MFA '15 Michael Diaz Attended Open Engagement 2013 in Portland

Michael Austin Diaz, MFA 2015, recently returned from attending the Open Engagement conference in Portland, OR. Open Engagement is an international conference that sets out to explore various perspectives on art and social practice and expand the dialogue around socially engaged art making.

Through conversations, presentations, workshops, interviews, open reflections, and related projects, participants set out to investigate, question, celebrate, and challenge the current state of art and social practice.

Presenters included Tom Finkelpearl, former director of New York City’s Percent for Art, and the current director of the Queens Museum of Art, Claire Doherty, director of Situations, and recipient of a prestigious Paul Hamlyn Breakthrough Award, and Michael Rakowitz, an artist and educator whose work has broached complex political and social issues. His works ranging from paraSite, Return, and The Breakup have grappled with issues of homelessness, political conflict, and popular culture.

For more information visit: http://openengagement.info/