Hobos to Street People: Artists’ Responses to Homelessness From the New Deal to the Present exhibition had a fantastic run at the California Historical Society.
The special public programs, the publicity received, and the newly developed website for the exhibition have all contributed to raising people’s awareness to issues of poverty and to the historical parallels and contrasts between the Great Depression and the last twenty-five years of contemporary homelessness. The California Historical Society presents a bridge between historical material and contemporary issues of poverty in an exhibition that couldn’t be more appropriate to the present moment.
Hobos to Street People opened last February and featured numerous events focusing on a wide range of issues – the legacy of the New Deal on the arts, historic causes and responses to homelessness, homeless artwork programs, and artists’ role in social activism. There were panel discussions with artists and photographers, as well many group tours including a walking tour in conjunction with Laborfest.
The last of these special events will be at California Historical Society on Thursday, August 6, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, and will feature a panel discussion with artists in the exhibition, moderated by exhibition curator Art Hazelwood and including Jesus Barraza, Christine Hanlon, Doug Minkler and Jos Sances.
Over the past six months Hobos to Street People received a lot of great press. Positive reviews were included in publications as diverse as the San Francisco Chronicle, Poor Magazine, national print magazines like the Journal of the Print World and Contemporary Impressions, as well as internet art and politic sites like Art for a Change and The Arts Politic. All of this press can be seen at the website created by the Western Regional Advocacy Project for this exhibition.
The website also features the audio portions of the exhibition, including statements by the curator Art Hazelwood, exhibition historian Charles Wollenberg, homeless rights advocate Paul Boden, artists in the show, art historians and curators.
The traveling portion of the exhibition will be moving next to UC Merced and then to the Bakersfield Art Museum as it continues on its three-year tour organized by the California Exhibition Resources Alliance. This is the final chance to see the full exhibition of seventy-five prints, paintings, photographs, ceramic tile and ephemera assembled together for the California Historical Society.
Come for a final look at the exhibition and celebrate the success at the closing party
Thursday, August 13, 6 to 8 pm.
The final day of the exhibition in Saturday August 15, 12:00 – 4:30.
The California Historical Society is open Wednesday through Saturday from 12:00 – 4:30 and is located at 678 Mission Street near Third Street in San Francisco.
HOBOS TO STREET PEOPLE:
Artists’ Responses to Homelessness from the New Deal to the Present
Artists Panel Discussion - August 6, 6 to 8 pm
Closing Party - August 13, 6 to 8 pm
Exhibition runs through August 15, 2009
