"Exhibiting You" - Author
Art for a Democratic Society
City, State: Oakland, CAArt for a Democratic Society is an art collaboration/organization founded by Celeste Christie and Steven Damewood in April 2007. We strive to initiate dialogue between art and political communities, and between the art world and the community-at-large. We hope to encourage greater participation in society in general and in the art scene in particular, and to form relationships between artists and community groups, such as our recent work with the Teamsters and ILWU in Oakland during the Waste Management lockout. To this end, we create projects and zines aimed to encourage the writing of manifestos and art criticism without regard to education or background. We table at Oakland's First Fridays Street Fair, where we engage people in participatory art and polling and start political debates.
Art for a Democratic Society is an organization based in Oakland, California that combines aspects of traditional grassroots political organizing with participatory performance art and social practice techniques. With the goal of creating a public space for the discussion of art and its relation to politics and society, we hold a monthly event called “Street Salon”. At this event we engage art gallery audiences in interactive art projects and solicit their participation in polls about art and politics.