A Partnership Between Art and the Public to Design San Francisco’s Future

By Convening Dialogue Among Diverse Communities, Yerba Buena Creates Culture That Stirs Civic Action

Who gets to design the future of life?

This is a question that we posed recently at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, where I am very proud to work. Focusing on inquiry and our promise to be the creative home for civic action, we invited people—artists, designers, planners, and more—to discuss and debate that question. And by gathering diverse perspectives around this line of inquiry, we produced a cascading series of answers that made an impact far beyond the arts.

Indeed, this abundant conversation led to new ways …

By Deborah Cullinan | June 22, 2017

Rescuing the Vanishing Sounds of Central America’s Garifuna People

In Tiny Belize, Old and Young Artists Unite to Reclaim a Musical Heritage

Ivan Duran — Interview by Reed Johnson | June 22, 2017

What reggae is to Jamaica and samba is to Brazil, Garifuna music is to my country of Belize, a small Central American nation wedged between Guatemala and Mexico.

This …

How We Brought a Pan-Latin Flavor to Portland Theater

For the Milagro/Miracle Company, Being a Cultural Minority Has Been a Boon

By José Eduardo González | June 22, 2017

It may appear surprising or counter-intuitive to operate a bilingual, Latino-centered theater company in a city that is less than 10 percent Latino.

But for me, my wife Dañel Malán, …

Is That a Soviet Soldier—or Superman?

In Bulgaria, a Collective Called Destructive Creation Illegally Remakes Old Monuments to Start Discussion

By Vesselina Bozhinova | June 22, 2017

The sun rises above Sofia’s skies. It seems like an ordinary day in 2011. But as people pass near the centrally-situated Sofia University, they forget their hurry and come to …

This Color Can Be Dirty, Deceptive—and Divine

Cloth to Computers, Blue’s Rich History Keeps Multiplying Its Meanings

By Joe Mathews | June 9, 2017

The meaning of blue lies in its contradictions.

The color is associated with introversion and introspection, but it’s also associated with the expansiveness and openness of oceans and skies. It’s a …

With Crocheting Needles, My Immigrant Grandmother Wove a New Life in America

A 16th-Century Folk Art Was Her Passport from Sicily to Upstate New York

By Kathleen Garrett | June 8, 2017

The winter rains had subsided for the moment, but the coastal night air remained chilly and damp. My rent-controlled apartment, with its lack of insulation, mirrored the outside evening …

The Evolution of L.A.’s Art Scene

There Is More Public Funding and Support Than Ever, but It Was Fun to Be the Underdog

California Can Reconceive the Arts by Offering More Choices and Ways to Participate

Demographic and Technological Shifts Could Let Arts in the Golden State Better Serve Communities

California’s Last Stand Against San Francisco Imperialism

Only San Jose Can Stop the City by the Bay from Gaining Too Much Power and Money

Bankrupt San Bernardino is Rich in the Arts

To Advance Its Revival and Change the Narrative, the City Should Invest in Creativity

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