Examining the Role of the Museum

“The Museum and Its Meaning: Public Life and Public Histories” is the topic of a roundtable conversation April 29, 2003, at California State University, Monterey Bay. The event is free and open to the public.

The evening discussion will be the concluding event in a two-day gathering that will focus on the way in which museums serve their local communities and how that service responds to the complexity and diversity of public life.

The event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Visual and Public Art (VPA) at California State University, Monterey Bay; the Reciprocal University for the Arts Project based at CSUMB; and the Monterey History and Art Association.

“VPA is focused on a new role for the artist as an agent of change and in relationship to community. Our community-based program is extended through the Reciprocal University for the Arts Project, which supports our work in the regional community. Through community partnerships, our students are given the opportunity to develop project-based work, establish internships and complete community research. It is with this in mind that we are holding this two-day conference,” said Amalia Mesa-Bains, director of the Institute of Visual and Public Art.

Participants include:

• Tere Romo, curator, MACLA (Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana) in San Jose
• Jennifer Gonzales, art historian, University of California, Santa Cruz
• Mark Johnson, gallery director, San Francisco State University
• Val DeLang, director of education, San Jose Museum of Art
• Richard Gadd, director, Monterey Museum of Art
• Dennis High, director, Center for Photographic Art in Carmel

Among the issues to be discussed include the responsibilities of museums to reflect their constituencies; best practices museums engage in to protect, preserve and present public histories; how museums can expand their collections, curatorial approaches and arts education to include new communities or old communities that have not been participants; and how museums can learn from the funds of knowledge that communities bring to the institutions.

Participants will visit campus classes on April 28 and 29, then conclude their two days on campus with public presentations and the roundtable discussion. The presentations will include strategies that have been successful in addressing community, diversity, service and public life.

For more information, contact Alison Clifford at 582-3130.

What: Roundtable conversation on “The Museum and Its Meaning”

When: Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Time: Reception at 6 p.m., roundtable from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Where: University Center Living Room, Building 29

Cost: Free, but parking fee must be paid

Information: Alison Clifford, 582-3130