The San Francisco Art Institute Symposia Collection

The processing of this collection was sponsored by grant funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources.

Anne Bremer Memorial Library and Archives, San Francisco Art Institute

800 Chestnut Street

San Francisco, CA 94133

February 11, 2022

Reference Code: CaSfAI-Symposia

Title: San Francisco Art Institute Symposia Collection

Dates of Creation: 1916-2018

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute

Extent: Approximately 10 linear feet of material located in multiple archival collections, including both paper-based archival documents and audio-visual recordings on VHS cassette tape, hi-8 video tape, audio cassette tape, wire recording and digital video.

Repository: Anne Bremer Memorial Library and Archives, San Francisco Art Institute

800 Chestnut Street

San Francisco, CA 94133

415.749.4562

Abstract: This Collection includes audio recordings, video recordings, transcripts and other documentation of symposia and roundtable discussions that have taken place at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1916 through 2018.

Language: All audio and video recordings are in English.

Processing Information:

This collection was processed and the print version of the finding aid was written in 2021 by SFAI staff Becky Alexander, and SFAI interns Alice Kinsey and Carolyn Conter.

System of Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 12 series, by symposium or set of related symposia. These are:

Series I: A Symposium on Modern Art (1916)
Series II: The Western Roundtable on Modern Art (1949)
Series III: The Current Moment in Art (1966)
Series IV: Center for Critical Inquiry (1977)
Series V: Two Photography Symposia (1982, 1990)
Series VI: Art, Psyche, Spirit (1984-1996)
Series VII: Art Writing Conference/Art Criticism Conference/Summer Symposia Series (1986-2013)
Series VIII:Symposia Organized by Carlos Villa (1989-2010)
Series IX: Culture Under Fire: Censorship vs. Activism: Setting the Agenda for the ‘90s (1990)
Series X: Symposia on Art and Emerging Technology in the Early 1990's (1991-1992)
Series XI: Diego Rivera Mural Conservation (1992)
Series XII: A Day with The Rose (1995)

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use:

Much of the material in this collection is under copyright protection. Contact the San Francisco Art Institute Library for questions or requests regarding use of these materials.

Administrative History:

The San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) is a private fine arts college which dates back to 1874 when the San Francisco Art Association, an organization founded in 1871 to promote and exhibit local artists, first began offering art classes to the public. The school was known as the California School of Design from 1874 through 1916, and the California School of Fine Arts from 1916 through 1961, when it became the San Francisco Art Institute.

Scope and Content:

This collection includes audio recordings, video recordings, transcripts and other documentation of symposia and roundtable discussions that have taken place at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1916 through 2018.

Series I: A Symposium on Modern Art (February 23, 1916)

Creator: San Francisco Art Association

Extent: 1 archival file.

Historical Note:

A Symposium on Modern Art took place at San Francisco's Palace Hotel in the context of the city's 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, which introduced avant-garde art movements like Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism, and Futurism to a West Coast audience. The event brought together artists, academics, and arts administrators to debate the legitimacy of these controversial new movements, and was the first formal public discussion of "Modern Art" on the West Coast. Participants included John I. Walter (Chairman), Michael Williams (Organizing Secretary of the San Francisco Art Association), Francis McComas (President of the San Francisco Society of Artists), Arthur U. Pope (Professor in Esthetics, University of California, Berkeley), A.B. Clarke (Professor of Graphic Arts, Stanford), Louis Christian Mullgardt (architect), John E.D. Trask (Chief of the Department of Fine Arts, Panama-Pacific International Exposition), J. Nilsen Laurvik (Director of the Comparative Museum of Art, later known as the San Francisco Museum of Art, now SFMOMA). Note that Laurvik was scheduled to participate, but did not speak, having lost his voice.

Scope and Contents:

Documentation consists of a transcript of the event, titled "Report of Addresses Delivered in the Ballroom of the Palace Hotel Wednesday evening, Feb. 23, 1916." The collection also includes an essay by Michael Leonard, "San Francisco Faces Modern Art," published in the California Courier, April/May, 1986. [Location: Collection 39, Folder 7]

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

General Subjects:

Art, Modern-19th Century

Art, Modern-20th Century

Impressionism(Art)

Fauvism(Art)

Cubism(Art)

Futurism(Art)

Post-Impressionism(Art)

Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915 : San Francisco, Calif.)

People:

Laurvik, J. Nilsen (John Nilsen), 1877-

Pope, Arthur Upham, 1881-1969

Trask, John Ellingwood Donnell, 1871-

Series II: The Western Roundtable on Modern Art (April 8-10, 1949)

Creator: Organized by Douglas MacAgy and the San Francisco Art Association.

Extent: 5 archival boxes, 17 wire recordings (transferred to audio tape and digitized).

Historical Note:

Conceived and organized by California School of Fine Arts Director Douglas MacAgy as a rebuttal to Life magazine's Round Table on Modern Art, this three-day symposium held at the San Francisco Museum Museum of Art (now SFMOMA) delved into the post-World War II debate about the value and purpose of modern art from a largely pro-modern art perspective. The symposium was sponsored by the San Francisco Art Association.

Participants included: Moderator George Boas (Professor of History of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University), Robert Goldwater (editor of the Magazine of Art and Associate Professor of Art at Queens College), Alfred Frankenstein (music and art editor of the San Francisco Chronicle), Kenneth Burke (literary critic and professor at Bennington College), Andrew C. Ritchie (Director of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art), Gregory Bateson (cultural anthropologist), Mark Tobey (painter), Darius Milhaud (composer and Professor of Composition at Mills College), Frank Lloyd Wright (architect), Marcel Duchamp (artist).

