Zócalo Public Square Zócalo Public Square

Live from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA: Artist and Bloom & Plume founder Maurice Harris, sports agent and former NFL player Jacques McClendon, and poet aja monet visit Zócalo and Kinsey Collection at SoFi Stadium to discuss what one of the world’s largest private collections of Black art and historical objects is doing at one of the world’s grandest football stadiums, why it matters, and where similar efforts are scoring big. This discussion is moderated by Khalil Kinsey, curator of the Kinsey African American Art & History Collection.

Live from the New Parkway Theater in Oakland, CA: Gig worker and advocate Sergio Avedian, Gigs founder and CEO Allen Narcisse, and the Workers Lab chief research officer Shelly Steward visit Zócalo to help us understand how we might make gig work good work. This is the fifth event in Zócalo's series “What Is a Good Job Now?,” co-presented with the James Irvine Foundation. This discussion is moderated by CalMatters reporter Levi Sumagaysay.

Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events.

Maxwell L. Stearns, constitutional law professor and author of the new book Parliamentary America, visits Zócalo to outline a three-part plan to turn the United States into a multi-party parliamentary democracy that could make our politics less maddening, more collaborative—and perhaps even more fun. What are the legal, constitutional, and political steps needed to modernize American democracy and reignite civic zeal and joy? And how different might the U.S. look if governed by a parliament of multi-party coalitions?

This program is co-presented by the Los Angeles Times, and is moderated by Los Angeles Times columnist Erika D. Smith.

This program is part of Zócalo’s inquiry, “Can Democracy Survive This Election Year?,” an editorial and event series about voters’ experiences around the world in 2024, the biggest election year in history.

What are the best ideas and models for finding good jobs for the formerly incarcerated? How can we improve the low pay and challenging working conditions in those industries that are most likely to employ people who have been in the system? And what policies and economic changes would open more possible career paths and economic opportunities for this population?

Amity Foundation president and CEO Doug Bond, Root & Rebound executive director Carmen Garcia, and Anti-Recidivism Coalition executive director Sam Lewis visit Zócalo to discuss how to build better career pathways for formerly incarcerated people.

This is the fourth program in Zócalo's series “What Is a Good Job Now?” supported by the James Irvine Foundation, and was presented on January 24, 2024.

Visit https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/ to read our articles and learn about upcoming events.

Follow Zócalo on X: https://twitter.com/thepublicsquare
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zocalopublicsquare
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

Artists across disciplines have harnessed generative AI as mind-extenders, expanding the possibilities of their work, and unleashing new ways to see the world. But as bots get more adept at human-like thought, writers, actors, and others protest in lawsuits and on picket lines, asking: What’s left for artists? Should tech companies be allowed to use existing art to train AI engines? Who gets credit—and paid—for AI-assisted creative work? What do we lose when machine brains take over aspects of our creativity, once a defining feature of humanity? And, tantalizingly, what do we gain?

LACMA’s Art + Technology Lab program director Joel Ferree, Concept Art Association co-founder Nicole Hendrix, Writers Guild of America AI working group member John Lopez, and interdisciplinary artist Sarah Rosalena join Zócalo, Arts for LA, the ASU Narrative and Emerging Media program, and LACMA to discuss whether AI heralds the end of humans making art to make sense of the world, or a new key to being and seeing. Moderated by Anuradha Vikram, art curator and author of Use Me at Your Own Risk.

This program was co-presented with Arts for LA, the ASU Narrative and Emerging Media Program, and LACMA on November 28, 2023.

Follow Zócalo:
X: twitter.com/thepublicsquare
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square

How are institutional leaders navigating the warring tides of politics and public opinion—tides that may steer them toward uncertain futures? Can organizations help artists, patrons, and the public find common ground, or productive ways to discuss their differences, in this moment of deep democratic and cultural conflict? And, even as they themselves struggle to stay afloat, how do arts institutions serve as spaces of civic engagement, community, and inclusion?

MOCA director Johanna Burton, Center Theatre Group artistic director Snehal Desai, former Oregon Shakespeare Festival executive artistic director Nataki Garrett, and Whitney Museum director emeritus Adam D. Weinberg discuss how the culture wars have impacted their work, and where they see institutions, and the arts at large, going next. Moderated by Kristin Sakoda, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.

This program was co-presented with the Thomas Mann House and Los Angeles Review of Books as part of “Arts in Times of Crises: The Role of Artists in Weakened Democracies,” on November 18, 2023.

Follow Zócalo:
X: twitter.com/thepublicsquare
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepublicsquare/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/z-calo-public-square