Diverse Discourse

CURATING AND THE CRISIS OF THE PUBLIC DOMINIC WILLSDON Leanne and George Roberts Curator of Education & Public Practice, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Curating is the task of making art public. It may entail producing exhibitions, but also performances and collective actions, talks and discussions, screenings, classes and workshops, media content and books. But how is it possible to make art public in a time and a place when the very idea of the public is broken? Dominic Willsdon will address this question with reference to curatorial projects he has collaborated to produce -- in Brazil, England, South Africa and the United States. He will draw on ideas collected in his book Public Servants: Art and the Crisis of the Common Good, co-edited with Johanna Burton and Shannon Jackson, which is published this month. TICKETS Diverse Discourse is free, but RSVPs are requested. Click here to reserve tickets. ABOUT DOMINIC WILLSDON Dominic Willsdon is Leanne and George Roberts Curator of Education and Public Practice at SFMOMA, where he directs a curatorial department of pedagogical and cultural programming that comprises school initiatives, public dialogue, performance, and film. Willsdon was Pedagogical Cloud Curator of the 9th Mercosul Biennial in Porto Alegre, Brazil (2013) and […]

Artists of all disciplines, including performance, are encouraged to apply for a studio visit with Spring 2017 Diverse Discourse Visiting Lecturer, Claudia La Rocco. **Artists who applied in Fall 2016 do not need to reapply but may update their applications if desired. Please email Taylor Hoblitzell, Exhibition and Program Coordinator, at [email protected] to reopen your application. Artists who applied prior to Fall 2016 need to reapply and can email Taylor Hoblitzell to reopen their application.** Diverse Discourse brings national curators, artistic directors, and critics to Houston to present a free public lecture and conduct studio visits with selected Houston-area artists, performers, and writers. Diverse Discourse provides a significant opportunity for area artists in all disciplines (including performance) to have their work reviewed by a variety of distinguished arts professionals, fostering a cultural exchange across the nation between artists and cultural producers. Eligibility requirements: Must reside in Harris County Must NOT be currently enrolled in a degree-granting program (ie BFA or MFA) Must be a DiverseWorks member at any level (artists who participated in the 2016 Luck of the Draw are current DW members; click here to join today) Please note: Artists are chosen for studio visits by each visiting lecturer. You will be notified directly if […]

Criticism is Dead. Long Live Criticism A Diverse Discourse Lecture by Claudia La Rocco April 12, 6:30 pm, Matchbox 4 Reserve free tickets here Claudia La Rocco is the author of The Best Most Useless Dress (Badlands Unlimited), selected poetry, performance texts, images and criticism, and the novel petit cadeau, published by The Chocolate Factory Theater as both a print edition of one and a four-day, interdisciplinary live edition. She edited I Donʼt Poem: An Anthology of Painters (Off the Park Press) and Dancers, Buildings and People in the Streets, the catalogue for Danspace Projectʼs PLATFORM 2015, which she curated. Her collaborators include the choreographer Michelle Ellsworth, the performance company Findlay//Sandsmark and the saxophonist/composer Phillip Greenlief, with whom she is animals & giraffes. A columnist for Artforum, a contributing editor to Emergency Index (Ugly Duckling Press), and writer-in-residence at On the Boards theater, she is editor-in-chief of SFMOMA’s Open Space. About this talk, La Rocco says: The demise of traditional criticism has long been rumored. But of course it continues, in various fits and starts, alongside platforms that (need it be said?) make everyone a critic. What now is the role of this tradition of public thinking out loud within current public discourse, […]

Houston-based artists working in all disciplines (including performance) may apply for a studio visit with Diverse Discourse visiting lecturers. Artists are selected for studio visits by each visiting lecturer. Selected artists will be notified directly by DiverseWorks staff to schedule a visit. Click for online application... Fall 2017 Diverse Discourse visiting lecturers are Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks, 2017 Whitney Biennial Co-Curators. Studio Visit Application Deadline: October 30 Diverse Discourse Lecture w/ Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks Wednesday, November 15, 6:30 pm Dudley Recital Hall Fine Arts Building, Rm 132 University of Houston Co-presented with the Art History Program at the University of Houston School of Art

SPRING 2018 DIVERSE DISCOURSE LECTURE & STUDIO VISITS: DREW KLEIN, PERFORMING ARTS DIRECTOR, CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER (CAC), CINCINNATI STUDIO VISITS: Artists must apply to be considered for a Diverse Discourse studio visit with Drew Klein. Artists working in all disciplines, especially performance or multi-disciplinary artists, are encouraged to apply. STUDIO VISIT APPLICATION DEADLINE: Tuesday, April 3, 2018 ONLINE APPLICATION LECTURE w/ DREW KLEIN: Tuesday, April 17, 6:30 pm at Rec Room, 100 Jackson Street, Houston, TX 77002 free and open to the public; Rec Room bar will be open at 5:30 pm ABOUT DIVERSE DISCOURSE: Diverse Discourse brings national curators, artistic directors, and critics to Houston to present a free public lecture and conduct studio visits with selected Houston-area artists, performers, and writers. Diverse Discourse provides a significant opportunity for area artists in all disciplines (including performance) to have their work reviewed by a variety of distinguished arts professionals, fostering a cultural exchange across the nation between artists and cultural producers. ABOUT DREW KLEIN: Drew Klein is Performing Arts Director at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. There, he curates and oversees the Black Box Performing Arts Series, an eight month season of performance-based projects that explores the full spectrum […]