Scope and Content:

This collection includes correspondence, photographs, transcripts, clippings, notes, and other printed materials documenting the symposium, as well as the original wire recordings of the proceedings, audio taped transfers, and the digitized versions of these recordings. [Location: Collection 14]

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

General Subjects:

Modernism (Art)

Modernism (Aesthetics)

Modernism (Literature)

Modernism (Music)

Modern Movement (Architecture)

People:

Bateson, Gregory, 1904-1980

Boas, George, 1891-1980

Burke, Kenneth, 1897-1993

Duchamp, Marcel, 1887-1968

Frankenstein, Alfred V. (Alfred Victor), 1906-1981

Goldwater, Robert, 1907-1973

MacAgy, Douglas, 1913-1973

Milhaud, Darius, 1892-1974

Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff 1907-1978

Tobey, Mark 1890-1976

Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959

Related Collections:

The Archives of American Art's, "San Francisco Art Association and related organizational records, 1871-1978, bulk 1871-1920" collection contains microfilmed copies and recordings of much of this collection.

Series III: The Current Moment in Art (April 15-17, 1966)

Creator: Jean Martin, the Symposium Coordinator for the San Francisco Art Institute.

Extent: 1 archival box.

Historical Note:

The Current Moment in Art, held at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco and at the San Francisco Art Institute, brought together artists, curators, critics and collectors to discuss Post-War art in conjunction with two exhibitions, Six from the East at the San Francisco Museum of Art (featuring East Coast artists Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Ray Parker, Larry Poons, Larry Rivers, and Frank Stella) and Six from the West at the San Francisco Art Institute (featuring Joe Goode, Charles Mattox, David Simpson, Hassle Smith, Wayne Thiebaud, and Peter Voulkos). Participants included: Joe Goode, Charles Mattox, David Simpson, Hassle Smith, Wayne Thiebaud, Peter Voulkos, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenberg, Ray Parker, Larry Poons, Larry Rivers, Frank Stella, James Elliot, Donald Factor, Alfred Frankenstein, Alexander Fried, Henry Geldzahler, Ben Heller, Thomas Hess, Walter Hopps, John Humphrey, Philip Leider, Paul Mills, Gifford Phillips, Robert Rowan, Harold Rosenberg, Peter Selz, Dean Wallace, Frederick Wight,and Virginia Wright (Referred to as Mrs. Bagley Wright in the program).

Scope and Content:

Collection includes photographs of the event, as well as documentation of work from the associated exhibitions, exhibition catalogs, event schedules, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and budgets. [Location: Collection 43]

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

General Subjects:

Modernism (Art)

Art, Modernism-20th Century

Postmodernism

Related Collections:

Pacifica Radio Archives contains recordings of the symposium (695 mins.) on 15 reels of reel-to-reel audio tape: PRA Archive #: BB0919.01-.08

Series IV: Center for Critical Inquiry (November 28-30, 1977)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute; Roy Ascott

Extent: 12 audio tapes (digitized), bound symposium transcription, 1 archival file.

Historical Note:

SFAI Dean, Roy Ascott, founded the Center for Critical Inquiry to encourage the development of an art criticism that examines art using different conceptual frameworks from a wide range of disciplines.

The First International Symposium of the Center for Critical Inquiry wrestled with changing politics and aesthetics and a growing awareness of diversity. Participants included George Lakoff, Angela Davis, Allan Sekula, Victor Burgin, Victor Papanek, Hazel Henderson, Lawrence Halprin, Maurice Goldsmith, Douglas Davis, José Argüelles, Robert Irwin, Jack Sarfatti, Liza Béar, Jack Burnham, Rudi Fuchs, Malcolm Le Grice, Simon Nicholson Bertrand Augst, and Bonnie Sherk.

The Symposium, held at the Fairmont Hotel and at the San Francisco Art Institute, consisted of two public forums and six closed sessions. For the sessions, Ascott chose four to six participants to give short formal presentations on the session's topic. The presentations were then followed by a roundtable discussion that included all of the Symposium's speakers. Not every session worked out as intended, particularly Session V which was never formally opened. The program was as follows:

November 29

Session I: Art & Social Intervention. Speakers: Victor Burgin, Douglas Davis, Maurice Goldsmith, Lawrence Halprin, Hazel Henderson, Victor Papanek
Session II: Art & Identity. Speakers: José Argüelles, Angela Davis, Robert Irwin, George Lakoff, Jack Sarfetti
Session III: Art & Speculation. Speakers: Liza Béar, Jack Burnham, Rudi Fuchs, Malcolm Le Grice, Simon Nicholoson
Public Forum I: Instrument for Change. Speakers: José Argüelles, Angela Davis, Victor Papanek, Jack Sarfatti, Lawrence Halprin, Allan Sekula, Hazel Henderson, Simon Nicholson, Bertrand Augst

November 30th

Session IV: Art & Its Messages. Speakers: Bertrand August, Liza Béar, George Lakoff, Douglas Davis, Victor Burgin, Robert Irwin, Victor Papanek
Session V: Art & Participation. Speakers: Rudi Fuchs, Angela Davis, Alan Sekula, Malcolm Le Grice
Session VI: Creation & Knowledge. Speakers: José Argüelles, Jack Burnham, Maurice Goldsmith, Hazel Henderson, Robert Irwin, Jack Sarfatti
Public Forum II: The New Art Context. Speakers: Liza Béar, Malcom Le Grice, Douglas Davis, Jack Burnham, Rudi Fuchs, Maurice Goldsmith, Victor Burgin, Robert Irwin, Bonnie Sherk, George Lakoff

Scope and Content:

The collection includes audio recordings of each session and public forums and a full transcript. Also included in the collection are various supporting documents about the Symposium, including the press release and the Symposium schedule.

