For the 2018-2019 academic year, the Stanford Arts Institute will continue work on a new project called Creative Cities. Seeking to advance and understand the historical and future roles of art in cities, our project fosters research, conversation, and artistic projects in urban settings. Using the city as the stage for inquiry, the project will pose questions about the role of art in reimagining the urban sphere, creative economies, urban studies, the built environment, and more.
There are two main programmatic elements to this project: our year-long fellowship, and the Creative Cities Working Group.
Our year-long fellowship invites two scholars to Stanford to conduct research in this area, teach one class each, and further the campus conversation about creative cities. This year’s fellows are Nicholas Gamso and Magie Ramírez. Each will have a public talk and event about their research – further details will be posted on this page as they develop.
The Creative Cities Working Group engages a broad array of Bay Area writers, thinkers, artists and curators who are engaging critical thought at the nexus of art and urban life.
Creative Cities Fellowship
Stanford Arts Institute hosts the Creative Cities Fellowship which brings together individuals with a strong record of scholarly research and/or creative work on the intersection of art and urban centers. Reaching across disciplines (such as economics, public policy, urban renewal) as well as artistic media, Fellows will examine the role of art in cities, conduct research, and teach an undergraduate course during their year on campus.
The Creative Cities Fellowship is supported by the Office of the President.
Current Fellows:

Nicholas Gamso
2018-2019
Stanford Arts Institute will host Nick Gamso during 2018-19 as a Creative Cities Fellow.

Magie Ramírez
2018-2019
Stanford Arts Institute will host Magie Ramírez during 2018-19 as a Creative Cities Fellow.
Previous Fellows:
2017-18
Samuel Franklin - Visiting Assistant Professor, Brown University
Gülgün Kayim - Director of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
City of Minneapolis, Minnesota
2016-17
Andrew Herscher - Associate Professor, University of Michigan
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Department of the History of Art
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
Johanna Taylor - Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts
Creative Cities Working Group
The working group on Creative Cities is an invited group of scholars, artists, and curators from across the Bay Area who will meet regularly throughout the academic year to further their research and examine the relationship between creativity and urban places from a broad array of disciplinary perspectives. Stanford Arts Institute Faculty Director Peggy Phelan has invited Michael Kahan, co-director of the Program on Urban Studies at Stanford University, to lead these sessions.

