DONNA GRAVES 1204 Carleton Street Berkeley, CA 94702 Phone 510.540-6809 Fax 510.848-8086 e-mail dgraves3@mindspring.com PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Donna Graves, Arts & Cultural Planning, Berkeley, CA 9/96-present Consultant Specializing in project planning, research and development for public history, public art, historic preservation and interdisciplinary public programming. Current and recent projects: Preserving California s Japantowns, Project Director and lead historian for statewide historic survey funded by the California State Library s Civil Liberties Public Education Program. Making History at Fort Mason, Project Director for interpretive planning and design effort to incorporate Fort Mason Center s rich history in to its 13-acre National Historic Landmark campus. Visiting Lecturer, University of California/Berkeley. Co-taught a year-long seminar and studio course on citizen participation in community design at the College of Environmental Design, 2005-2006. San Pablo Park Community History Project, received funding from City of Berkeley public art program and a local foundation to develop a permanent interpretive project at a community center, a middle school education program and a community history event focused on past and current struggles for civil rights in South Berkeley. Rosie the Riveter Memorial: Honoring American Women's Labor During WWII, Project Director for first national memorial to women s contribution to the home front, which received EDRA/Places Design Award 2001. Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, serve as researcher, project planner and liaison between City of Richmond and National Park Service for new national park inspired by the Rosie the Riveter Memorial. Not at Home On the Home Front, developed and directed project documenting experiences of Japanese Americans and Italian Americans during WWII in Richmond, CA. Funded by California State Library/Civil Liberties Public Education Project. Bay Trail Interpretive Signage Project, developed and implemented project combining art and historical interpretation along Richmond s waterfront for City and National Park Service. Served as project historian and secured funding from California Coastal Conservancy and Association of Bay Area Governments. Monument to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, served as project manager for design competition for privately commissioned monument to be built on San Francisco s waterfront. Honoring Nikkei Heritage in the West, member of interdisciplinary team funded by Seattle Arts Commission to develop a project expanding public awareness of Japanese American historic sites in California, Oregon and Washington. Public Art Master Plan for City of Tampa, Florida (in collaboration with McGregor Associates). Clients include: California Japanese American Community Leadership Council; Richmond Redevelopment Agency: National Park Service; Fort Mason Foundation; San Francisco Arts Commission; Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California; Catellus Development Corporation; City of Oakland Cultural Arts Division; City of Walnut Creek; City of San Jose; City of Berkeley. Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA 9/94-8/96 Program Director Planned and developed diverse programming for nationally acclaimed interdisciplinary arts organization including symposia, performances, workshops and other public events. Worked closely with public relations staff on press relations and community outreach to diverse audiences. Oversaw international artists-in-residence program and promoted opportunities for collaboration between artists, other professionals and communities. Developed and oversaw artist-in-the-schools program. Served as editor for special publications, including annual Headlands Journal, associate editor for Headlands Newsletter. Public Art Works, San Rafael, CA 5/93-9/94 Executive Director Responsible for administration, fundraising, publicity and outreach for non-profit public arts organization. Secured major contract from Smithsonian Institution to direct statewide Save Outdoor Sculpture! Program,
organizing documentation of 1,500 outdoor sculptures. Directed artist-in-residence program at three elementary schools. University of California, Davis 1/93-4/93 Visiting Lecturer Designed and taught course in the Dept. of Art History on the history of public art and urbanism in the U.S. Independent Researcher/Consultant 4/91-5/93 Received National Endowment for the Arts grant to support research on interdisciplinary collaborations in public art and public space design in the U.S. Organized and raised funds for a statewide conference on the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on historic buildings for the California Preservation Foundation. The Power of Place, Los Angeles 7/87-3/91 Executive Director Responsible for administration, fundraising, research, publicity and outreach for non-profit corporation dedicated to public art and historic preservation with special emphasis on the history of ethnic groups, workers, and women. Administered interdisciplinary public art projects on African American and Latino historic sites in downtown Los Angeles that included permanent on-site artwork, posters, and artist's books. Organized public symposia on role of public art and preservation in interpreting urban history. National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C. 6/89-9/89 Arts Administration Fellow Conducted research and wrote report on collaborative, interdisciplinary public art projects jointly sponsored by the NEA's Design Arts and Visual Arts Programs. