New York
Americas Society, May 5th , 6pm
Trans-specific Americas: Site-Specificity and Art outside of Art
Doris Sommer, Director of Cultural Agency, Harvard University
Stephen Wright, critic and philosopher, Paris; contributor, Parachute Magazine
George Yúdice, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and American Studies; Director, Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, New York University;
Pablo Helguera, artist

This event, which initiated the discussion program of the School of Panamerican Unrest, started with an introduction of the project by Pablo Helguera followed by a debate by scholars on the paradoxes faced by contemporary art when it engages outside communities, using the Americas as a case in question. In these debate, Doris Sommer argued about how the project sought "building, rather than unveiling" Panamericanism. Of particular note was the debate with Stephen Wright, who questioned the ability of self-acknowledged art to provoke a true social impact in the social spheres, while arguing for his notion of "stealth art". In the audience, artist Antonio Muntadas questioned this position by arguing: "you may call an artist a poacher or a spy, but he will continue to be an artist".

New York
Ellis Island, May 6th, 1pm
Inauguration Speech
Ellis Island, the historic immigration gateway to America, marked for many decades the ending point—and also, the beginning— of innumerable American journeys. The Schoolhouse will be unveiled at this event, preceded by a speech and the performance of the Panamerican Anthem.

Anchorage
University of Anchorage, Alaska, May 21st
Culture, Place, and Memory
Host/Moderator: Dr. Charles E. Licka, Professor of Art History/Chair Department of Art, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Panelists: Indra Arriaga, Spot Gallery, Co-Director, Anchorage; Mark Baechtel, Arts Editor, Anchorage Daily News; Mariano Gonzales, Associate Professor of Art, University of Alaska Anchorage; Enrique Badaró Nadal, Director of the Subte Museum in Montevideo, Uruguay, Art Consultant for the Division of Culture, Montevideo, Director of Programs on Workshops for the Visual Arts, Montevideo, Current Fulbright Scholar at Matanuska-Susitna College, University of Alaska Anchorage (2005-2006).

Discussion Site: Mainstage, Fine Arts Building, University of Alaska Anchorage

Alaska, seen often as a region in the edge of the world, is home both to local cultures- some of them on the verge of extinction- and recent immigration. A discussion at the University of Alaska will address issues of memory and place as confronted by both the local and the recently displaced, and will expand on a larger discussion about the relationship between landscape and art making.

Vancouver
Helen Pitt Gallery, May 26th
Canadian Questions
Hosts: Carey Ann Schaefer and Lance Blomgren, artists and co-directors of the Helen Pitt Gallery

AA discussion with artists in Vancouver will center on the role of the arts in Canada. Often regarded as the model country for arts support in the Americas, Canada's situation in the arts is unique. This discussion debates that uniqueness and the impact that it has in the way that art is sponsored, promoted, presented, and critiqued.

Invited dialogue partners: Trevor Boddy (architecture critic, urbanist and curator), Michele Faguet (curator of Or Gallery), Charo Neville (independent curator), Aaron Peck (writer), St. George Marsh (Jacob Gleeson and Gareth Moore), Conrad Schmidt (coordinator of the Work Less Party), Jeremy Todd (visual artist and Helen Pitt Gallery director-emeritus), Elizabeth Zvonar (artist), and others

Portland
Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA)/Pacific Northwest College of Art, May 30th
The Portland Liberty Bell: Questions on Civil Disobedience
Host: Kristan Kennedy, visual arts director, PICA

On Nov. 21, 1970, a powerful bomb exploded behind Portland’s City Hall, and arguably destroyed the State’s bronze replica of the Liberty Bell. A urban myth that the Portland Liberty bell was destroyed has never been fully dispelled, along with the open mystery of who carried out this and other terrorist acts— although it was largely suspected of students and civilian activists. This discussion explores that historic moment in Portland and the US and will include a discussion civil life and unresolved social or political conflict. Documentation of the journey will be presented at the Feldman Gallery of PNCA

Calgary/Banff, Alberta
Mountain Standard Time Festival, June 3rd
Political Art: Persuasion of Alienation?
Host: Gale Allen, North American coordinator, SPU

Sponsored by The Banff Centre This discussion will seek to critique conventional modes of political art, and provide reflections on the conditions in which an artist can produce critical or provocative work in a predominantly conservative social environment.

Chicago, Illinois
Museum of Contemporary Art, June 10, 2pm; Hyde Park Art Ctr, June 11, 4pm
The Chicago Eccentrics
John Corbett, Professor, SAIC, Co-director, Corbett vs. Dempsey Gallery Ed Marszewski, Executive Director Version Festival, Lumpen Magazine; Tony Fitzpatrick, Artist; Ruth Lopez, Art & Design Editor, Timeout Chicago; Elvia Rodriguez, Visual artist, Co-Founder, Artist Collective POLVO Host: Encarnación Teruel, Director, Performing Arts Program, Illinois Arts Council

Historically, the American Midwest has been characterized by being the cultural median measure of American culture. However, the region has also generated individuals that pursue highly introspective endeavors, often of creative nature. These people are usually described as eccentrics. From H.C. Westermann to the Chicago imagists and from Henry Darger and the cartoons of Chris Ware, this panel explores whether eccentricity is a trait that is nurtured in the urban environment, one of a city in constant self-examination.

We want to acknowledge the support of the staff, faculty and students of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for the Chicago presentation of the project (Dean Carol Becker and Professor Paul Elitzik, and F, the student newspaper), and the support of the Hyde Park Art Center staff (Chuck Thurow, Allison Peters, and the rest of their staff)

Austin, Texas


This SPU stop has been canceled. The project will go directly from Chicago to Tempe.

Tempe, Arizona
Arizona State University Art Museum, June 20th
The Borders of Empathy
Host: Marilyn Zeitlin

Empathy is described, in psychological terms, the ability of putting oneself in other’s shoes. Generally taught as a moral principle of tolerance, we are encouraged to empathize with the less fortunate. However, we often draw the line of empathy at the point where we feel our own peace is compromised. What is the limit of that empathy in today’s American culture, and how do we see it taking place in issues such as immigration?

San Francisco
Museum of the African Diaspora, June 24th
In collaboration with the Mexican Museum, San Francisco
Black Americas
Hosts: Lizetta LaFalle-Collins and Tere Romo

The issue of racial divisions in Latin America is complex and not often addressed in direct ways. A recent debate on the issuing of the postage stamp of a 1940s Mexican cartoon, Memin Pinguin ( a grotesque depiction of a mulatto boy) generated great outrage and debate. This debate explores the complex cultural legacy of hundreds of years of blacks in the Americas.

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