est.2006-2017
Program Director | August 2016-May 2017
Curator | 2014-2016
The Great Wall of Oakland was a non-profit organization and a 100' x 100' projection installation in Oakland's Uptown District. Our mission was to activate and enliven public space, give talented local artists a prominent place to screen their work, and to enrich the lives of people living and working in Oakland. As a free outdoors arts venue in the heart of Oakland, the Great Wall served an extremely diverse population - on average, roughly 25,000 people interacted with the Great Wall of Oakland each year. In addition to commissioning new work for the Wall, we also ran a teaching artist-in-residence program in local schools, as well as a project that offered local residents the opportunity to get hands-on experience in small-gauge video creation.
The Digital Pulse - February 2015 (Associate Curator) | A program exploring rhythm, digital abstraction, and mathematics with selections by the Great Wall's Curatorial Committee. Works by Sandra Araujo, Guang Zhu, Matteo Pasin, and Shannon Novak.
Quotidian Hypnosis - November 2015 (Lead Curator) | A program of films that illustrate the quotidian using many formal elements of hypnosis (slow motion, dissolve, superimposition, structuralism). Participating artists Heather Engen, Talia Feder, Kuesti Fraun, Vivian G, Holly Wilson, Laura Gower, and Alexei Dmitriev.
Writ Large: Poem Fields + Motion Poems - November 2016 (Program Director) | Writ Large is proud to present the Bay Area premiere of Stan VanDerBeek's "Poem Fields" series (new transfers of these late-60s computer-generated works), as well as a curated selection of highlights from the MotionPoems series pairing poets with filmmakers, followed by a "Too Hot For the Wall" screening featuring karaoke-based works.
On the Road (w/ Mobile Arts Platform) - December 2016 (Program Director) | On the Road is a series of projects addressing the rapid migration, displacement, and gentrification currently happening in Oakland. In 2016, The Mobile Arts Platform (MAP) and the Great Wall began partnering to create "On the Road," a mobile video screening and interactive art-making project that transforms a classic 1963 Ford Falcon into a community engagement tool that explores the changes and migration patterns of Oakland, and particularly the impact to artists. Featuring works by: Michael Salu, Nelson Enriquez, students from Oakland School of the Arts, and Mobile Arts Platform.
On Celluloid - February 2017 (Program Director) | Highlighting the virtues and possibilities inherent in film stock, On Celluloid pairs modern experimental works with classics, centering on topics of light, the body, and landscape. Featuring films by Michael Walsh, Tomonari Nishikawa, Standish Lawder, Michael Wawzenek + Traci Hercher, Gary Beydler, and more.
On the Road (w/ Mobile Arts Platform) - March 2017 (Program Director) | Mobile Arts Platform (MAP) and The Great Wall of Oakland present a series of films that approach and critique the changing landscapes of Oakland - focusing on subjects of gentrification, historical documentation and preservation, and the vibrancy and beauty of our city. Mobile Arts Platform will also facilitate a conversation between Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, Prelinger Archives, and Shayvan Ahmad + Santana Bellas of "The Gentrification of Oakland." Featuring works by: BAVC, Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, Richard Hernandez, and Prelinger Archives.
OCEBA (Oakland Congress for Experience-Based Art) - March 2017 (Co-Organizer) | A two-part, two-day convening of non-commercial, artist-run, and experimental art spaces in Oakland, in which participant groups came together to identify challenges and resources, to discuss opportunities, and collectively work to identify solutions to the rapid changes impacting the art community in Oakland.