''Pomona Envisioning the Future'' is a collaborative art project which took place in September 2003 in
Pomona, California
Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyte ...
.
The project began with a series of discussions and lectures about globalization and the future. Seventy artists, trained by nine facilitators,
created more than 800 works of art in digital media, photography, sculptures, and painting.
''Envisioning the Future'' is a mural by Kevin Stewart-Magee as a result of this art project.
Project
The community-based project named ''Envisioning the Future'' (E.T.F.) began with an idea by Cheryl Bookout, director of SCA Gallery of Pomona. She met with
Judy Chicago
Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...
in 2001 to discuss her goal to bring attention to Inland Valley arts, and revitalize downtown Pomona and its art colony.
Executed by Chicago, Woodman,
and
Cal Poly Pomona,
it was Chicago's largest project to that point, including artists from 47 communities within eight counties in California.
The project was led by Bookout and Barbara Way, Dean of
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the '' name'' section of this article for more info ...
.
It began with panel discussions and lectures about "the impact of globalization and new technologies on art and the future", which occurred over two weeks in September 2003 at
Western University of Health Sciences
Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) is a private medical school and health sciences university with its main campus in Pomona, California, with an additional osteopathic medical school in Lebanon, Oregon. With an enrollment of 3,81 ...
in Pomona.
Speakers included British art historian
Edward Lucie-Smith;
Henry Hopkins, formerly of
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...
and former director of the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
(UCLA)
Hammer Museum
The Hammer Museum, which is affiliated with the University of California, Los Angeles, is an art museum and cultural center known for its artist-centric and progressive array of exhibitions and public programs. Founded in 1990 by the entrepreneur- ...
; and other North American art historians, scholars, and artists.
Other participants included
Judy Baca and
Gilbert Luján
Gilbert "Magu" Luján (October 16, 1940 – July 24, 2011) was a well known and influential Chicano sculptor, muralist and painter. He founded the famous Chicano collective Los Four that consisted of artists Carlos Almaraz, Beto de la Rocha (Fat ...
, muralists from Los Angeles, and artists
Patrick Nagatani
Patrick Nagatani (August 19, 1945 – October 27, 2017) was an American photographer and educator perhaps best known for his work relating to the unique history of Japanese Americans including their experience with Internment of Japanese American ...
and
Isis Rodriguez.
It was then officially kicked off on September 22, 2003.
Woodman and Chicago trained nine facilitators from California's art communities who worked with 70 participants from Southern California to develop the concept for Pomona's future.
More than 800 works of art were created over a three month period, including those made in digital media, sculpture, painting, installation and performing arts.
Susan Krieg
Susan Krieg (born 1952) is an American artist known for her mixed-media collage paintings and murals. She created a series, "Archetypes of the Feminine," that consisted of more than 400 mixed media paintings. She has created murals and facilitate ...
was the painting facilitator. Some of the paintings include Marsha Shaw's ''Joy of Cloning'', and paintings that reflect Deane Swick's views about potential outcomes of conflict within the Middle East and Victoria Delgadillo's viewpoint about worker exploitation.
The photography group's submissions included works by Bob Markovich and Nelson Trombley.
Pamela Marsden composed "Electro-Acoustic Interactive Opera/Installation for Voices, Percussion and Electronics" for the performance, ''We Are All Sibyls''. It is about Sibyl, "a woman endowed with the power of prophecy in Greek mythology and therefore a natural symbol for the challenges of imagining the future."
A mural was designed by one team featuring the
Goddess Pomona.
Works of art were shown first at Pitzer College's Nichols Gallery,
with a webcast with Chicago. They were then displayed in galleries in
Claremont Claremont may refer to:
Places Australia
*Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland
* Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart
* Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth
** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footba ...
and the Pomona Arts Colony, as well as on the Cal Poly Pomona campus in early 2004.
The former gallery director at
California State University, Dextra Frankel, directed the "sprawling exhibition design". In 1967, Frankel was curator of Chicago's first major exhibition.
Mural
The mural
Envisioning the Future' depicts the past, present, and future of the City of Pomona and features the
Goddess Pomona.
after which the City of Pomona is named. It is located at Thomas Plaza
[ in downtown Pomona's Arts District]
Notes
References
External links
DVD documentary movie of "Envisioning the Future" project, 2003, 1:51 min.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomona Envisions The Future
Murals in California
Art in Greater Los Angeles
Pomona, California