Friday February 12, 7:30 PM at the #SkidRowMuseum Erick Lyle, will read from his book STREETOPIA and talk about the devastating gentrification of Market Street and The Tenderloin in San Francisco.
Lyle is a novelist and organizer. While living in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, he worked with Paul Boden of the Western Regional Advocacy Project. Lyle, with Chris Johanson and Kal Spelletich, curated Streetopia bringing together neighborhood residents with at least 132 artists, performers, writers, filmmakers, activists, thinkers, and public policy makers in venues in the heart of San Francisco, to address the show’s themes of Utopian aspiration for the city. Streetopia took the form of a large-scale arts exhibition. and 5 weeks of events –including a free restaurant in the Tenderloin. The exhibition, Streetopia, imagined what art and the city would be like — if art was from and for the people. At the Skid Row History Museum & Archive Lyle will show images of Streetopia, read from the book that he’s created about it, and engage in dialogue with LA artist / organizers and the public.
Leading up to Erick Lyle’s visit on February 12, Los Angeles Poverty Department will host three afternoon community conversations led by Skid Row artist / activists, exploring different ideas from the book and their relevance to Los Angeles.
Conversations will take place at The Skid Row History Museum & Archive, 440 S. Broadway-mezzanine, LA CA 90013, on Saturdays from 3:30 to 5:00 pm
* January 23: introduction by Sean Gregory
* January 30: introduction by Christina Collier
* February 6: introduction by Riccarlo Porter
Come join the conversation about:
• City designed arts districts that result in displacement.
• What kind of Art can improve a neighborhood?
• What does it mean to “improve a neighborhood at all?”
• The history of SRO hotels as home for travelers, artists, and iconoclasts.
• Utopia in The Tenderloin.
• The Free Café.
• Competing realities in the center of the city.
The book includes writing by: Rebecca Solnit, Chris Kraus, Sarah Schulman, Erick Lyle, Chris Johanson, Sam Green, Daphne Gottlieb, Amy Francheschini, Antonio Roman-Alcala, Ivy Jeanne Mcclelland, Sy Wagon, V. Vale, Kal Spelletich, Veronica Majano, Jesse Drew, Renny Pritikin, A.C. Thompson, Micah Bazant, Lewis Wallace, Marshall Weber, Joey Alone, Eve Ekman, Isaac Jackson, James Tracy, Veteran’s Alley Mural Project, And The Water Underground.