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 3/84-6/87 Curatorial Assistant Curated exhibitions and administered public programs of SFMOMA's Paul Klee Study Center. Participated in organization, research, and presentation of major exhibitions and museum publications. Researched and wrote exhibition catalogs and didactic materials; coordinated catalog production, exhibition installations and tours; presented docent training sessions, gallery talks, and public lectures. The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA 6/83-3/84 Acting Associate Curator Responsible for research, documentation and acquisitions for major collection of California crafts and decorative arts; assisted with development of exhibition program. Conducted research leading to major exhibition of eight California artists and architects. PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Flight 93 Memorial, appointed to Stage I Jury, Pennsylvania, 2005 Steering Committee, Public Art Master Plan, City of San Jose, 1999-2000 Advisory Committee, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, 1998-2000 National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies, 1995-1998 Member of Public Art Resource Committee developed to provide professional assistance and technical expertise to public art field in United States. Particular area is interdisciplinary collaborations and memorials. Cultural Master Plan for San Francisco Presidio, San Francisco, 1995 Invited participant of master plan committee assembled by the San Francisco Art Commission to develop vision and guidelines for cultural programs at the Presidio. New Langton Arts, San Francisco, 1992-94 Served on Board of Directors; program committee and search committee for executive director. Little Tokyo Community Development Advisory Committee, 1990-92 Served as member of Public Art Task Force for Los Angeles' Little Tokyo neighborhood. Jewish Historical Society "Cornerstone Project," 1990-92
Served as professional advisor in development of competition for a public art project commemorating site of the first Los Angeles Synagogue. Cultural Affairs Department, City of Los Angeles, 1991 Member of Allocations Committee responsible for reviewing all cultural grants and grant appeals process. University of Southern California, Art Department, 1991 Member of panel developing guidelines for new graduate program in public art. Cultural Master Plan Advisory Committee, 1990 Member of appointed committee assisting Cultural Affairs Department in developing a Cultural Master plan for the City of Los Angeles. Served on art selection, awards and grant panels for Alameda County Public Art Program, San Francisco Arts Commission Public Art Program, Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, the LA Community Redevelopment Agency, The Los Angeles Conservancy, and the LA County Transit Commission's Art in Transit Program. PUBLICATIONS California Japantowns website, www.californiajapantowns.org. Co-created content for this comprehensive website devoted to the historic legacy of California Japanese American communities. 2006. Revising Rosie the Riveter: From Public Art to National Park in Public Art by the Book, Barbara Goldstein ed., University of Washington Press (2005). Historic Architecture Evaluation for the Oishi, Sakai and Maida-Endo Nurseries, with Ward Hill and Woodruff Minor. Wrote historic context portion for report Richmond, CA Japanese American cut-flower nurseries, 2004. Bay Area Women During WWII, thematic essay for Over Here: WWII in the San Francisco Bay Area, an on-line National Register travel itinerary for the National Park Service, 2004. Not at Home on the Home Front: Japanese Americans and Italian Americans in Richmond, California During WWII, with Lawrence DiStasi and Lynne Horiuchi (Berkeley, 2004). Mapping Richmond s World War II Home Front, an historical report prepared for the National Park Service (Berkeley, 2004). Sento at Sixth and Main: Preserving Landmarks of Japanese American Heritage with Gail Dubrow (Seattle: Seattle Arts Commission, 2002, reprinted by Smithsonian Institution Press, 2005). From Public Art to National Park: Rosie the Riveter, Places, Spring 2002 "Real Life Suburbia," Sculpture, April 1998. "Facing History/Placing Memories," in Bayanihan Transition: Art in the Urban Landscape (San Francisco: Capp Street Project, 1995). "Tracing the Past: Mapping Cities Through Public Art," in The Public Art of Re-Collection (Natl. Assembly of Local Arts Agencies Monographs: vol. 4, no. 2, 1995), pp. 16-21. Reprinted in On the Ground (vol. 1, no. 4, 1995). "Sharing Space: Some Observations on the Recent History and Possible Future for Public Art Collaborations." Public Art Review (Spring/Summer 1993). "Representing the Race: Detroit's Monument to Joe Louis," in Harriet Senie and Sally Webster, eds. New Perspectives in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy (Harper Collins Press) 1992, pp. 215-227. Reprinted by Smithsonian Press, 1998.
