AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

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Open Engagement
Accepting proposals for Open Engagement 2016: POWER
April 29–May 1, 2016

Proposal deadline: November 2, 2015

Oakland Museum of California
1000 Oak St.
Oakland, CA 94607

www.openengagement.info
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Open Engagement (OE) is an annual, three-day artist-led conference dedicated to expanding the dialogue around, and creating a site of care for the field of socially engaged art. Founded in 2007, OE has evolved into an unparalleled hub for practitioners and audiences of socially engaged art to assemble. OE is the only conference on this subject of this scale that operates on an inclusive open call model that supports emerging and established artists and collaborates closely with national institutions to further the networks of support for socially engaged art.

We are currently accepting proposals for Open Engagement 2016: POWER. Local, national, and international artists, activists, academics, cultural producers, administrators, curators, educators, writers, thinkers, doers, and makers of all ages are encouraged to propose programming for OE 2016. Proposals are due November 2.

"Power is the ability to make desired results happen. OE invites participants to explore this concept broadly and expansively. What is power in the present age? How do we effectively demand it—and how we create it for ourselves? What are the innovative strategies for empowerment before us? What are the mechanisms by which we ensure fair and equitable distribution of power for all? How do we conceive of ourselves and how do we share power with others?"—René de Guzman, OE 2016 Curator

Open Engagement 2016: POWER will take place April 29–May 1 at the Oakland Museum of California and additional sites throughout the Bay Area. The conference will explore the centralized theme of POWER, guided by the curatorial vision of René de Guzman, and will feature keynote speakers Angela Davis and Suzanne Lacy.

OE is excited to announce the next phase of growth: a national consortium that will situate the conference in Oakland, Chicago, and New York over the next three years. Open Engagement: POWER, presented in partnership with the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) and the California College of the Arts, marks the first year of this three-year cycle, followed by Chicago (2017: JUSTICE), in partnership with University of Illinois Chicago, and concluding in New York (2018: SUSTAINABILITY), in partnership with the Queens Museum. Each year will focus on a singular theme, exploring major issues at play and at stake in socially engaged art. Annual programming will be chosen from an open call for proposals, under the direction of an appointed curator from the region and selection committee comprised of local partners, students, artists, educators, alongside national consortium members including New York-based non-profit A Blade of Grass.

OE is a site that supports multiple forms of knowledge and encourages non-traditional conference forms. Potential participants are invited to contribute by submitting proposals for presentations, panels, discussions, workshops, events, interventions, and more. Logistical support projects and social gatherings are also welcome. Proposals that can respond to specific spaces and that take into consideration the context of the host site, Oakland Museum of California, are encouraged. OMCA brings together collections of art, history, and natural science under one roof, featuring indoor venues with capacities ranging from 6–260, including a hot tub lounge and a partial airplane, and outdoor spaces that can accommodate 50–500, including the garden and Peace Terrace.

OE works to honor multiple ways of engaging in dialogue and to build up the community surrounding socially engaged art. Open Engagement is ADA and family welcoming.

Learn more and apply online at www.openengagement.info.