Public Knowledge

FAIN: GW-254115-17

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (San Francisco, CA 94102-4522)
Dominic Willsdon (Project Director: August 2016 to October 2021)

SFMOMA is planning a new initiative entitled Public Knowledge which will convene artists, humanities scholars, and diverse communities in an extended public inquiry into the cultural impact of urban change. The initiative will produce a series of public programs and publishing outputs extending over more than two years. Public Knowledge will be organized in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Library and will take place primarily at library branches in San Francisco’s neighborhoods, at a time when the city is undergoing profound changes to its public culture, brought about by the rapid growth of the technology industry. The goal of Public Knowledge is to: connect knowledge and understanding from the humanities to current conditions of urban change in U.S. cities; encourage public dialogue, via the humanities, on the cultural impact of urban change; and create compelling and accessible ways to present this dialogue through the work of SFMOMA artists dedicated to public engagement.

Associated Products

Public Knowledge website (Web Resource)
Title: Public Knowledge website
Author: Tomoko Kanamitsu
Author: Stella Lochman
Author: Lindsey Westbrook
Author: Megan Martentyi
Author: Jon Christensen
Author: Cory Doctrow
Author: Sophia Fish
Author: Jenny Odell
Author: Shannon Mattern
Abstract: Public Knowledge was a collaborative, multifaceted project that promoted public dialogue among a dynamic network of partners on the cultural impact of urban and technological change in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the stakes involved in surviving, resisting, adapting to and attempting to shape these changes. Public Knowledge operated from 2017 through 2019, and was led by SFMOMA in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Library. Public Knowledge was funded by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Our collaborators—including artists, librarians, and community partners—researched and created relevant, accessible and imaginative experiences for museumgoers and library patrons that nurtured a culture of inquiry and fostered public participation on key questions related to the profound shifts taking place in San Francisco. Public Knowledge comprised their contributions, including thought-provoking projects led by contemporary artists from near and far; free talks, discussions, performances and creative workshops; and interviews and essays from The Stacks, our online publication.
Year: 2017
Primary URL: http://publicknowledge.sfmoma.org/
Primary URL Description: Primary site for all Public-Knowledge-related activities
Secondary URL: http://publicknowledge.sfmoma.org/events/?archived
Secondary URL Description: Calendar of Public Knowledge events

Public Knowledge Map (Web Resource)
Title: Public Knowledge Map
Author: Tomoko Kanamitsu
Author: Stella Lochman
Author: Kayleigh Thorpe
Abstract: Civic Data Solidarity invited participants from organizations that generate and manage independent databases on a range of civil society issues to bring their data and learn how to create interactive maps to “untangle complex relations that impact them and their communities.” Through workshops and Graph Commons, Burak’s free online collaborative platform for making, analyzing and publishing network maps, participants created bridges and connections between different sets of data across organizations and even political interests. Ultimately, the goal was to teach people how to use mapping and visualization tools to strengthen communities, connect resources and knowledge, and foster civic solidarity through data. Check out the Civic Data Solidarity workshop maps: Silicon Valley Diversity: Companies and Their Investors and Treasure Island Cleanup and Redevelopment, interact with our own Public Knowledge map, and use Graph Commons to begin mapping your own network.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://https://graphcommons.com/graphs/37948c73-f3db-451e-9691-c86b3cbd3ccc
Primary URL Description: Project page for Civic Data Solidarity
Secondary URL: http://graphcommons.com/graphs/37948c73-f3db-451e-9691-c86b3cbd3ccc
Secondary URL Description: Public Knowledge Map URL

Hit Parade (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Hit Parade
Director: Josh Kun
Producer: Dominic Willsdon
Producer: Deena Chalabi
Abstract: Hit Parade examined contemporary issues of gentrification, eviction, and neighborhood change through an engagement with local music history.
Date: 01/01/2017
Primary URL: http://publicknowledge.sfmoma.org/hit-parade/
Primary URL Description: Primary site for Hit Parade information and links
Access Model: LP vinyl record
Format: Other

San Francisco Scale Model Finally Home After 77-Year Absence (Article)
Title: San Francisco Scale Model Finally Home After 77-Year Absence
Author: Sam Whiting
Abstract: Article describing the Public Knowledge Take Part project.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/art-exhibits/san-francisco-scale-model-finally-home-after-77-year-absence
Primary URL Description: Webpage of article
Access Model: Open access
Format: Newspaper
Periodical Title: San Francisco Chronicle
Publisher: San Francisco Chronicle

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