Press Release: SOMArts announces 2022–2023 Curatorial Residents

Now in it’s 12th season, SOMArts announces 2022–2023 Curatorial Residents
The Indigo Project curated by Bushmama Africa and Isha Rosemond
Muni Raised Me curated by Sasha Vu, Meymey Lee, and Celi Tamayo–Lee

July 20, San Francisco, CA–SOMArts Cultural Center is excited to announce the curators who will shape the 12th season of the Curatorial Residency program. Designed to offer emerging to established curators tools to further their practice and explore timely social issues through arts & culture, SOMArts’ Curatorial Residents have transformed our large-scale exhibition space into a site of collaborative creation and innovation for over a decade.

This year’s Curatorial Residents create multi-faceted exhibitions focused on local, national, and global concerns in one of San Francisco’s most recognizable gallery spaces. Bushmama Africa and Isha Rosemond kickstart the 2022–2023 Curatorial Residency with The Indigo Project which demonstrates the living connection between Indigo, Cotton, and Denim across the temporal geography of the African Diaspora.

“I applied for this residency as an assignment from my ancestors who wanted to be honored and celebrated artistically,” shares Bushmama Africa.

In Spring, SOMArts opens Meymey Lee, Sasha Vu, and Celi Tamayo-Lee’s multidisciplinary exhibition Muni Raised Me, a love letter to working-class San Francisco and an exploration of belonging; to a land that is not ours, that we will never own, but that we owe.

“Muni Raised Me is excited to build with other artists and organizers who were born and raised in San Francisco! Those who were raised in San Francisco have a unique and important perspective to share. We’re curious about what will happen if you get enough of us in a room together to make art,” says Meymey Lee.

Awarded through an open submission process, this unique program is a year-long incubator for curatorial research, mentorship, planning, and realization. SOMArts Curatorial Residency recipients receive the following support: a month-long exhibition with accompanying public programming, a project grant, and 9-months of planning and technical support, outreach assistance, and professional mentorship provided by SOMArts’ staff.

The following residencies will culminate in a two month-long exhibition and are integral to SOMArts’ exhibition programming in 2022–2023:

The Indigo Project
Curated by Bushmama Africa and Isha Rosemond
Opening Reception: December 9, 6–9 PM PST
Exhibition Run: December 10, 2022–February 5, 2023

Muni Raised Me
Curated by Meymey Lee, Sasha Vu, and Celi Tamayo-Lee
Opening Reception: February 23, 6–9 PM PST
Exhibition Run: February 24–April 9, 2023

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ABOUT SOMARTS CULTURAL CENTER

SOMArts Cultural Center, founded in 1979, cultivates access to the arts within the Bay Area by collaborating with community-focused artists and organizations. Together, we engage the power of the arts to provoke just and fair inclusion, cultural respect and civic participation.

SOMArts plays a vital role in the arts ecosystem by helping activate the arts citywide. We do this by providing space and production support for non-profit events, as well as fairs and festivals throughout the Bay Area, and offering a robust program of art exhibitions, classes, events and performances that are affordable and accessible to all. SOMArts’ exhibition programs receive critical support from the San Francisco Arts Commission and The San Francisco Foundation, and are sponsored in part by a grant from Grants for the Arts.

SOMArts is located at 934 Brannan Street—between 8th and 9th—within 2 blocks of 101, I-80, Muni lines and bike paths. For public information call 415-863-1414 or visit somarts.org. Stay connected by following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.