Discussion with Keynote Presenter
Edgar Arceneaux

Wednesday, October 15, 9:30 am – 11:00 am
Sycamore, M2/International Ballroom Level

Join conference keynote Edgar Arceneaux for an informal discussion.

Born in 1972, Los Angeles-based artist Edgar Arceneaux received a BFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and a MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia. In addition he’s participated in artist in residencies at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, Project Row Houses in Houston and at the Fachhochschule Aachen in Germany. He’s had solo exhibitions at the UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, Kitchen, NY, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects and The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York. His work was recently included in the Whitney Biennial 2008. Arceneaux’s work resides in public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the UCLA Hammer Museum and the Carnegie Museum.

Arceneaux is currently directing the Watts House Project (WHP), an artist-driven urban revitalization project centered around the historic Watts Towers in Watts, California. WHP is a large-scale artwork-as-urban-development engaging art and architecture as a catalyst for expanding and enhancing community. The neighborhood surrounding the Watts Towers presents a stark contrast to the well-maintained aesthetics of this national monument, and currently the residents have limited means to capitalize socially or economically on this cultural currency. WHP operates with the understanding that social and economic challenges are tied to basic ecological problems and aims to develop an incremental, nuanced and sustainable model that marries ecological concerns and practice with social and cultural remedies. By creating a physical and social infrastructure for creativity, WHP will catalyze artistic production and community pride of place, forming partnerships that can lead to real solutions, hope, and change.