News/Research

Shannon Jackson in Open Engagement

03 May, 2016

Shannon Jackson in Open Engagement

Shannon Jackson was a chair in the Open Engagement Pre-conference hosted in the Magnes Collection. Open Engagement is part of the larger Cross Sector Conference. The conference was free and open to the public.

Whether we are imagining the role of the arts in social change, whether we are imagining new structures for sustaining the arts, artists and organizations increasingly tout the importance of the “cross-sector” partnership. What does it mean to work across non-profit, for-profit, and public sectors? How do partnerships differ depending upon the domain — in public health, cultural policy, public education, urban planning, social entrepreneurship, and more? How do artists, arts leaders, and arts organizations re-skill to establish cross-sector partnerships? What do the arts bring to such partnerships, and when do cultures clash? What new knowledge can be acquired across sectors, and when is it tempting to stay in one’s own lane?

This symposium brought together artists, scholars, curators, industry leaders, community organizers, and cultural administrators to mine the goals, pragmatics, and puzzles of “cross-sector” exchange. In plenary lectures, break-outs, and workshops, we asked participants to share successful strategies and epic failures in cross-sector collaboration, exploring new practices of art-making, practitioner training, curation, cultural leadership, philanthropy, and cultural investment.

Plenary speakers and session leaders included Andy and Deborah Rappaport (Founders, The Minnesota Street Project), Lori Fogarty (CEO, Oakland Museum of California), Laura Raicovich (Executive Director, Queens Museum), Deborah Fisher (Executive Director, A Blade of Grass Foundation), Ben Grant (Urban Design Policy Director, SPUR), Nora Silver (Director, Haas Center for Social Sector Leadership, UC Berkeley), Deena Chalabi (Barbara and Stephan Vermut Associate Curator of Public Dialogue, SFMOMA), Catherine Cole (Department Chair and Professor, UC Berkeley), Shannon Jackson (Director, Arts Research Center and Associate Vice Chancellor for the Arts + Design, UC Berkeley), Paul Ramírez Jonas (Artist), Kevin Bott (Associate Director, Imagining America), and many others.

Find out more about the conference:

http://arts.berkeley.edu/cross-sector-conference/