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

General Subjects:

Art Criticism

Art - Political aspects Art and state

Culture - Political aspects Culture and politics

Politics in art

People:

Lakoff, George

Davis, Angela Y. (Angela Yvonne), 1944-

Sekula, Allan

Burgin, Victor

Papanek, Victor J.

Henderson, Hazel, 1933-

Halprin, Lawrence

Goldsmith, M.M. (Maurice Marks), 1933-

Davis, Douglas, 1933-2014

Argüelles, José, 1939-2011

Irwin, Robert, 1928-

Sarfatti, Jack

Béar, Liza

Burnham, Jack

Fuchs, Rudi, 1942-

Le Grice, Malcolm

Nicholson, Simon

Series V: Two Photography Symposia (1982 &1990)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute

Extent: Four audio cassettes, digitally transferred, newsletters and calendars.

Historical Note:

This series documents two symposia on the topic of landscape photography:

Photography and Place (April 7-8, 1982): This symposium consisted of a series of lectures and subsequent Q&A sessions. Topics included portraiture; classification and bias; the effects of the face, body, artifacts, space and time on photography; how artists create powerful, evocative portraits using different techniques; and landscape photography. Participants included Linda Connor, Joe Deal, Ellen Brooks, John Collier, Larry Sultan, Pirkle Jones, Henry Wessel, Nicholas Nixon.
Issues of Landscape: Photography (August 11-17, 1990): Participants included Jo Babcock, Linda Connor, Trinh T. Minh-Ha, Richard Misrach, Rebecca Solnit, and others.

Scope and Content:

Documentation of the "Photography and Place" symposia includes audio recordings (Audio Tapes #478, #479), and newsletters/calendars. Documentation of "Issues of Landscape: Photography" includes newsletter and calendars.

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

General Subjects:

Portrait photography

Landscape photography

Photography, Artistic

Photography -- Technique

People:

Nixon, Nicholas, 1947-

Jones, Pirkle, 1914-2009

Deal, Joe, 1947-2010

Wessel, Henry

Collier, John, Jr., 1913-1992

Sultan, Larry

Babcock, Jo, 1944-

Connor, Linda, 1944-

Trinh, T. Minh-Ha (Thi Minh-Ha), 1952-

Misrach, Richard, 1949-

Solnit, Rebecca

Series VI: Art, Psyche, Spirit (1984-1996)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute; Fred Martin

Extent: Various audio cassettes, digitally transferred.

Historical Note:

The Art, Psyche, Spirit conference took place annually from 1984-1996. Organized by Fred Martin (SFAI Dean 1983-1992) Art, Psyche, Spirit was initially both a symposium and an intensive summer course, but in later years became primarily a class, co-taught by Fred Martin and Karin Malik. The "Embodying the Spiritual in the Art of the Future," symposium that took place as part of this series from September 30-October 1, 1988, was co-sponsored by the Institute of Noetic Sciences, with speakers that included James Hillman, Grant Rudolf, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Riane Eisler, and Marija Gimbutas.

Scope and Content:

This collection includes audio recordings of many but not all symposia, as well as some documentation in college catalogs, SFAI newsletters and events calendars.

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

People:

Martin, Fred, 1927-

Gimbutas, Marija, 1921-1994

Bolen, Jean Shinoda, 1936-

Miedzinski, Charles, 1947-

General Subjects:

Spirituality in Art

Series VII: Art Writing Conference/Art Criticism Conference/Summer Symposia (1985-2018)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute; Bill Berkson, Mark Van Proyen

Extent: Various audio cassettes, digitally transferred.

Historical Note:

"The Art Writing Conference" took place annually in August in conjunction with an intensive summer course focused on art writing and criticism. It was organized by faculty member Bill Berkson from 1986 through 2003, and then by faculty member Mark Van Proyen from 2004 (renamed the "Art Criticism Conference" in or around 2006) through its final year in 2013. Clayton B. Hodges and other actors performed a staged reading of Oscar Wilde’s play "The Critic as Artist" as part of the conference every year from 2004 to 2013. In 2013, the "Art Criticism Conference" transitioned into a more general summer symposia series focusing on wide-ranging issues in the arts.

Scope and Content:

This collection includes audio recordings from many but not all symposia, in most cases of the year’s keynote address and occasionally of panel discussions, as well as some documentation in SFAI newsletters and events calendars.

Note that the following is an incomplete list of conference participants based on available information. Recordings exist of some but not all of these events.

Art Writing Conference:

1985: Speakers included Carter Ratcliff (keynote), Kenneth Baker, Mark Van Proyen.
1986, August 15-22: Speakers included Bill Berkson, Kenneth Baker, Wolfgang Max Faust, Peter Schjeldahl (keynote).
1987, August 14-21: Speakers included Donald Kuspit (keynote), Moira Roth, Mark Van Proyen, Kenneth Baker, Fred Martin, Cecile McCann.
1988, August 12-19: Speakers included David Antin (keynote), Christopher Knight, Robert Atkins, Alfred Jan, Christine Tamblyn, Mark Van Proyen, Kenneth Baker, Bob Riley, Bill Berkson, Barrett Watten.
1989: Speakers included Arthur C. Danto (keynote), John Caldwell, Jacki Apple, David James, Margaret Morse, Christine Tamblyn.
1990, August 10-17: Speakers included Kathy Acker (keynote), Bill Berkson, David Bonetti, David Levi-Strauss, Rebecca Solnit, Abigail Solomon-Godeau.
1991, August 9-16: Speakers included David Carrier (keynote), Kenneth Baker, Jeff Kelley, Maria Porges, Moira Roth, Bill Berkson.
1992: Speakers included Arlene Raven (keynote), Thyrza Nichols Goodeve, David Bonetti, Mark Durant, Andy Grundberg, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Bill Berkson, bell hooks.
1993, August 2-27: Speakers included Bill Berkson, Trinh T. Minh-ha (keynote), Larry Rinder, Keith Morrison, Moira Roth, Barry Witten, Carrie Mae Weems, Valerie Soe, Abigail Solomon-Godeau, Barrett Watten, Kathy Acker.
1994: Titled “(Un)civil War: Queer Art, Criticism, and Theory.” Speakers included: Robert Akins, Mario Martinez, Pamela Peniston, Jonathan Katz, Megan Boler, Jeff Jones.
1995, August 4-11: Speakers included Bill Berkson, Dave Hickey (keynote), Anna Novakov, Glen Helfand, Kenneth Baker, Moira Roth.
1996: Organized and moderated by Robert Atkins. Speakers included Jane Veeder.
1997, August 11-15: Speakers included Roberta Smith (keynote), Meredith Tromble, Amy Berk, Howard Junker, Kenneth Baker, Kevin Killian
1998, August 7: Speakers included Michael Bronson (keynote), Herbert Muschamp
1999: Speakers included Peter Plagens (keynote), Corrina Peipon.
2000: Documentation not (yet) found.
2001: Documentation not (yet) found.
2002: Speakers included Sarah Boxer (keynote).
2003: Speakers included David Antin (keynote).
2004: Mark Van Proyen, coordinator. Speakers included Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe (keynote), DeWitt Cheng.
2005, August 12-19: Mark Van Proyen, coordinator. Speakers included Donald Kuspit (keynote), Kenneth Baker, Susan Landauer, Mark Levy, Marisa S. Olsen, John Rapko.

Art Criticism Conference:

2006, August 17-24: Mark Van Proyen, coordinator. Speakers included Constance Penley (keynote), Bill Berkson, DeWitt Cheng, Okwui Enwezor, JoAnne Northrup, V. Vale.
2007: Speakers included Pamela Lee (keynote).
2008, August 9-16: Speakers included Barry Schwabsky (keynote), Okwui Enwezor, Mark Van Proyen.
2009, August 10-15.
2010, August 11-12: Speakers included Bill Berkson, Molly Nesbit (keynote), Jeannene Przyblyski, Claire Daigle.
2011, August 9-15: Speakers included Johanna Drucker (keynote).
2012, August 13-17: Speakers included Lane Relyea (keynote), Lindsey Westbrook, Clayton B. Hodges, Gwen Allen, DeWitt Cheng, Christian L. Frock, Jeff Gunderson.
2013, August 13-15: Speakers included Mark Van Proyen, Alexander Bigman, Natasha Boas, Kenneth Baker, John Held Jr., Meredith Tromble, Julia Bryan-Wilson (keynote).

Summer Symposia Series:

2013: "The Artist in Public Life." Keynote Speaker: Nicholas Baume, Director and Chief Curator of the Public Art Fund
2014, June 21: "Face It: Photography, Ethics, and Identity in the Age of the Selfie." Speakers included: Aziz + Cucher, Liz Cohen, Ken Goldberg, Alexis Hudgins, Miki Johnson, Patricia Lange, Anna Shteynshleyger.
2015, June 19-20: "What Can Exhibitions Do?" Speakers: Alejandro Almanza Pereda, Artist-In-Residence; Kevin Consey, Independent Nonprofit Management/Art Museum Consultant; Alla Efimova, Principal, KunstWorks; David Kasprzak, Artist, Will Brown; Christina Linden, Associate Curator of Painting & Sculpture, Oakland Museum of California; Cléa Laurent Massiani, Curator/Partner/Director, Bass and Reiner Gallery; Marina McDougall, Director, Center for Art & Inquiry, Exploratorium; Susan Miller, Curator; Ted Purves, Chair and Associate Professor of Fine Arts, California College of the Arts; Frank Smigiel, Associate Curator, Performance and Film, SFMOMA; Margaret Tedesco, Director, [2nd floor projects], San Francisco. Keynote Speakers: Larry Rinder, Director, Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, Jen Delos Reyes, Director/Founder, Open Engagement.
2016, June 17-18: "Stimulus Packages: Politics, Pleasure, Aesthetics." Speakers included: Kemi Adeyami, Joshua Javier Guzmán. Keynote Speaker: Arnold Kemp.
2017: "I Object! Self-Organization and Political Agency as Aesthetic Practice." Speakers included: Tania Bruguera, Leslie Dreyer, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Jennifer, A. González, Taraneh Hemami, Marc Mayer, Christian Nagler, San Francisco Poster Syndicate, Ellen Sebastian Chang, Bonnie Ora Sherk, Katrín Sigurdardóttir, WochenKlausur.
2018, July 14: "Uprising: Representing and Remembering." Speakers included: Gwen Allen, Professor at San Francisco State University; Jeff Gunderson, Librarian and Archivist, San Francisco Art Institute; Linde B. Lehtinen, Assistant Curator of Photography, SFMOMA. Keynote Speaker: Rupert García, Artist

Subject and Indexing Terms:

Art and Society

Art criticism

Issue in art and education

Series VIII: Symposia Organized by Carlos Villa (1989-2010)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute;Carlos Villa

Extent: 40 VHS cassette tapes, digitally transferred; 3 additional video recordings and contents of external hard drive, transferred to cloud storage. 1 archival box.

