Summer Salon Series 2011: What does a city need?

Thursdays, June 2 through September 1, 5:00 - 9:00 pm.

"The chief worth of civilization is just that it makes the means of living more complex; that it calls for great and combined intellectual efforts, instead of simple, uncoordinated ones, in order that the crowd may be fed and clothed and housed and moved from place to place.  Because more complex and intense intellectual efforts mean a fuller and richer life.  They mean more life.  Life is an end in itself, and the only question as to whether it is worth living is whether you have enought of it."  -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Okay, so what does a city need?  The answers are not easy to come by and they are not always agreed upon, but they are part of an important conversation that applies to us all.  In response to the exhibition Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts Movement, the Museum will spend 14 weeks examining the multiple answers to this question with the help of contemporary artists, musicians, poets, and speakers. Join us every Thursday evening for new art and new conversations on how we build better cities, better communities, and better citizens—all in the format of a salon.

Below are the scheduled themes and presenters for the 2011 Summer Salon Series. For a more detailed listing of each Thursday's events, please visit the Museum's calendar.

The Summer Salon Series is sponsored by Wells Fargo and Westfield Horton Plaza.  Our partners include The San Diego Architectural Foundation and Agitprop.

What does a city need?

June 2: Shelter

Featuring: Omar Lopez, Councilman Todd Gloria

June 9: Dialogue

Featuring: David Casey, Tom McDermott, Jonas Yip, Wai-lim Yip, Alain Cohn, Carlos Medina and the Bitwise  Operators

June 16: Dignity of Labor

Featuring: John Dillemuth, Brian Zimmerman, Class Dismissed (film)  and LUMPS

June 23: Identity and History

Featuring:Susy Bielak, Ash Smith and the Save Our Heritage Organization (SOHO)

June 30: Identity and History

Featuring: Edward Bosley, Edward Kihn and Agitprop & the 2837 University

July 7: Green Space/Civic Space

Featuring: Natalia Calderon, Héctor Ivan Delgado Estrada and Dr. John Marciari

July 14: Green Space/Civic Space

Featuring:Lara Bank, Richard Gleaves

July 21: Creativity (part of Culture & Cocktails)

Featuring: Thomas Chapman

July 28: Economy and Social Consumerism

Featuring:Brian Goeltzenleuchter and Katharine Whitcomb, Sandra and Ben Doller, Jaroslaw Kapuscinski and the Border Corps

August 4: Edges

Featuring: Rubén Ortiz Torres and My Barbarian

August 11: Design and Planning

Featuring: Adam Manley, Ben Houge, Dr. Geoffrey West

August 18: Design and Planning

Featuring: The Sumi Ink Club, Matthew Hebert, Jericho Brown, Miki Iwasaki and The San Diego Architectural Foundation

August 25: Access to Resources

Featuring: The Tree Ring, Lea Dennis, Bruna Mori, Agitprop & the 2837 University

September 1: Virtual Cities and Utopian Visions

Featuring: Ela Boyd, Joshua Tonies, Wendell Kling, Kate Farris, Ilya Kaminsky

Can't get enough? Check out highlights from last year's Series.

You can check out the RFP used to curate The 2011 Summer Salon Series here.