"Recapturing the Past: Two Public Art Projects in San Francisco and New York," Artweek 20 August 1992, pp. 4-5 (with Lydia Matthews). Bauhaus Formmeisters: Works on Paper from the Permanent Collection. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1987. (catalog) Pattern and Process: Nature and Architecture in the Work of Paul Klee. San Francisco: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1987. (catalog) PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS, Selected List Public Histories invited speaker Huntington Library-USC Institute on California and the West In Conversation series, Pasadena, October 2007. Preserving California s Japantowns, panel chair, California Preservation Foundation Annual Conference, Los Angeles, May 2007. California s Japanese American Heritage: Case Studies in Reclaiming Ethnic Histories panel speaker, California Council for the Promotion of History Annual Conference, San Jose, October 2006. Reclaiming California s Japantowns panel chair at state-wide conference Preserving California s Japantowns, San Francisco, June 2006 Revising Rosie the Riveter: From Public Art to National Park, Great Places, Great Debates: Opening Historic Sites to Civic Engagement Conference, New York, 2004 Art History Lessons: Investigating Memory, Meaning and Place Through Contemporary Art Projects George Wright Society Annual Conference, San Diego, April 2004 Renewing the Meaning of Place: Communicating Heritage Through Public Art, California s Japantowns Cultural Preservation Planning Conference, San Francisco, June 2002 Revising Rosie the Riveter, American Studies Assoc. Natl. Conference, Washington, DC November 2001 (session chair) Public Art and Preservation: A Case Study, National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference, Los Angeles, October 2000 Public Art & Community Development: A Case Study in Richmond, CA, Americans for the Arts Public Art Preconference, Los Angeles, CA, June 2000 Public Art: Small Cities, California/Pacific Southwest Recreation and Park Conference, Santa Clara, CA, February 1999 (moderator) Monuments and Memorials in Design, California Historical Society/Organization of Black Designers, San Francisco, November 1998 "Inside Out: Public Art & Prison," American Studies Assoc. Natl. Conference, Washington, DC October 1997 "Collaboration: Out of Control," International Sculpture Conference, Providence, Rhode Island, June 1996 (panel chair) "Claiming the Past: Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo," Natl. Assembly of Local Arts Agencies Annual Conference, San Jose, CA, June 1995 "Collaboration: Artists, Architects and Others," Natl. Assembly of Local Arts Agencies Annual Conference, Miami, June 1993 (panel chair)
"Building Urban Environments: Collaborative Approaches by Artists and Architects," Capp Street Project, San Francisco, April 1993 (panel chair) "Presenting the Past: The Uses of History in Public Art," University of California, Davis, November 1992 "Including Artists in the Planning Process," San Antonio Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs, March 1992 "Common Grounds: Artists and Designers," Yale University School of Architecture, New Haven, Sept. 1991 "La Fuerza de Union: A Public History Workshop on Labor Organizing in Los Angeles," Embassy Auditorium, Los Angeles, March 1991 Representing the Race: Detroit's Monument to Joe Louis," College Art Association Annual Conference, Washington D.C., February 1991 "Preserving and Interpreting Cultural Diversity," American Collegiate Schools of Planning Annual Conference, Austin, November 1990 "Organizing Ethnic Women: A Case Study in Preserving Cultural Diversity," So. Cal. Society of Architectural Historians Annual Conference, Los Angeles, May 1990 EDUCATION M.A. - Urban Planning, University of California, Los Angeles, 1989 M.A. - American Civilization, Brown University, Providence, 1982 B.A. - American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1981 AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS EDRA/Places Research Award 2003 for Sento at Sixth and Main: Preserving Landmarks of Japanese American Heritage National Endowment for the Arts Research Fellowship, 1991 UCLA Alumni Association Distinguished Scholar Award, 1990 National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Administration Fellowship, 1989 University Fellowship, UCLA, 1989 Blair Fellowship, Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, UCLA, 1988 Women's University Club Fellowship, 1988 Kahn Foundation Fellowship in California Art History, Oakland Museum, 1983 University Fellowship, Brown University, 1981 Departmental and College Honors, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1981