Historical Note:

Carlos Villa (1936-2013) was a Filipino-American artist, curator, and educator, who taught in the painting department at the San Francisco Art Institute from 1969 through 2012. In 1976, Villa organized Other Sources: An American Essay, a groundbreaking exhibition and series of performances at SFAI that celebrated cultural diversity and a more inclusive art world by showcasing the work and cultural traditions of artists of color. The exhibition became the inspiration for a series of 7 symposia collectively titled Sources of a Distinct Majority that Villa organized between 1989 and 1994. These were: Agenda for the 1990s (April 1989), Sources of a Distinct Majority (October 1989), Contextual Symposium: A Challenge to Institutions (April 1990), Towards a Culturally Inclusive Art Education (September 1991), Expanding Art History to Reflect Multiethnic Diversity (August 1992), Queering (A)Genders (1993), and Odun de Odun de: The Global Presence of African Spirit in Contemporary Art (1994). Villa organized a related multi-year project, Re-Historicizing the Time Around Abstraction Expressionism in the Bay Area, 1950-1970 which consisted of an oral history project, symposia held in 2005 and 2010, and an exhibition at the Luggage Store Gallery in 2010.

Scope and Content:

The collection includes varying forms of documentation of the symposia, including, in most cases, videotapes of symposia sessions that have been digitally transferred. It also includes some symposia transcripts, as well as accompanying material such as schedules, programs, participant biographies, written statements and the 1994 San Francisco Art Institute publication, Worlds in Collision: Dialogues on Multicultural Art Issues, Carlos Villa and Reagan Louie, editors.

Subject and Indexing Terms:

Multiculturalism and art

Art and society

Cultural pluralism in art

Related Collections:

Additional documentation is contained in the Carlos Villa Archivist Artist File at SFAI, and in the Archives of American Art, Oral History Program.

Subseries 1: Sources of a Distinct Majority I: Agenda for the 1990s (April 7-9, 1989)

Extent: 3 VHS cassette tapes, digitally transferred. 1 archival file.

Historical Note:

This symposium and an associated exhibition, curated by Rolando Castellon, focused on issues that artists of color faced in the 1990s, asking the questions: "Where are we?" "What are we celebrating?" and "What is the agenda for the art and arts of color for the 1990s?"

The schedule of events was:

April 7: Keynote Address by Kellie Jones titled, The Agenda for the Nineties: Make it Multicultural. Roundtable discussion titled, Five Community Artists with Rupert Garcia, Yolanda Lopez, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Frank La Pena, and Leo Valledor.
April 8: Under 40 Panel with Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie, Larry Andrews, Enrique Chagoya, Younhee Paik, Violet Fields, Mark Van Proyen, and Amalia Mesa-Bains (Moderator). Over 40 Panel with Allan Gordon, Patricia Rodiguez, Bill Berkson, Ruth Asawa, George Longfish, and Betty Kano (Moderator).
April 9: Study Group Reports. Artist Survival in the 1990s. Participants included Horace Washington, Barbara Rogers, Mildred Howard, George Longfish, and Kim Anno. Lecture by Angela Davis: Thoughts on an Agenda for the 1990s.

Scope and Contents:

This collection contains video recordings of the symposium, originally recorded on VHS cassette tape and subsequently digitized. Note that the SFAI archives only contains recordings of the April 8th sessions, the Under 40 panel and the Over 40 panel. An archival file on this symposium is contained in the Carlos Villa Archival Artist File collection, and transcripts of some talks are included in the book, Worlds in Collision: Dialogues on Multicultural Art Issues.

Subseries 2: Sources of a Distinct Majority II: Sources of a Distinct Majority (October 13-15, 1989)

Extent: 14 VHS cassette tapes, digitally transferred, 3 additional digital files, 1 archival file.

Historical Note:

The press release for this symposium states that, "this series of lectures and panels will explore the rich and ideological resources which inspire ethnically diverse Bay Area artists. Topics to be addressed include religion in art, humor, women. Filmmakers discuss their medium as a society mirror and Latin, Caribbean, Native American, African American and Asian influences and origins."

The schedule of events was:

October 13: Jerome Rothenberg: Art at the Millennium: A Proposal for a New Configuration in the Arts. Panel discussion: Religious Art and Art of a Religious Nature with Frank La Pena, Kate Delos, Mikki Staton, Christina Emmanuel, Kazuaki Tanahashi, and Jerome Rothenberg (Moderator)
October 14: Panel discussion: Film as Reflection with Lourdes Portillo, Carroll Parrott Blue, Emiko Omori, Pat Ferrero, and Loni Ding. Panel discussion: Humor as Comment with Robert Arneson, Emily Hicks, Rene Yanez, and Enrique Chagoya.
October 15: Other Sources: Julian Lang: Artists as Activists in the Community . Jeff Jones: Inequities in Funding for the Arts. Lizzetta LeFalle Collins: Manifestations of a Folk Culture. Tim Dresher: Intercultural Contexts. Shifra M. Goldman: The Second Havana Biennial, Focus on the Third World. Betty Kano and Florence Wong: Asian American Artists.

Scope and Content:

This collection contains video recordings of the symposium, originally recorded on VHS cassette tape and subsequently digitized. The SFAI archives contains VHS recordings of all symposia sessions except for the "Humor as Comment" session; recordings of this session are available in digital form courtesy of the Carlos Villa estate. An archival file on this symposium is contained in the Carlos Villa Archival Artist File collection, and transcripts of some talks are included in the book, Worlds in Collision: Dialogues on Multicultural Art Issues.

Subseries 3: Sources of a Distinct Majority III: Challenge to Institution, a Contextual Symposium (April 6-8, 1990)

Extent: 9 VHS cassette tapes, digitally transferred. 1 archival file.

Historical Note:

According to the press release, this three-day symposium focused on "how art history, criticism, and other cultural institutions have responded to the needs of the multicultural arts community in recent decades, and what challenges lie ahead."

