Print Public – Municipal Artist-in-Residence

Print Public – Municipal Artist-in-Residence (2023-2024)

Kala, in partnership with Berkeley Civic Arts and with additional support from UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund, welcomes the new cohort of the Print Public municipal artist-in-residence program.

PILOT CLIMATE EQUITY ACTION FUND: Cheryl Derricotte
SAN PABLO AVENUE SPECIFIC PLAN:  Marcel Pardo Ariza

Print Public Overview: From its founding days, Kala Art Institute was envisioned as a place where people gather to exchange creative ideas and share technology and tools. Expanding on this idea, Print Public  takes this exchange from the Kala studios out to the surrounding neighborhood and city. Since its inception in 2012, Print Public  has provided an opportunity for artists to create temporary public art projects along the San Pablo Avenue corridor and throughout the City of Berkeley allowing artists to meet people where they are, on the street, at bus stops, markets, shops, and in the neighborhood, connecting artists and the community.

During the pandemic, Kala’s public art residency and community engagement project Print Public evolved with support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Our Town grant. Kala began partnering with the City of Berkeley’s Civic Art Program to place artists-in-residence in select municipal departments. This new municipal artist-in-residence program invited artists to work alongside city departments on COVID-19 recovery with a focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and community well-being. We are excited we are continuing this partnership with a second cohort of municipal artists-in-residence who will be working with Kala and the City of Berkeley’s Planning Department.

The Planning Department is currently working on two projects that will be the focus of the municipal artist-in-residence program: the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan; and the Office of Energy and Sustainable Development’s Climate Action Plan.

About the municipal artist-in-residence program: Kala’s Print Public partnership with the City of Berkeley is a municipal artist-in-residence initiative looking for 2 artists/artist teams to work as cultural strategists with the City of Berkeley’s Planning Department to work on the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan, and the Pilot Climate Equity Fund.

Special thanks to UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Community Partnership and the City of Berkeley for funding this program in part and to our project partners in the Planning Department and UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design: Department of City & Regional Planning for sharing your expertise.

San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan: The City of Berkeley is developing the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan which will create a framework to define a community vision for the future of San Pablo Avenue. The vision will identify opportunities for improvement and help develop policies that can be applied along San Pablo Avenue to encourage and support a diversity of housing, commercial activities and public amenities.

Pilot Climate Equity Fund: The Office of Energy & Sustainable Development is partnering with the Ecology Center as part of the Pilot Climate Equity Fund to elevate the voices of under-represented voices in climate and resilience, pilot and build capacity in local community organizations, and increase access to information and resources for climate resilience and electrification efforts.

Print Public 2023-2024

Print Public – Municipal Artist Residency at City of Berkeley

Print Public Municipal Artist-in-Residence Award includes:
Stipend: $11,500 project stipend, and an additional $1,000 for materials
Studio Residency: Up to 20 months of studio residency time at Kala Art Institute with 24/7 access to our communal studio spaces and access to additional resources including artist project spaces and meeting space.
Kala Class: Sign up for a Kala art class or workshop that will provide training in a chosen area of printmaking and/or digital media and orient artists to Kala’s art-making facility.
Exhibition: Each artist selected is included in a culminating Print Public exhibition and will be asked to create concurrent public programming that is free and accessible to the Berkeley community.
Community: Access to a community and network of approximately 125 artists working at Kala annually, participation in Kala events, and support of Kala staff.

Program Period: The 2023-2024 Print Public period is March 1, 2023 through Dec 31, 2024 / Exhibition runs through Feb 15, 2025

Through Print Public, Kala aims to provide a platform for artists to work on interdisciplinary projects with digital or print media while animating public space, reaching new communities, building local partnerships, and deepening neighborhood ties. Print Public  has been supported by The California Arts Council, The City of Berkeley’s Civic Arts Program, The James Irvine Foundation, UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

KQED Article about the origins of the Print Public municipal artist-in-residence.