LA as LAB: Innovation in Arts & Culture

Some of the most interesting innovations in the arts and culture sectors in the world are happening in Los Angeles right now. Why is Los Angeles such an incubator of innovation? Is what is happening in Los Angeles happening elsewhere?

This conference features cutting edge models and projects in the arts sector in Los Angeles, stimulating discussion on how Los Angeles arts and cultural organizations are innovating in the field, transforming theory into practice.

Schedule

Speaker Bios

OPENING KEYNOTE
STEVEN TEPPER
Dean, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts,
Arizona State University

Steven J. Tepper is the dean of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University, the nation’s largest, comprehensive design and arts school at a research university. Prior to ASU, Tepper served as associate director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy and associate professor of sociology at Vanderbilt. From 1999 to 2004, Tepper served as deputy director of the Princeton University Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies.

Tepper’s research and teaching focuses on creativity in education and work; conflict over art and culture; and cultural participation. He is author of Not Here, Not Now, Not That! Protest Over Art and Culture in America (University of Chicago, 2011) and co-editor and contributing author of the book Engaging Art: The Next Great Transformation of America’s Cultural Life (Routledge 2007). Tepper is a leading writer and speaker on U.S. cultural policy and his work has fostered national discussions around topics of cultural engagement, everyday creativity, and the transformative possibilities of a 21st century creative campus. His writings on creativity and higher education have appeared in numerous national publications including the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Huffington Post, and Fast Company. Tepper is also the research director of SNAAP, the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, which has surveyed more than 100,000 graduates of arts training institutions about their education and careers.

Tepper holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; a master’s in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; and a Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University.

CLOSING PLENARY
JOHN ECHEVESTE
CEO, LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes

John Echeveste joined LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes as CEO in September 2014, overseeing all operations of the museum/cultural center located in the Los Angeles downtown historic core. Established in 2011, LA Plaza tells the story of the history of LA and the contributions of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the region. The campus includes two restored historic buildings dating to the 1880s and a 30,000 square foot garden. LA Plaza operates as part of the family of LA County cultural organizations.

He was previously a partner at VPE Public Relations based in South Pasadena, California. Established in 1988, VPE is one of the country’s largest Hispanic-owned agencies, handling a diverse roster of local and national consumer, social marketing and public affairs accounts. Echeveste has helped develop public relations programs for major national brands such as McDonald’s, AT&T, Disneyland, Southern California Edison, Target Stores, and others.

Previous experience includes work as a newspaper reporter, television documentary writer, corporate communications officer, Congressional aide and political campaign manager. He serves on the boards of the LA County Library Foundation, California State University College of Communications Advisory Board, Pasadena City College Foundation Communications Committee, and LA Music & Art School.

He is a founding member of the Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA) and recipient of its Premio Award. He also received the Public Relations Society of America Pioneer Award in 1994. In 2003-2004, he served as president of the Public Relations Global Network, an association of 40 worldwide PR agencies. He is a graduate of California State University Fullerton with a B.A. in communications, and holds professional certificates from USC.

PHILIPPE VERGNE
Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

Philippe Vergne was appointed director of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) in March 2014. Prior to his appointment at MOCA, Vergne served for five years as director of the Dia Art Foundation, New York where he built an international reputation as a successful and committed museum leader with a deep knowledge of contemporary art, a respected curatorial vision, close relationships with artists and the international contemporary art community, and strong fundraising skills. Prior to leading the Dia Foundation, Vergne held leadership roles as Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, where he worked for over a decade organizing more than 25 international exhibitions as well as artist residencies and the Herzog & de Meuron facility expansion; as Director of the Francois Pinault Foundation in Paris; and as Director of the Musée d’art Contemporain (MAC) in Marseille, France.

Vergne’s recent institutional accomplishments include the rebuilding and transformation of the Dia Art Foundation, achieved by successfully stewarding and developing its board, fundraising for operations and capital projects, instituting long-range planning, and cultivating close relationships with artist and donor communities. Since 1992, Vergne has organized and curated monographic, group and thematic exhibitions at major institutions around the world including, among others, for Carl André, Yves Klein, Huang Yong Ping and Kara Walker, and in 2006, Vergne co-curated the Whitney Biennial with Chrissie Iles. Vergne has edited and contributed essays to numerous books and catalogues, and has written for major art magazines. He is also a frequent lecturer. In 1988, Vergne received a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Paris II, Assas and in 1989 he received a B.A. in archeology and the history of modern art from the University of Paris IV, Sorbonne, where he continued his art history studies, earning an M.A. (1991) and a Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies (first doctoral diploma) (1992).

In April of this year, Vergne was awarded the Légion d’honneur in recognition of his 24 years of service to the arts. Vergne was also named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government in 2004.

CHRISTINA YU YU
Director, USC Pacific Asia Museum

Christina Yu Yu is the Director of USC Pacific Asia Museum, the only museum dedicated to the arts and culture of Asia and Pacific Islands within a major research university. Prior joining USC, she served as Assistant Curator of Chinese Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she co-curated the exhibition Chinese Paintings from Japanese Collections, and oversaw the display of LACMA’s Chinese art galleries. This was the first major exhibition in the United States to look at the story of Chinese paintings in Japan over the course of six hundred years, and featured nearly forty masterpieces.

Prior to joining LACMA and moving to Los Angeles, Dr. Yu Yu’s previous experience includes positions with Chambers Fine Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and MoMA, in addition to being on the curatorial team at the Yokohama Museum of Art in Japan and the International Center of Photography in New York.

Her research interests include the arts of the literati in China, particularly paintings and calligraphy from the tenth to the eighteenth centuries, and contemporary art practices in Asia. She has published and lectured internationally on these topics. Christina received her B.A. from Wellesley College, M.A. from Boston University, and Ph.D. in art history from the University of Chicago.