The schedule of events was:

April 6: Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Whose Culture is This Anyway? Panel discussion: Why is it so Hard to Criticize Art by Minorities and/or Art with Subjects of Human Concern? With Judith Bettelheim (Moderator), Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Charlotte Moser, David Bonetti; previously submitted papers by Judith McWillie, Mark Van Proyen, Dore Ashton.
April 7: Panel discussion: "Appropriation," Shared or Stolen? With Amalia Mesa-Bains (Moderator), Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Tony Labat, Calvin Ahlgren, Greg Tate, Thomasin Grim, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Lecture by Lucy Lippard: Turning the Mirrors Around; lecture by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: A Real History of America; lecture by Alfred Jan: What is a Minority Artist to Do?; lecture by Guillermo Gomez-Pena: Worlds in Collision; lecture by Greg Tate: BlackRock Coalition.
April 8: Panel Discussion: Questions of Quality with Peter Selz (Moderator), Kenneth Baker, Rebecca Solnit. Greg Tate, Coco Fusco, Bill Berkson. Panel discussion: Critical Agenda for the 1990s with Moira Roth, Victor Zamudio-Taylor, Mario Martinez, Dewey Crumpler, Carmen Lomas Garza, Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie, Valerie Soe, Coco Fusco (Moderator).

Scope and Content:

This collection contains video recordings of the symposium, originally recorded on VHS cassette tape and subsequently digitized. The SFAI archives holds VHS recordings of most but not all sessions. An archival file on this symposium is contained in the Carlos Villa Archival Artist File collection and transcripts of some talks included in the book, Worlds in Collision: Dialogues on Multicultural Art Issues.

Subseries 4 Sources of a Distinct Majority IV: Towards a Culturally Inclusive Arts Education (September 28-29, 1991)

Extent: 1 archival file.

Historical Note:

As described in the press release, this symposium brought together artists, educators, and administrators to "discuss changing biases in education, as well as the development of innovative and inclusive approaches to art history, studio arts, curriculum restructuring, and institutional practices."

The schedule of events was:

Saturday, September 28:

Keynote remarks by Richard P. Mesa: Culture, Art and Learning and Shirley Thornton: Education for All Children: Is This an Impossible Dream?
Panel discussion: Six Points of View: The Realities/Reasons for a Culturally Inclusive Art Education with Juan Carrillo (Moderator), Violet Fields, Yolanda Garfias Woo, Michael Kendall, Betty Ann Tetzke, Julia Marshall, Loren Bommelyn.
Lunch Break Forums: Culturally Inclusive Art 1991: New Media/New Attitudes with Ulysses Jenkins; Culturally Inclusive Role Models: Who Are They? with Regina Mouton; How do we Recycle our Curriculum to Fit the 1990s? with Victoria Plata.
Panel discussion: Relearning in Higher Education with Moira Roth, Steve French, Hung Liu, Suzanne Lacy, Chris Johnson, Michael Grady, Carlos Villa.
Panel discussion: Creative Partnership for Tough Times with Meg Madden, Nora Wagner (Moderator), John Kreidler.
Afterword by Amalia Mesa-Bains: Art Education and Community Activism.

Sunday, September 29:

Half-day workshop for participants interested in developing culturally inclusive materials for translation into workable lesson plans.

Scope and Content:

The SFAI Archives does not contain recordings of this symposium. An archival file on this symposium is contained in the Carlos Villa Archival Artist File collection, and transcripts of some talks are included in the book, Worlds in Collision: Dialogues on Multicultural Art Issues.

Subseries 5: Sources of a Distinct Majority V: Expanding American Art History to Reflect Multi-ethnic Diversity (August 17-23, 1992)

Extent: 13 VHS cassettes, digitally transferred.

Historical Note:

This symposium was "directed at making an important contribution to the re-conception of American Art History by presenting recent scholarship and central questions in areas of multiethnic traditions." Per the project description: "SFAI will present a series of four historical and contemporary multicultural art surveys from nationally recognized scholars. The conference will be addressed to four audience groups consisting of professional art historians, museum and gallery professionals, art writers, and college students. Intensive, day-long seminars led by these scholars for each audience group will be followed by a public presentation examining the theory of definitions which promote exclusion and new models of inclusion, and finally by workshops."

The schedule of events was:

August 18: Amalia Mesa Bains (AM), Mari Carmen Ramirez (PM)
August 19: Frank Lapena (AM), Rick Hill (PM)
August 20: David Driskell (AM), Dewey Crumpler (PM)
August 21: Margo Machida (AM), Betty Kano, Elaine Kim (PM)
August 22: Special Public Program "The Politics of Cultural Representation: Rethinking American Art History" with Leslie King Hammond, Lyle Ashton Harris, bell hooks, Yolanda Lopez, Keith Morrison, Moira Roth, Carlos Villa and others
August 23: Wrap-up Seminar, Leslie King Hammond

Scope and Content:

This collection contains video recordings of the symposium, originally recorded on VHS cassette tape and subsequently digitized. An archival file on this symposium is contained in the Carlos Villa Archival File collection, and transcripts of some talks are included in the book, Worlds in Collision: Dialogues on Multicultural Art Issues.

Subseries 6: Sources of a Distinct Majority VI: Queering (A)Genders: How to Have Fun in School (August 14-21, 1993)

Extent: Minimal documentation.

Historical Note:

This event was part of the summer curriculum, with an associated class taught by Catherine Lord and Millie Wilson from August 14-21 that, according to its course description, focused on the "construction/subversion/transgression of gender performers, with attention to histories of political resistance in life and art," as well as "to intersections of sexuality with constructions of race and class."

Scope and Contents:

The SFAI archives contains very minimal documentation of this event–an associated summer session class is listed in the Summer 1993 course catalog.

