SocialSocial is an ongoing project by SexEd (Norene Leddy and Liz Slagus). It is a model for artists to work with people who actively engage with the public, but not in an art context, to bring a fresh perspective to socially engaged art. The concept: dinner, drinks, a brief presentation on the history and current examples of socially engaged art projects, and conversations about how to make this work more accessible through the language and strategies of people who do not work directly in the art world.
Liz Slagus
Liz consults in the areas of art and technology education, public programming and community engagement. She is currently the Director of Public Programs for the New York Hall of Science, an adjunct faculty member of Parsons-The New School, and the founder and co-curator of the SexEd Project (www.sexedproject.org). In 2009, the State Library of Queensland awarded her the Creative Fellowship for Art & Technology to develop the programming and outreach strategy for Brisbane’s new digital culture center, The Edge. During 2008, she produced the youth component for the 01SJ Biennial (San Jose, CA), and co-curated “1800 Frames” for City Without Walls (Newark, NJ)—beginning a curatorial partnership with Norene Leddy which gave birth to LiNo Projects, a professional, creative partnership. Between 1998-2008, Slagus developed and managed Eyebeam’s education programs, exploring new teaching and learning techniques and models for engagement. As Director of Education and Public Programming, she co-curated and oversaw large-scale exhibitions, and Eyebeam’s public presentations. She holds a BA in Art History and Anthropology from Bucknell University and an MA in Visual Arts Administration from NYU.
Norene Leddy
Norene Leddy creates platforms to talk about technology, history, sex, art, and social justice. Projects include working with LGBTQI youth, sex workers, young women, and others to create shoes, garments, alarm systems, maps, DIY electronics kits, and other ways to explore high and low technology for protection and self-expression. Her work has been shown internationally at venues including Eyebeam (New York), Henie Onstad Kunstsenter (Norway), and Sarai Media Lab (India). She has been the recipient of numerous grants, awards and residencies including a Fulbright Fellowship, two Eyebeam residencies, and funding from NYSCA, Bronx Council for the Arts, and the Experimental Television Center. In 2011 she was nominated for a World Technology award. Norene earned her B.F.A. from Boston University in 1994 and a M.F.A. from Parsons The New School for Design in 2000, where she is now a Part-Time Assistant Professor. In 2008, she started an ongoing curatorial collaboration with Liz Slagus. Together they have started LiNo Projects, which grew out of curated exhibitions for Cuchifritos Art + Project Space, City Without Walls, Kean University, and Gallery Aferro, and their current and on-going project, SexEd (www.sexedproject.org) . She is online at www.nobetty.net.