What is “California” art? That’s the question about 300 people will explore at the 20th annual Envisioning California Conference, Sept. 18-19 at the Sacramento Convention Center.
Sponsored by the Center for California Studies, California Imagined: The Arts of the Golden State will bring together artists, students, academicians, policymakers and others to discuss California’s great art traditions and visions of the future.
“Our basic concept for this Envisioning California Conference is to explore whether there is such a thing as California Art,” says Tim Hodson, the Center’s executive director. “Is there literature, visual art, music, film, dance or architecture that is uniquely Californian?”
Since 1989, the Center has held an annual Envisioning California Conference which seeks to examine familiar ground from unfamiliar perspectives and typically attracts attendees from the ranks of legislators and policy makers, education communities and various citizens groups. While it always has had some panels devoted to the arts, the conference typically focuses on governance, politics and public policies. But organizers decided to break with tradition to focus exclusively on the arts this year.
“To truly understand California politics and government requires an understanding of its people and art,” Hodson says. “This conference both reflects and illustrates that.”
The Center for California Studies at Sacramento State runs the prestigious Capital Fellows Programs. The center is also engaged in public policy research; civic education activities including LegiSchool, an award-winning high school curriculum program; and promoting California studies through the annual California Journalism Awards and the Envisioning California Conference.
