We are now in the throes of bailing out the self-serving financial sector of our economy. If only the $700 billion could be used to "bail out" cultural and arts organizations, particularly alternative ones, this would be a different country, wouldn't it? Two of the groups that would definitely get my vote for the money are Intersection for the Arts and Youth Speaks, as seen recently in their collaborative exhibition, somewhere in advance of nowhere: youth, imagination and transformation, closing December 20th. Given the election results (with its large contingent of youthful participants) and current citizen expectations, the title seems prophetic.

Simone at 18th & Guerrero

The public art component of the exhibition consists of eighteen painted portraits of members of SPOKE, the youth advisory board members for Youth Speaks, edged with short quotes from each participant transcribed from interviews, along with their recorded poems in their own voice, accessed via your phone (cell or otherwise) or online at www.evanbissell.com. The project is headed by Evan Bissell, an artist and educator who painted the acrylic and oil pastel portraits on prepared media mounted on wood panels. The portraits are located throughout San Francisco at sites chosen by each poet, and most will be exhibited through December 20th. You can pick up a map at Intersection, see four of the original portraits and a large painting/mural of the corner of 16th and Mission, browse information at project tables and displays of works resulting from a series of free workshops aimed at adolescents. Searching for the portraits is a fun treasure hunt and a charming diversion that brings the viewer to places he or she may never have been (in more ways than one).

Installation at Intersection for the Arts

Limiting myself to the portraits only, there are many dimensions to this project, including the involvement of Youth Speaks, the self-representation of the poets, the style and location of the portraits and its underlying transformative motivation. As background, I must say it is a privilege to experience a Youth Speaks performance, composed of fresh and vital young poets who have clearly done the hard work of finding authentic voices and authentic places for themselves. Founded in San Francisco in 1996, Youth Speaks works with 45,000 teens each year in the Bay Area and has created partners in 36 cities throughout the country. It is a preeminent organization that San Francisco can be proud of as a cultural contribution to the country at large.

Eugeniya at West Portal

In their self-representation, the project poets chose the performance pose from photographs, the interview quote which edges the portraits, the poem that can be phone-accessed, and the site of the portrait installation. Each says something unique about the individual poet. The portraits themselves are painted as partial figures, from the head to the shirt-tail of the poet, set in an abstract background reminiscent of a Rothko painting. The figures float in colorful space and facially and bodily characterize the poet in the midst of a joyful performance. At least one of the poems seems to have been recorded live. For the most part, they are displayed as individual portraits. But one of the sites includes four portraits at the 16th and Mission BART station as you exit on the escalator. This is the most dramatic presentation of the portraits. If you take the time to look, the experience feels like a sacra conversazione but without the Virgin. For those of you who are not Renaissance scholars, a sacra conversazione (holy conversation) is a picture where figures (usually saints) are shown in a unified spatial setting, surrounding the Virgin in silent communion or in conversation with each other. But, in this case, the conversation is with the viewer. All eighteen portraits are also soft-messaged recruitment posters. Instead of "Uncle Sam Wants You," they say "Follow Me." Individually, the portraits can seem lonely and isolated; grouped together, as at the BART station, they are more compelling.

Hazel, Nestor, Rena & Bryant at 16th Street BART Plaza

What is problematic is the style in which these portraits were painted. They are realist and seem heroic, monumental, and larger than life, rather than intimate and magical, in tension often to the poetry being presented. A more experimental style would make them more visually interesting and revealing. Also, the sites chosen were sentimental, and, one can guess, within the poets' comfort zones, located for the most part in the Mission, Western Addition, Tenderloin and SOMA. Three of the portraits have been removed, one pair because of a power struggle between co-owners at a restaurant, and another because of tagging in an area with high gang activity. For those remaining, they bring a sense of charm to often squalid areas of the city. Other than Terry's portrait at the Botanical Garden at the Strybing Arboretum, all of them are (or were) on the "reservation." It is not surprising (although disappointing) that no poet wanted his or her portrait to be in Pacific Heights or Russian Hill, a symbolic integration and transgression. Part of the motivation for the exhibition was to give recognition and voice to a young population within their own communities. However, the whole city needs to hear from this group and be transformed and inspired, Pacific Heights and Russian Hill as much as the Mission. These works, and most especially the poetry, are of interest to everyone. As Tino says, "History is Ours" and indeed it is. Some great things are coming, we now know. This exhibition is also inspirational and challenges everyone to work toward authenticity or as Luara asks, "Where is your Here?"

More information about somewhere in advance of nowhere: youth, imagination and transformation, can be found at www.theintersection.org.