Great Cities Speakers Series Presents Creative Time President and Creative Director Anne Pasternak Discussing the Importance of Art and Public Space

Anne Pasternak, president and creative director of Creative Time, a New York City arts organization that creates unconventional opportunities for artists to activate and engage urban spaces, will be featured at the 2008 Great Cities Speakers Series, 6-7 p.m., Monday, December 1, at the San Jose Repertory Theatre, 101 Paseo De San Antonio. A reception will follow at 7 p.m. to encourage further discussion. This presentation and reception are free to the public. However, reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by email to info@1stACT.org

Pasternak’s talk, “How Artists Enrich Public Space,” looks at how the role that artists play in reframing people’s everyday experiences of their urban surroundings and the importance of having artists involved in the dialogue regarding the enrichment of public space.

Pasternak has been a leader at Creative Time since 1994. Recent projects include screenings of Mark Tribe’s “Port Huron Project” in Times Square, David Byrne’s “Playing the Building” and Jenny Holzer’s “For the City” light projections at Rockefeller Center. Other Creative Time projects have included exhibitions and performances in the historic Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage, sculptural installations at Grand Central Station, sign paintings on Coney Island, skywriting over Manhattan, as well as the twin beacons of light that illuminated the former World Trade Center site six months after 9/11. Over the past decade, Pasternak has also worked closely with artists Christo and Jean-Claude, Doug Aitken, Laurie Anderson, Gary Hume, Vik Muniz, Takashi Murakami, Shirin Neshat, Steve Powers, and Cai Guo Qiang. Pasternak is committed to initiating projects that give artists the opportunity to innovate their practice and reflect on contemporary society — while engaging millions of people with art that permeates everyday urban life. In her role at Creative Time, she helps to foster artistic experimentation, enrich public space and the everyday experience, and forefront artists as key contributors to democratic society.

Taking part in the discussion with Pasternak is San Jose Public Art Director Barbara Goldstein. Goldstein is the editor of “Public Art by the Book,” a primer recently published by Americans for the Arts and the University of Washington Press. Prior to her work in San Jose, Goldstein was public art director for the City of Seattle. Goldstein has worked as a cultural planner, architectural and art critic, editor and publisher. From 1989 to 1993, she was Director of Design Review and Cultural Planning for the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. She has written for art and architectural magazines both nationally and internationally, and has lectured on public art throughout the United States, and in Canada, Japan, China and Taiwan.

Produced by San Jose’s Office of Cultural Affairs, 1stACT Silicon Valley and the Commonwealth Club of California, the Great Cities Speakers Series engages residents, business and civic leaders as well as those who will be directly impacted by the evolution of the Envision San Jose General Plan 2040 — the key planning document that will guide San Jose’s growth, character, and service ambitions over the next 10-30 years. This series of monthly public lectures is designed to provoke thought, discussion and imagination about the city of the future and to bring important outside perspectives to local and regional efforts on civic planning, culture, art and design. The lectures are free.

The Great Cities Speaker Series is also supported by the American Institute of Architects-Santa Clara Valley Chapter, the American Planning Association (APA) California Chapter-Northern Section, the Fairmont Hotel San Jose, the San Jose Repertory Theater and the San Jose State University Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

The Office of Cultural Affairs is part of the City’s Office of Economic Development. Together, they foster cultural and economic development as related strategies for building San Jose as the creative center of Silicon Valley. The Office of Cultural Affairs coordinates services for outdoor events and festivals, offers financial support for arts and culture providers, supports arts education, and leads the development of public art works throughout the city. For more information, please visit www.sanjoseculture.org