On Saturday, January 23, 18th Street Arts Center kicks-off its 2010 season with Love in a Cemetery. Robert Sain, LACMAlab founding director, and LA based visual artist Andrea Bowers team-up to organize this unique arts laboratory with young artists from the Otis MFA Public Practice program, involving projects reaching out into the greater Los Angeles community.
This expansive collaboration between artist, curator, graduate students, and community organizations will transform 18th Street's gallery into a participatory 'laboratory' that sponsors exhibits of artworks community dialogues, public presentations, interventions and project data to explore the social and political dimension of art organizations. Guest artist, Olga Koumoundouros, will create a special sculptural installation.
View the Love in a Cemetery calendar here.
Referencing Allan Kaprow's quote: "Life in the museum is like making love in a cemetery," Robert Sain investigates the opportunity and obligation for arts organizations to be socially responsible and responsive in an age of diminished resources and uncertainty. To do this, he is provoking a community-wide dialogue about the role, function, and fundamental purpose of LA's arts organizations. He invited over 100 artists and arts leaders to answer four basic questions: 1) Do cultural organizations have responsibilities to address social issues such as class, ethnicity, gender, and politics? 2) Can a cultural organization impact the life of the community in a meaningful way? 3) What are the roles for artists within cultural organizations? 4) What should cultural institutions look like today and in the future? The public is invited to answer these four questions during the three-month period as Sain's and Bowers' project evolves.
As an integral part of the project, Andrea Bowers is working with Pauline Kamiyama and the Otis program to organize numerous discussions between cultural and community organizations. This collaborative team is testing Sain's premise with projects and interactions involving the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic, Surfrider Foundation, the Pico Youth and Family Center, My Friend's Place, Homies Unidos, Berda Paradise Thrift Store, and Norco Rehabilitation/Medium Security Correctional Facility.
Love in a Cemetery debuts January 23 and will continue through March 26. The exhibit is free to the public. Pama Pomegranate Liqueur and Izze Sparkling Juice are co-sponsors of the opening reception.
18th Street Arts Center is an internationally known alternative arts center whose mission is "to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art making."
Gallery hours are Monday – Friday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. 18th Street Arts Center is located at 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, off Olympic Blvd.
For further information, visit online at www.18thstreet.org or call Ronald Lopez at 310-453-3711 ext. 103, or email rlopez@18thstreet.org
Contacts:
18th Street Arts Center
Ronald Lopez, 310-453-3711, ext. 103
rlopez@18thstreet.org