Opening Celebration
The Socrates Annual 2024
Saturday, September 14, 2024
3 – 5 pm
Free, RSVP encouraged
The Artist Fellows
Kimberly Chou Tsun An, Jill Cohen-Nuñez, Utsa Hazarika, Landon Newton, Mamoun Nukumanu, Juan-Manuel Pinzon, Vick Quezada, Petra Szilagyi, Nala C. Turner
Each year Socrates presents an exhibition of new commissions made by artists selected through an Open Call. Featuring new works produced on-site by the Artist Fellows, The Socrates Annual 2024 exhibition addresses the theme of “Invasive Species,” considering the legacies of species migration alongside sociopolitical themes and myths of invasion related to people, animals, and plants. These projects consider the politics of settlement, illuminate ancestral agricultural technologies, facilitate human – land interactions and propose symbiotic resonances for earth’s future inhabitants.
The Socrates Annual 2024 opening celebration free and open to the public and will include activations and performances initiated by Artist Fellows.
Activations 3pm – 4pm: Join artist Kimberly Chou Tsun An for a late-summer harvest of medicinal herbs from her work “Yours, Mine, Ours” as well as other artworks and perennial plantings in the park. Learn about plant allies, share knowledge, and help bundle and process DIY tea blends to share with community — and to enjoy on site and take home.
She’ll be joined by special guest Li Schmidt (she/her), a Taiwanese American farmer based in Winters, California (unceded Patwin land), founder of Cultural Roots Nursery. Established in 2020, Cultural Roots Nursery aims to heal the connection between the Asian diaspora and ancestral foodways by increasing the abundance and availability of culturally important heritage plants.
4:30pm: Artist Vick Quezada will activate Juan Deere, a converted commercial John Deere lawn mower that has been transformed into a raised-bed garden of teosinte grass, retrofitted with a cascading steel frame. For this durational performance they will mow the grass in the Park. About The Fellowship
The Socrates Annual Fellowship and exhibition reflects Socrates’ founding commitment to artistic experimentation and excellence, while also nurturing artists’ careers. Artists are selected through an open call and receive financial support, access to Socrates’ outdoor studios and technical support, and inclusion in a Park-wide exhibition. Since 2001, 279 artists have participated with many subsequently receiving further commissions for public art projects. The Socrates Annual Fellowship & Exhibition is one of the Park’s longest running programs and is an important training ground for early career artists to gain experience creating art in the public realm.