Open Engagement: art and social practice

Portland, Oregon
May 13–15, 2011

The Open Engagement conference is an initiative of Portland State University’s Art and Social Practice MFA concentration.

This year’s Open Engagement sets out to discuss various perspectives on art and social practice. Through conversations, interviews, open reflection on experiences, and related projects created for or presented at the conference we will be looking at five themes that encompass ideas connected to social practice:

Directed by Jen Delos Reyes and planned in conjunction with Harrell Fletcher and the Art and Social Practice students, this year’s conference features internationally renowned artists Julie Ault, Fritz Haeg, and Pablo Helguera. The work by these artists’ touch on subjects including democracy, group work, the boundary (or lack there of) between art and life, education, and transdisciplinarity. In addition, Open Engagement will play host to the Bureau for Open Culture, Bad at Sports, an exhibition by the Bruce High Quality Foundation University, and concurrent summits on art and education and social practice/participatory programs and practices arising at museums. The summits will feature representatives from OTIS College of Art and Design, the University of California Santa Cruz, MICA, California College of the Arts, The Walker, Portland Art Museum, The Hammer and others.

Peoples and Publics• Social Economies • In Between Places • Tracking and Tracing • Sentiment and Strategies

Open Engagement is a free conference that will take place May 13–15, 2011, in Portland, Oregon. Several meals during the conference will be provided emphasizing slow food and community cooking. A variety of transportation will be accessible drawing on Portland’s bike culture and public transportation. Conference activities will be integrated with local businesses, using pubs and cafes as conference hubs.

This year’s conference will host over 80 artists, activists, curators, scholars, writers, farmers, community organizers, film makers and collectives including: Christine Hill, Ted Purves, Harrell Fletcher, Joseph del Pesco, Christian Nagler, Dawn Weleski, Julie Perini, Stephanie Diamond, artSpa, Wealth Underground Farms, Julie Ault, Fritz Haeg, Pablo Helguera and many more.

For more information see:
www.openengagement.info

OPEN ENGAGEMENT PLANNING COMMITTEE

Jen Delos Reyes, Crystal Baxley, Sandy Sampson, Katy Asher, Ariana Jacob, Ally Drozd, Lexa Walsh, Jason Sturgill, Carmen  Papalia, Mack Mcfarland, Stefan Ransom, Garrick Imatani, Sara Rabinowitz, Harrell Fletcher

SPONSORS

PSU, PNCA, The Portland Art Museum, The Ace Hotel, Pinball Publishing, Wealth Underground Farms, The Hollywood Theater