.950 --> 00:11:56.110 align:middle line:84% We had a kids panel where we have here Roya Amirsoleymani 00:11:56.110 --> 00:11:59.950 align:middle line:84% and Kristan Kennedy, who are two folks from the Portland 00:11:59.950 --> 00:12:02.920 align:middle line:84% Institute of Contemporary Art interviewing the kids 00:12:02.920 --> 00:12:05.050 align:middle line:84% and fielding questions with them. 00:12:05.050 --> 00:12:06.550 align:middle line:84% The kids, incidentally by the way, 00:12:06.550 --> 00:12:09.070 align:middle line:84% made every banner, everything you see that says KSMoCA, 00:12:09.070 --> 00:12:12.550 align:middle line:84% these are hand-painted, hand-drawn banners. 00:12:12.550 --> 00:12:14.865 align:middle line:84% And this is just what the fair kind of looked like. 00:12:14.865 --> 00:12:16.240 align:middle line:84% So it's bringing different people 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:18.377 align:middle line:84% into the community that typically would never 00:12:18.377 --> 00:12:19.210 align:middle line:90% encounter a school-- 00:12:19.210 --> 00:12:21.160 align:middle line:84% MLK Junior School, as you might imagine, 00:12:21.160 --> 00:12:25.490 align:middle line:84% exists at the intersection of MLK Junior Boulevard, 00:12:25.490 --> 00:12:28.570 align:middle line:84% which as we all know, is code, and-- 00:12:28.570 --> 00:12:30.360 align:middle line:84% for a very specific place in every city, 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:32.110 align:middle line:84% I'm working on another interesting project 00:12:32.110 --> 00:12:36.130 align:middle line:84% around that-- where the resources are understandably 00:12:36.130 --> 00:12:39.190 align:middle line:84% slim, but the ability for other people to see these students 00:12:39.190 --> 00:12:42.860 align:middle line:84% is often somehow rendered impossible. 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:45.110 align:middle line:84% And so this is a way to get visibility, 00:12:45.110 --> 00:12:46.517 align:middle line:90% but also to give them agency. 00:12:46.517 --> 00:12:48.850 align:middle line:84% And what I like to talk about is that this agency really 00:12:48.850 --> 00:12:50.710 align:middle line:84% isn't about becoming an artist per se, 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:54.220 align:middle line:84% or a writer per se, or a curator per se, but the idea 00:12:54.220 --> 00:12:56.950 align:middle line:84% that you could be empowered to understand 00:12:56.950 --> 00:13:00.020 align:middle line:84% a field and its intricacies as a child 00:13:00.020 --> 00:13:01.990 align:middle line:84% so that when you encounter options as an adult, 00:13:01.990 --> 00:13:04.240 align:middle line:84% you don't feel like it's something you're left out of, 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.240 align:middle line:84% or a world that you are not allowed to be in, 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:09.890 align:middle line:84% which is a sentiment that happens so often, 00:13:09.890 --> 00:13:12.730 align:middle line:84% and that many of us in this room can relate to. 00:13:12.730 --> 00:13:16.140 align:middle line:84% So that's a little bit of what I have been up to lately. 00:13:16.140 --> 00:13:18.750 align:middle line:84% It has been an absolute honor to serve on this board this year 00:13:18.750 --> 00:13:22.270 align:middle line:84% and to continue to participate with thinking its presence. 00:13:22.270 --> 00:13:24.390 align:middle line:84% I hope you like your bags because I made them just 00:13:24.390 --> 00:13:25.405 align:middle line:90% for you. 00:13:25.405 --> 00:13:26.830 align:middle line:90% [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER] 00:13:26.830 --> 00:13:29.050 align:middle line:84% And without further ado, I'd like to introduce Farid. 00:13:29.050 --> 00:13:30.950 align:middle line:90% Thank you.