Reminder: art opening: What Cannot Be Taken Away: Family and Prison... @ Thu Aug 12 6:30pm - 9:30pm (Queer Things)

more details » art opening: What Cannot Be Taken Away: Family and Prisons Project at Somarts SOMARTS CULTURAL CENTER'S MAIN GALLERY PRESENTS What Cannot Be Taken Away: Family and Prisons Project August and September Exhibitions and Public Programs Resident/featured artist: Evan Bissell in collaboration with Community Works Opening reception: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 6:30 – 9:30pm Artist talk: Thursday August 12, 6:30 – 7:00pm Exhibition: August 12 – September 11, 2010 Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Friday 12:00 – 7:00pm, Saturday 12:00 – 5:00pm Public programs information below Click here for online publicity images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/somarts/sets/72157624496560696/ "Let's create some love through the work and be able to accept our differences and the conditions of our lives. Because they say; my father this, my mother that and this and that…if we can go ahead and whatever we create with these pieces, let that be acceptance of our experiences and move to that point of forgiveness." – Teak, San Francisco Jail, 2010 San Francisco, CA, June 9, 2010 — There are over seven million youth in this country with parents in the legal justice system. What Cannot Be Taken Away: Families and Prisons Project is a new exhibition of collaborative paintings with Evan Bissell and Community Works that share the experiences of eight individuals who have experienced this rupture in their own families. Resulting from eight months of intergenerational, creative dialogue between Bay Area youth who have incarcerated parents, and fathers who are currently incarcerated in San Francisco jail, the exhibition centers around eight life-size collaboratively designed and created portraits. The exhibition also includes interactive wall drawings, installation pieces, audio documentation of the process and a dynamic workshop series. As an art teacher in Bay Area public schools, Bissell began to reflect on how expanding prisons and declining schools affected the bedrock of many young peoples' lives: family. The result of these reflections, What Cannot Be Taken Away provides the framework for the individuals involved to express, heal and educate themselves and others. As one youth participant shared, "Having people who have been through what you've been through, you'll want to listen to them more. And when you can relate to someone, that's like the biggest thing you can do to help someone heal, empathizing, just being like, 'I know what you've been through, man I've been through it I know it's hard, but there's another way there's another road.' … It's about accountability and building community." The portraits, painted in a dramatic realism by Bissell were designed with each participant, so that one portrait includes a participant watching herself as a young child reaching out for her dad while another pictures a participant at the zoo/jail with his daughter. Through the collaboration and dialogue, the works not only speak powerfully to one of the most pressing issues in the nation but also serve as a model of radical community building and an educational container for healing. Ultimately, the paintings will be publicly installed in the Bay Area. The dialogue involves multiple social justice programs, including Community Works (CW), an organization that engages youth and adults in arts and education programs that interrupt and heal the far-reaching impact of incarceration, as well as Resolve to Stop the Violence, a restorative justice program at the San Francisco Jail, Project WHAT!, and ROOTS, programs working with youth with incarcerated family members around raising awareness and creative expression. SOMArts Gallery Director Justin Hoover commented, "Evan Bissell's work is a unique approach to social responsibility where an individual acts as a hub for collaborative and creative social justice. In this way, What Cannot be Taken Away highlights some of the most vital social efforts in the local community to use the arts for healing, peace and justice". Exhibition Programming All events free, all ages friendly, and open to the public (unless otherwise stated). Advance registration strongly recommended – free registration on Eventbrite.com for each event. 1) Forgiveness Workshop with Evan Bissell and Sujatha Baliga Saturday, August 14, 2:00 – 5:00pm A participatory workshop looking at the power of forgiveness, and its role in community and individual peace. Open to all levels (minors must be accompanied by an adult). Seating limited, preregister at: http://forgivenessworkshop.eventbrite.com 2) Man Alive: Stories from the Edge of Incarceration to Flight of the Imagination: Performance and discussion with Community Works' Theater for Change Production, Women's Reentry Center and Project WHAT! Wed, August 18, 12:00 – 2:00pm This event is a closed event for students of the Five Keys charter school only. 3) Writing Workshop with Chinaka Hodge and Elena Berman Thursday, Aug 26, 2010 5:00 – 7:00pm For writers of all experience levels (minors must be accompanied by an adult). Seating limited, preregister at: http://bissellwritingworkshop.eventbrite.com 4) Visual Arts Workshop with Evan Bissell followed by closing reception Saturday, Sep 11, 2010 2:00 – 4:00pm, reception to follow. A hands-on workshop for artists of all levels (minors must be accompanied by an adult). Please bring a photograph, poem, lyric, writing, article, or fact relating to healing and justice. Seating limited, preregister at: http://visualartsworkshop.eventbrite.com All events are FREE and to be held in the SOMArts Cultural Center Main Gallery 934 Brannan St, San Francisco, CA 94103 Enter down long driveway. Street parking available and flat rate parking is accessible at Brannan & 8th St SOMArts is within two blocks of the Muni lines number 12, 19, 27 and 47. ABOUT SOMARTS CULTURAL CENTER Insurrection, Connection and Community through the Arts SOMArts Cultural Center (South of Market Art Resources, Technology, and Services) maintains one of four cultural facilities owned by the City of San Francisco and operated by nonprofit arts organizations. SOMArts serves approximately 450,000 people with its year-round schedule of community arts classes, theatrical performances, gallery exhibitions and technical services' support of festivals and parades throughout the city. SOMArts also provides affordable event space for local nonprofit organizations to present showcases, fundraisers and exhibitions. For more information about upcoming events, space rentals and technical services, visit www.somarts.org or call 415-863-1414. SOMArts exhibitions are supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission's Community Arts and Education Program, with funding from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund. When Thu Aug 12 6:30pm – 9:30pm Pacific Time Calendar Queer Things Who • Larry Bob Roberts - creator

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