Culture Catalyst (2018)
Optic Nerve (Lynne Adler, Jules Backus, Jim Mayer, Michael Nolan, Sherrie Rabinowitz, John Rogers, Mya Shone)
Artworks, 1975
Video, 30:25 total running time
In 1975, the National Endowment For the Arts provided a grant for Bay Area video producers Optic Nerve to produce Artworks. The video was made to show how a city would benefit by using funds from the federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) to hire artists to work in neighborhoods, a process that took place through the Neighborhood Arts Program. The NEA showed this video in cities around the country, sometimes with representatives from the San Francisco Bay Area who encouraged other cities to follow the pioneering work of the City of San Francisco, which was the first to use CETA funds to employ artists. Respected community artists and leaders appear at various points in the film, and are named in the credits.
Culture Catalyst: Celebrating the Art and Legacy of the Neighborhood Arts Program
Co-curated with Jaime Cortez
April 27 - June 9, 2018
San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery
San Francisco, CA