The City of
Santa Monica with support from the NEA Our Town program, will debut a temporary
artwork installation by local artist Renae Barnard at Bergamot Station on
December 15th, 2016. The artwork is located within People’s Park at
Bergamot Station Arts Center, and will be on view daily until January 15th,
2017. People’s Park will not be accessible to the public for the duration of
the installation, though the artwork remains visible and activates the park
space. This project is the last of a series of six temporary projects funded by
the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Santa Monica as part of the
City’s Our Town program grant received in 2013.
Propagate Progress is
a participatory community-building event that culminated with this sculptural
installation. Barnard states that “the project explores and memorializes our
community’s diverse visions for society's future progress.” According to
Barnard, much of her work grapples with what progress means, including changes
in our environment, as well as changes in equality for women, LGBTQs and people
of color. This paper sculpture is not intended as a permanent monument.
Rather, it is a “progressive” and, therefore, ephemeral gesture of community
and will deteriorate with time and weather. In the same way “progress”
today becomes history tomorrow, this sculpture is about transformation and
change.
The NEA Our Town grant, which the City
received in 2013, supports temporary public art interventions in and around the
Bergamot Station Arts Center in celebration of the arrival of the Expo Line – a
new, multimodal transit hub. Previous activities for the program included Amir
H. Fallah’s Perfect Strangers Art and Performance Festival and Kate
Johnson’s Everywhere in Between, an all-encompassing installation of
video and light projections with live dance and music. Both projects were
curated by 18th Street Arts Center. Two additional components of the Our
Town program were Ed Moses, an installation by John Cerney, P2S,
a projection piece by local artist Alia Malley, and most recently Because It
Has A Peel, a sculptural installation by Joy Taylor.
Renae Barnard is a multidisciplinary artist living
and working in Los Angeles. Barnard’s work has been shown at Harriet & Charles
Luckman Gallery, Annenberg Community Beach House Gallery, Berkeley Art Center,
SOMArts Gallery, Pete & Susan Barrett Gallery, Grace Albrecht Gallery, Los
Angeles Municipal Gallery, Peggy Phelps Gallery as well as screened at U.S. and
international film festivals. Barnard has been the recipient of many awards
including but not limited to Outstanding Experimental Film, Sue
Arlen Walker and Harvey M. Parker Memorial Fellowship, Armory Center for the
Arts Teaching Artist Fellowship, Ahmanson Annual Fellowship, Christopher Street
West Art & Culture Grant, Lincoln Fellowship Award and the Pasadena Arts
Council Fiscal Sponsorship. Barnard has spoken about her work at the Open
Engagement Conference at the Queens Museum, NY, The Long Beach LGTBQ Film
Festival, Shoshana Wayne Gallery and Los Angeles Municipal Gallery.
ABOUT THE CULTURAL AFFAIRS DIVISION
The Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division brings the City’s art scene to life for residents and visitors each year by supporting engaging and accessible cultural events for all ages throughout the year. Cultural Affairs nurtures local arts organizations, promotes artist involvement in the community, manages the landmark Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and presents and produces innovative programs citywide at the Annenberg Community Beach House, the historic Miles Playhouse, 1450 Ocean and in the city’s parks, enriching Santa Monica’s reputation as an international cultural destination. For more info visit smgov.net/arts.
The Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division brings the City’s art scene to life for residents and visitors each year by supporting engaging and accessible cultural events for all ages throughout the year. Cultural Affairs nurtures local arts organizations, promotes artist involvement in the community, manages the landmark Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and presents and produces innovative programs citywide at the Annenberg Community Beach House, the historic Miles Playhouse, 1450 Ocean and in the city’s parks, enriching Santa Monica’s reputation as an international cultural destination. For more info visit smgov.net/arts.
Image Captions
Renae Barnard
Propagate Progress at Bergamot Station, 2016. Photo
courtesy of Abby Sin.
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Laura Elizabeth
Becker | Cultural Affairs Supervisor | Cultural Affairs Division
City of Santa
Monica | 310.458.2220
x5622
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