Art for a Democratic Society profile picture

Art for a Democratic Society

Art, make your voice heard!

About Me

We believe that open debate/discussion and the exchange of ideas is a precondition to a healthy and vibrant art scene. We are an organization based in Oakland dedicated to initiating and nurturing open dialogue and debate about art, politics, and culture.
We run Street Salon , part of First Fridays Community Events, as part of Art Murmur in Oakland, every First Friday of the month, at the corner of 23rd and Telegraph in Downtown Oakland.
Email us if you'd like to be on our email list to be notified of upcoming planning meetings and events, or if you'd like to contact us and you're not on myspace:
[email protected]
Click the banner above to view our blog with our archive of historical manifestos!
Fill in the blanks and make your own manifesto here , in an interactive art project by Michael Betancourt.
How to Write an AvantGarde Manifesto (A Manifesto), by Lee Scrivner
Message us to add your manifesto!
Check out Oakland art:

My Interests

Art

I'd like to meet:

Artists from Oakland and the greater Bay Area, art educators, galleries and art organizations.

My Blog

Results from September Street Salon

We received a whopping 50 questionnaires this time, go Oakland art scene! The results are below. Also, the Polarizer, which was smaller than usual.We also debuted 4 manifestos, part of our Local Man...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Sun, 09 Sep 2007 06:57:00 PST

Find someone’s opinion on the street: the game!

We played the "Easter Egg Game" this time, which isn't a very good name, but that's all we came up with on the spot. A better name may have been "The Secret Game," or "Get Opinionated: the Game!," or...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Sun, 09 Sep 2007 06:46:00 PST

Results from August Street Salon

Our June Questionnaire asked respondents whether they agreed or disagreed with a series of statements about the Oakland art scene. The questions were divided into 5 categories. 25 respondents total ...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Sat, 18 Aug 2007 12:12:00 PST

Manifesto!

We've compiled a handy list of numerous manifestos available on the internet for your perusal below. We will have some manifestos printed as zines available at our next Street Salon, so that people m...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:59:00 PST

Community Consensus Manifesto

We've finished the Community Consensus Manifesto! If you visited us at August's Street Salon, you may have picked up one of our nifty mini-zine copies. If you didn't get a chance, you can get one at...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:27:00 PST

Open call for local art Manifestos!

What is the place of art in today's society? What is art's relationship to politics; to mass culture? What should art seek to achieve  can art achieve anything? Are rhetorical questions a useless dev...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:07:00 PST

Results from July Street Salon

Hello,We've got lots of results from last month's Street Salon. 30 people responded to our questionnaire asking them whether they agreed or disagreed with statements either directly quoted from or al...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:25:00 PST

What art movement do you belong to?

We've made a fun personality quiz:What art movement do you belong to?Thanks to Andrew Royal for the idea.A4DS
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:40:00 PST

Artists 4 Solidarity with Locked-Out Workers!

Solidarity Rally July 11                 Support locked-out Teamsters, Members  of Machinists and ILWU at Waste Mis-Management &n...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 08:26:00 PST

Show your solidarity with locked-out Waste Management workers!

This is from the Central Labor Council of Alameda County of Alameda County, AFL-CIO.You can find more information at the Labor Council websiteTEAMSTERS, MACHINISTS DENIED WORKBY WASTE MANAGEMENT(Oakla...
Posted by Art for a Democratic Society on Sun, 08 Jul 2007 10:36:00 PST