CREATIVE TIME: Bernadette McVerry


On October 12, the Arts Research Center at UC Berkeley and the Curatorial Practice at the California College of the Arts are partnering to host a live-streaming of the Creative Time Summit, an annual conference in New York that brings together cultural producers–including artists, critics, writers, and curators–to discuss how their work engages pressing issues affecting our world. To jump-start the conversation in advance of the event, attendees have been asked to submit a paragraph on a keyword associated with one of the summit themes: Inequities, Occupations, Making, or Tactics. This posting is by Bernadette McVerry, UC Berkeley student double majoring in art history and art practice.
 
Keyword: Inequities
 
There is inequality entrenched in our society, even in places such as Berkeley where we would like to believe that we are more accepting and open than other parts of the world. My good friend Tom is currently fighting for the rights of the homeless in his opposition to the Sit/Lie bill. It seems against the spirit of this liberal city that we would attempt to pass a bill that disenfranchises such a significant number of the population. I have been mulling over ideas of how it might be possible to create art that expresses the inherent discrimination against the homeless in this bill. My friend is very involved in organizing and petitioning to help stop this bill from passing, and I would like to be able to contribute to his cause in some way. Art has the ability to affect people from all classes and phases in life, and is powerful when attempting to prevent the suffering of a population.