Publics

January 12, 2025 2:00PM-5:00PM
Event Location: Top Top Projects, 165 Geary Avenue (side entrance)

Event Information:
Publics builds off of a context of increased privatization in the arts as established in Antagonisms and Foils, exploring, this time, the multi-valenced and shifting understanding of the public. Public, as a designation, is used in many ways across various contexts be it public art, community, audience, or government ownership. This is further complicated by the understanding that art and cultural programs in Canada are valued as a “public good.” However, within a paradigm of increased reliance on private and corporate investment in the arts, it begs the question: how does this change our notions of public? Inevitably, these changes inform the work of cultural practitioners.

Curator and cultural strategist Sagan MacIsaac and curatorial collective Aisle 4 (Emily Fitzpatrick, Shannon Linde, Patricia Ritacca, and Renée van der Avoird) both have a long history of public engagement by centering meaningful community involvement and representation in their work. In doing so, Sagan and Aisle 4 both emphasize the public in public art. The event will begin with a presentation by Sagan on her work developing public art and cultural programming, offering tangible engagement tactics for artists, architects, and cultural workers. Aisle 4 will then present on their history of public engagement as a form of social practice, emphasizing the time and complexity it takes to work with communities.

Following the two presentations, Sagan and Aisle 4 will return for a panel discussion focusing on the political implications of working in public; as well as, an understanding of politics as inherent to the public itself. Through this discussion we hope to draw out some of the tensions latent within cultural production for the public in the face of greater privatization. Time for audience questions will follow the panel discussion.