Subseries 7: Sources of a Distinct Majority VII: Odun de Odun de: The Global Presence of African Spirit in Contemporary Art (October 15-16, 1994)

Extent: 4 audiocasettes (digitally transferred), newsletter

Historical Note:

SFAI’s Odun de Odun de symposium was part of a "celebration of the African spirit in contemporary art" which took place at arts and cultural institutions across the Bay Area and included exhibitions, symposia, lectures, performances, and related events. SFAI’s symposium was co-sponsored by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. It "considered current controversies of national importance, including race and racism in contemporary art, the politics of display and the intercultural mix of African influences in art." ( West Magazine). Participants included: Judith Bettleheim, Oliver Jackson, bell hooks, Allison Saar.

Scope and Contents:

Documentation of this event includes audio recordings of the symposium, originally recorded on audio cassette and digitally transferred. A calendar of Odun de Odun de events is included in the September 1994 San Francisco Art Institute newsletter, as well as an introduction to the event by Mark Johnson and a conversation between Richard Powell and Dewey Crumpler. The symposium was also written up in SFAI’s West Magazine, v.1 No. 3, Winter 1994-95.

Subseries 8: Re-Historicizing the Time Around Abstraction Expressionism in the Bay Area, 1950-1970 (November 5, 2005 & September 10-11, 2010)

Extent: 1 external hard drive transferred to cloud storage.

Historical Note:

Two related symposia were held under this title, five years apart. (At times slight variations on the title were used.) A roundtable discussion took place in 2005 in conjunction with an ongoing oral history project conducted by Villa. As the program for the roundtable states, Re-Historicizing the Time Around Abstraction Expressionism in the Bay Area, 1950-1970, looked at this period in art history "from the perspectives of those who experienced it, through a series of interviews and a roundtable discussion conducted by Carlos Villa," with the purpose of asking "what artists, issues, and historic exhibitions and publications surface when reviewing this period from a feminist and multicultural perspective." Symposium participants included: Whitney Chadwick, Dewey Crumpler, Jeff Gunderson, Mark Johnson, Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins, Jose Lerma, Arthur Monroe, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Cornelia Schulz, and Carlos Villa.

A two-day symposium, and the capstone event for Villa's Re-historicizing Abstract Expressionism project, was held in 2010 in conjunction with a related art exhibition held at San Francisco’s Luggage Store Gallery. Participants included Jeannene Przyblyski, Carlos Villa, Amelia Mesa-Bains, Allen Gordon, Mark Dean Johnson, George Miyasaki, D. Scott Miller, Brett Cook, Laura Perez, Weston Takeshi Teruya, Claire Light, Yarrow Slaps, and Sandman

Scope and Content:

Includes video recording of 2005 roundtable, as well as digital files of transcription and event program

Related Collections:

SFAI's Carlos Villa Archival Artist's File contains interview recordings and transcripts from this project.

Carlos Villa's personal archives, overseen by his estate, contain recordings of the 2010 symposium.

Series IX: Culture Under Fire, Censorship vs. Activism: Setting the Agenda for the ‘90s (June 22-23, 1990)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute

Extent: 1 archival file.

Historical Note:

This symposium centered on topics of censorship and activism. Panel discussions included "Cries and Whispers: Sexuality and Censorship," and "Edifices of Power: The Role of Institutions." Participants included Joy Silverman, Branda Miller, David Levi Strauss, Dirk Dirksen, Suzanne Stefanac, Jello Biafra, Melissa Riley, Steve La Voie, Don Bajema, Andrea Juno, V. Vale, Kevin Killian, Dodie Bellamy, Dorothy Allison, Jerome Caja, Ken Dixon, Tom Jennings, Minnette Lehmann, Marlon Riggs, Susan Stewart, Michael Palmer, Robert Atkins, Drewey Crumpler, Linda Ellis, Luis Kemnitzer, and Renny Pritikin.

Scope and Content:

This collection contains artist's biographies, brochures, contact sheets, correspondence, CVs, flyers, an inventory list, notes, press clippings, and press releases documenting the symposium.

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

General Subjects:

Art--Censorship

Art and social action

Art and society

Sexuality in art

Series X: Symposia on Art and Emerging Technology in the Early 1990s (1991-1992)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute

Extent: Audio recordings, digitally transferred. Calendars and newsletters.

Historical Note:

This collection documents three symposia held at SFAI in 1991 and 1992: "Mass Media, Virtual Reality & the Persian Gulf War: A Symposium Investigating Recent Applications & Implications of the Artificial Reality Technology," "Virtual Reality: Implications and Applications of the Expansion of Technology in Contemporary Art," and "Desire, Power, Technology: The Technologized Body." These symposia brought together artists, academics, scientists, writers, engineers, and cyberhackers to consider the practice and theory of technology-based art and the emerging field of virtual reality.

Events included:

"Mass Media, Virtual Reality & the Persian Gulf War: A Symposium Investigating Recent Applications & Implications of the Artificial Reality Technology" (June12, 1991). Participants: Frances Dyson, Douglas Kahn, Margaret Morse, Chris Robbins, Avital Ronell, and Allucquére Rosanne Stone.
"Virtual Reality: Implications and Applications of the Expansion of Technology in Contemporary Art" (August 10, 1991). Participants: Scott Fisher, Sharon Grace, Brenda Laurel, Michael Naimark, Allucquére Rosanne Stone, and others.
"Desire, Power, Technology: The Technologized Body" (August 17-21 (class), August 21 (symposium), 1992). Participants: Sharon Grace (coordinator), Jaron Lanier, Ron Reisman, Stephan Beck, Alison Kennedy, Arthur and Marilouise Kroker, Avital Ronell.

Scope and Content:

All three symposium in this collection are documented in SFAI newsletters and calendars. The symposium "Desire, Power, Technology: The Technologized Body," is documented via 3 audio cassettes (Audio Tape 841, digitally transferred). An exhibition titled "Telesthesia," on view in conjunction with the symposium "Mass Media, Virtual Reality and the Persian Gulf War" is documented in a file in the Exhibition Archives collection.