Michael Kahan
2018-2019
Michael B. Kahan is the co-director of the Program on Urban Studies at Stanford University, and a senior lecturer in Sociology. His interest in the historical transformation of urban space has led to publications on topics including the integration of streetcars in the 1850s, sanitation reform in the 1890s, the geography of prostitution in the 1910s, and redevelopment in California in the 1990s. He holds a B.A. from Yale and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, both in history.
Working Group Statement of Purpose
"Cities have been hubs of creative expression and innovation for millennia. As sociologist Howard Becker reminds us, art is a collective activity, and cities supply many of the social needs—audiences, patrons, suppliers, markets, capital – that enable the creation, distribution, and consumption of art. Of course, cities are not always nurturing environments for creative production. City governments may regulate, harass, and censor; city land prices may be too high for artists to afford. But for better or worse, cities are more than just a background or a setting for art; they actively shape the creation and reception of art in countless ways."
Working Group Members
2018-19
Aku Ammah-Tagoe
English, Stanford University
John Barton
Architectural Design, Stanford University
Tom Beischer
Architectural Design, Stanford University
Abby Chen
Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco
Janet Delaney
Independent Visual Artist
Lindsey Dillon
Sociology, UC Santa Cruz
Gordon Douglas
Urban and Regional Planning, San José State University
Ala Ebtekar
Art & Art History and Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University
Shelley Fisher Fishkin
English and American Studies, Stanford University
Jacqueline Francis
Visual and Critical Studies, California College of the Arts
Cynthia Garcia
Modern Thought & Literature, Stanford University
Nicholas Gamso
Creative Cities Fellow, Stanford University
Julia Grinkrug
Academy of Art University
Rachel Heiman
Humanities Center Fellow, Stanford University
Gina Hernandez
Arts in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University
Betti-Sue Hertz
Curator, Arts Administrator, Writer and Educator
Michael Kahan
Urban Studies, Stanford University
Marci Kwon
Art & Art History, Stanford University
S. Topiary Landberg
Film & Digital Media, UC Santa Cruz
Jason Luger
Environmental Design, UC Berkeley
Jenny Odell
Art & Art History, Stanford University
Lyndsey Ogle
Theater, Dance, & Performance Studies, UC Berkeley
Grant Parker
Classics and African Studies, Stanford University
Peggy Phelan
English and Theater & Performance Studies, Stanford University
Denning Family Director, Stanford Arts Institute
Magie Ramírez
Creative Cities Fellow, Stanford University
Jasmine Reid
Anthropology, Stanford University
Rose Salseda
Art & Art History, Stanford University
Meg Shiffler
San Francisco Arts Commission
John Zarobell
International Studies, University of San Francisco
Kathy Zarur
Visual Studies, California College of the Arts
2017-18
Aku Ammah-Tagoe
English, Stanford University
Kiley Arroyo
Cultural Strategies Council
John Barton
Architectural Design, Stanford University
Tom Beischer
Architectural Design, Stanford University
Jonathan Calm
Art Practice, Art & Art History, Stanford University
Sukanya Chakrabarti
EnActe Arts
Deland Chan
Urban Studies, Stanford University
Jeff Chang
Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University
Abby Chen
Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco
Janet Delaney
Independent Visual Artist
Gordon Douglas
Urban and Regional Planning, San José State University
Nicholas de Monchaux
Architecture and Urban Design, UC Berkeley
Ala Ebtekar
Art & Art History and Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University
Samuel Franklin
Creative Cities Fellow, Stanford Arts Institute
Cynthia Garcia
Modern Thought & Literature, Stanford University
Julia Grinkrug
Academy of Art
Gina Hernandez
Arts in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University
Betti-Sue Hertz
Curator, Arts Administrator, Writer and Educator
Michael Kahan
Urban Studies, Stanford University
Gülgün Kayim
Creative Cities Fellow, Stanford Arts Institute
Marci Kwon
Art & Art History, Stanford University
S. Topiary Landberg
Film & Digital Media, UC Santa Cruz
Jason Luger
Environmental Design, UC Berkeley
Jenny Odell
Art & Art History, Stanford University
Grant Parker
Classics and African Studies, Stanford University
Peggy Phelan
English and Theater & Performance Studies, Stanford University
Denning Family Director, Stanford Arts Institute
Nicole Phillips
International Relations, English, and Urban Studies, Stanford University
Tom Winterbottom
Stanford Language Center, Stanford University
2016-17
Aku Ammah-Tagoe
English, Stanford University
John Barton
Architectural Design, Stanford University
Neeraj Bhatia
The Urban Works Agency at The California College of the Arts
The Open Workshop
Jonathan Calm
Art Practice, Art & Art History, Stanford University
Sukanya Chakrabarti
Palo Alto Children's Theatre
Deland Chan
Urban Studies, Stanford University
Jeff Chang
Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University
Abby Chen
Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco
Robert Dawson
Art & Art History, Stanford University
Ala Ebtekar
Art & Art History and Institute for Diversity in the Arts, Stanford University
Steven Feld
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
Shelley Fisher Fishkin
English and American Studies, Stanford University
Thomas Hansen
Anthropology, Stanford University
Andrew Herscher
Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan
Creative Cities Fellow, Stanford Arts Institute
Betti-Sue Hertz
Curator, Arts Administrator, Writer and Educator
Melissa Kagen
German Studies, Stanford University
Janette Kim
Architecture, California College of the Arts and All of the Above
S. Topiary Landberg
Film & Digital Media, UC Santa Cruz
Derek Ouyang
Civil & Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
Grant Parker
Classics and African Studies, Stanford University
Peggy Phelan
English and Theater & Performance Studies, Stanford University
Denning Family Director, Stanford Arts Institute
Eric Rogers
Embassy Network and Immanent Urbanisms
Jacqueline Siapno
Independent Scholar/Musician, Member of Innovations in Peacebuilding
Johanna Taylor
Creative Cities Fellow, Stanford Arts Institute
Fred Turner
Communication, Stanford University
Tom Winterbottom
Iberian and Latin American Cultures, Stanford University
Working Group Schedule of Meetings
Participation in the Creative Cities Working Group is by invitation only.
Upcoming Talks
January 17, 2019
Lindsey Dillon
"How Nature Makes Cities: Wetland Restoration on San Francisco’s Industrial Waterfront"
Recent Talks
November 29, 2018
Abby Chen
"Art with Spatial Politics of (China)Town State"
November 8, 2018
Nick Gamso
"Quiet: Beneath the Creative City"
October 18, 2018
Magie Ramírez
"Sonic Geographies in a Borderland City"
October 4, 2018
Peggy Phelan
"Andy Warhol: Photography and the City"
Recent Talks
April 26, 2018
Jeff Chang
"We Gon' Be Alright: Picturing The Era of Resegregation"
March 1, 2018
Betti-Sue Hertz
"Art and the Marking of Queer Sites in the Urban Sphere"
February 15, 2018
Jenny Odell
"How to Do Nothing"
February 1, 2018
Julia Grinkrug and Shalini Agrawal
"Fluvial Commons: Exploring Transitory Floating Communities in the Bay Area"
January 18, 2018
Janet Delaney and Michael Kahan
"Art / History: Two Views of South of Market"
November 30, 2017
Gülgün Kayim
"Artists In/Of the City"
November 9, 2017
Jason Luger
"Awakening the Dragon: Arts, Urban Space, and Authoritarianism"
October 26, 2017
Sam Franklin
"What's the Matter with Creativity?"
October 12, 2017
Jonathan Calm
"African-American Automobility"
Recent Talks
May 18, 2017
Ala Ebtekar
"Art, Social Space, and Public Discourse"
May 4, 2017
Abby Chen, Betty Yu, and Tomie Arai
"Here to Stay: Using the Power of Culture to Fight Displacement" (co-sponsored with Human Cities Initiative)
April 27, 2017
Eric Rogers
"Immanent Urbanism(s) and Critical Hedonism(s)"
April 20, 2017
Joy Siapno
"Destruction/Reconstruction/Redestruction of Cultural Heritage Sites in Comparative Context"
March 2, 2017
Johanna Taylor
"Aesthetic Justice in New Orleans"
February 16, 2017
Moy Eng and Risa Shoup
"Leveraging Economic Growth for Cultural Vitality" (co-sponsored with Human Cities Initiative)
February 2, 2017
Andrew Herscher
"'The Architectural Imagination': Creativity, Austerity, and Political Violence in Detroit, 2015 - Present"
January 19, 2017
S. Topiary Landberg
"Exit Zero: San Francisco Freeway to the Future"
December 1, 2016
Neeraj Bhatia and Derek Ouyang
"Infrastructural Opportunism and Common Ground: Designing for Discovery, Empathy, and Equity"
November 3, 2016
Susan Moffat
"Nature, Art, and Homelessness at a Shoreline Landfill: The Albany Bulb" (co-sponsored with Human Cities Initiative)
October 20, 2016
Grant Parker
"Public History after Rhodes Must Fall"
October 6, 2016
Shelley Fisher Fishkin
"Hidden in Plain Sight: The Secret Literary Landscape of American Cities"