Summer Update

Hello friends,

I’m hopeful that your summer is filled with some wonder. Wonder that lets your imagination wander and also another kind, where you briefly marvel at the relentless and chaotic policies shaping and destroying so much life – and then figure out something to do about it. I’m not big on parties but if you haven’t found some way to support folks running for office in 2018 it might be a good time to try some of these groups https://www.actionalliance.co/#members or something specific swingleft.org. If you are looking for some light summer reading I cannot help – but if you’re looking for something heavier check out by brother Todd’s new book https://toddntucker.com/book-judge-knot/ and his article just out this week in Politico “How Mexico Could Force America’s Hand on Immigrants.”

For me, this summer is somewhat different than the last few summers in that I am no longer teaching summer school (our program now runs on a conventional academic schedule without summer school) or organizing the In/Out symposium – which is now archived in video/photo here https://inoutarchive.wordpress.com/ along with our companion series of public Conversations@Moore here https://conversationsarchive.wordpress.com/. Oh, and peaking of school – our program at Moore is still accepting applications on a space available basis (with scholarships available) for Fall 2018. If you want more info feel free to contact me or check out Moore.edu/SEA.

One of the things this change in schedule allowed for was a bit of space to do something new, allowing for growth and reflection. I was fortunate enough to go through the Rockwood Leadership Institute’s “Art of Leadership” program. I can’t recommend this program enough, if you’ve been thinking about how to stretch yourself to reach new goals, while also being mindful of the blockages that prevent that work. There are not many contexts that foreground leadership of individuals while also being mindful of collectivity. I could say more. So reach out if you want to hear more.

Looking forward this summer there is still much to be done, including finishing a new video project, starting some new writing, and doing a fair amount of public workshops – which really represent the kind of accessible adult education I am increasingly excited by. Those have been and will include:

• A workshop on “Building & Maintaining Partnerships” at Cultureworks in collaboration with the Vision Driven Artists program https://www.facebook.com/events/1024698524344706
• A introductory session on the theme of how artists use archives as part of the Institute of Contemporary Art’s innovative “Extra Credit” series which is really intended to be a kind of advanced art appreciation course with different instructors over the summer http://icaphila.org/programs/9184/extra-credit-artists-making-history-from-archival-impulses-and-archival-activism
• And finally I am preparing to teach a 2 week course based on my project “Organize Your Own: The Politics and Poetics of Self-Determination Movements” with artist Dan S. Wang. The class will take place at Ox-Bow School of Art in Michigan in August. http://www.ox-bow.org/summer-2018-cal/2018/7/29/organize-your-own

And in a somewhat related spirit, my contribution is one of many to a recent book about how to teach socialy-engaged art called “Art As Social Action” https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/allworth-press/9781621535522/art-as-social-action/

There are also a few things “Coming Soon” I want to shout out!

• I contributed an interview to the forthcoming book on the work of Faith Wilding http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/F/bo31276209.html
• Rosten Woo and I have collaborated on a new visual essay for the catalog of “Walls Turned Sideways: Artists Confront the Justice System” opening this fall at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, curated by guest curator Risa Puleo. Details are here https://camh.org/event/walls-turned-sideways/ Working with Rosten on this project has been a real joy of the last year and we are plotting for new phases in the years to come, so keep an eye out for those.
• This fall at Moore we have some really exciting events in our Conversations@Moore series including in September with photographer Zanele Muholi and her “Women’s Mobile Museum” team (Presented in partnership with Leeway Foundation and Philadelphia Photo Art Center) and then in December with the editors of “The Wall of Respect: Public Art and Black Liberation in 1960s Chicago.” All fall at Moore we will be hosting the 25th anniversary retrospective exhibition of the Leeway Foundation, for which I have served as a curatorial advisor, keep an eye out for details from the Galleries at Moore.
• And finally, my curatorial project “Organize Your Own: The Politics and Poetics of Self-Determination Movements” is continuing to travel to its final stops including: Kalamazoo, Portland, and Louisville – so get in touch if you are in any of those places and keep up with the project on social media @organizeyourown or at https://organizeyourown.wordpress.com/

I am hoping you all are well and that we can keep in touch – contact me if are coming through Philadelphia!

Sincerely,

Daniel