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

Virtual Reality

Technology in art

Series XI: Diego Rivera Mural Conservation Workshop (July 6-8, 1992)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute

Extent: 5 hi-8 videotapes, digitally transferred, archival file.

Historical Note:

This symposium and series of related public events were organized around the conservation of a fresco painted by Diego Rivera at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1931 titled The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City. The event brought together conservation specialists with muralists Lucienne Bloch and Stephen Pope Dimitroff, both of whom had worked directly with Rivera on the creation of other frescos, as well as on previous conservation efforts. Participants included: Lucienne Bloch (muralist), Stephen Pope Dimitroff (muralist), Anne Rosenthal (conservator), Jim Bernstein (conservator), Will Shank (Chief Conservator, SFMOMA), Molly Lambert (arts administrator and conservation technician), Kathryn Reasoner (Director of Extension Education and Summer Programs).

Scope and Content:

Includes video recordings of presentations by and roundtable discussions with Lucienne Bloch, Stephen Demitroff and conservators, as well as site visits to the other Rivera murals located in San Francisco at The Pacific Stock Exchange and City College of San Francisco. Also includes event planning documents and notes, correspondence, press releases, historical information on the mural and previous conservation efforts, condition report and color slide documentation.

Related Collections (SFAI):

The Diego Rivera Collection (Collection 8) contains correspondence, blueprints, images, and other documentation related to Rivera’s execution of The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City at SFAI.

Related Collections (non-SFAI):

City College of San Francisco’s Diego Rivera Special Collection contains extensive documentation of Rivera and his time in San Francisco, particularly in relation to his Pan American Unity mural housed at CCSF.

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

General Terms:

Fresco Painting

Art--Conservation and restoration

People:

Bloch, Lucienne, 1909-1999

Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957

Dimitroff, Stephen

Series XII: A Day with The Rose (August 12, 1995)

Creator: San Francisco Art Institute; Ella King Torrey

Extent: 6 linear inches (1 file box), plus 2 videotapes (digitally transferred).

Biographical and Historical Note:

Jay DeFeo, born March 31, 1929 as Mary Joan DeFeo, was an American painter and sculptor associated with Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Although born in Hanover, New Hampshire, DeFeo grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received a bachelor’s degree in 1950 and a master’s degree in 1951 from the University of California, Berkeley. Both of her degrees were in studio art. After she was awarded a fellowship, DeFeo lived in Europe and North Africa between October 1951 to January 1953, ultimately settling in Florence for six months. While there she worked on what became her first significant body of work which showed the influence of Abstract Expressionism, the geometry of Italian architecture, Asian, African and prehistoric art. After returning to the Bay Area in 1953, DeFeo became a pivotal figure in the San Francisco Beat generation art scene.

The Rose (1958-1966) is generally considered DeFeo’s best work. It took her eight years to complete, halting her work on it only after she and her husband were evicted from their Fillmore Street apartment. The Rose is monumental in size, measuring 11x8 feet and weighing close to 2,000 pounds. DeFeo created it using an impasto technique, layering paint, carving it back and layering more paint. She also incorporated wire, beads and pearls in the layers. The Rose was first exhibited at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1969. Later in the same year, it was moved to the San Francisco Art Institute where it was housed in the McMillan conference room until 1995. The Rose is now on permanent display at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where it was moved in 1995.

The "A Day with The Rose" Symposium was intended to be a day of celebration of DeFeo and The Rose before it moved permanently to its new home at the Whitney Museum.

Scope and Content:

The "A Day with The Rose Symposium" collection consists of both audio and video recordings of the symposium, as well as various documents that are about either the symposium or The Rose itself. The symposium lasted six hours and included a screening of The White Rose, a film by artist Bruce Conner, and his recollections of DeFeo; a presentation by Phil Linhares, the gallery director, about how The Rose came to San Francisco Art Institute; a presentation by Ella King Torrey (SFAI President, 1995-2002) and Lisa Phillips (Whitney Museum) about the painting’s significance; and a presentation by the conservators Thorton Rockwell, Anne Rosenthal and Niccolo Caldararo about the conservation work they were doing on The Rose at the time. The symposium ended with a roundtable discussion about DeFeo and The Rose that featured artists, writers, curators and friends of DeFeo’s whom were also a part of the Beat generation scene in San Francisco. Those who participated in the roundtable include artist Wally Hedrick, curator Walter Hopps, poet Michael McClure, author Rebecca Solnit, author Griel Marcus, curator Lisa Phillips and Leah Levy art consultant and trustee of the DeFeo estate.

All of the documents in this collection were gathered by Ella King Torrey. Included among the documents is correspondence between the San Francisco Art Institute and the Whitney Museum about the transfer of The Rose to the Whitney and about its conservation costs. Also included is a chronology of The Rose and a proposal for the conservation of the painting. There is the original press release written by San Francisco Art Institute announcing the symposium, the attendance list, and speakers notes for Ella King Torrey and Dave Coulter for their presentations at the symposium. There are photocopied newspaper articles, some dating back to 1973 but most dating to 1995, about The Rose, its conservation needs, and about the symposium.

Subjects and Indexing Terms:

General Subjects:

Art, American

Art, Modern—20th century

Painting, American

Beats (Persons)

People:

DeFeo, Jay, 1929-1989

Conner, Bruce, 1933-2008

Hedrick, Wally, 1928-2003

Hopps, Walter, 1932-2005

Linhares, Philip E.

Marcus, Greil, 1945-

Martin, Fred, 1927-

McClure, Michael, 1932-2020

Phillips, Lisa

Solnit, Rebecca, 1961-