Catalyzing Community Creativity

Did you know that the San Diego region boasts the 11th largest artist population in the nation?

Here at The Foundation, we’re doing our best to help crack the top 10 next year. Through the Creative Catalyst Program, The San Diego Foundation strengthens our local creative economy by supporting emerging and established artists and engaging our communities in the artistic process.

Engagement is Key

Art should be for everyone. As such, many of the Creative Catalyst projects awarded in 2015 focus on connecting communities and creating a larger story from community member experiences.

In its third cycle of awards, Creative Catalyst projects invite community members to explore their artistic side and help shape final art pieces and productions. In the coming months, be sure to check out the following opportunities and be part of that creative process.

Upcoming Creative Catalyst Projects

• Silent Buzz: The Plight of the Honeybee
  View honeybee sketches and studies of artist Roberto Salas’ project “The Silent Buzz” between June 13 and July 26, 2015 at Art Produce in North Park.This is the first phase of the project, which seeks to build awareness and the importance of the bee population. In time, Salas will create large-scale ephemeral bee sculptures made of bird food to be strategically placed throughout San Diego. Birds will begin to eat and diminish the bee structures, which represents the decline and disappearance of this important species.

• Paper Pattern Story Paper Cutting
  During Oceanside’s First Friday Art Walk in June, July and August, artist Bhavna Mehta will be in the Oceanside Museum lobby working on her final installation. Storytellers of all ages are encouraged to join in, share their story, and help her cut paper.Workshop participants will draw and cut patterns and simple images they believe reveal themselves to each other. As various designs, common patterns and rhythms, connections and archetypes become apparent, Bhavna will weave them together into a cut paper installation in which a larger overarching narrative will emerge.
• Olfactory Memoirs
  How has scent contributed to your childhood memories?Artist Brian Goeltzenleuchter’s project “Olfactory Memoirs” is a performance length production and an interactive website that challenges both emerging and experienced writers, between the ages of 14 and 80, to reconstruct childhood memories through the sense of smell. Throughout the performance these fragrances play the role of olfactory landscapes (“scent-scapes”) intended to add a sensory dimension to the performance by connecting audiences more deeply to the narrative texts read on stage.Share your stories about scent memories of childhood by visiting his project website where you can upload a story or read stories from those that have already been submitted.

Learn More

The Creative Catalyst: Individual Artist Fellowship Program provides opportunities for local professional artists like Bhavna and Brian to create work that advances their careers and increases civic engagement and social capital within San Diego neighborhoods.

Learn More

About Vi Calvo

As the Community Impact Manager at The San Diego Foundation, Vi works with local governments, nonprofits, academic institutions and community groups to identify and support strategic partnerships throughout the region aligned with Work, Enjoy, Live and Learn (WELL). Vi earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications from UC Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from the University of San Diego.

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