Take your place in this important project.
Creative City uplifts the arts and engages the world from our unique points of view, where diverse ideas and expressions create meaningful experiences for everyone — whether you are fortunate enough to live here or have the good fortune to visit.
Find out more below about upcoming public events, a public survey, and how to host your own community conversation.
PUBLIC EVENTS
Discover our Creative City schedule of forums and public pop-ups across the city.
Creative City public events are free and open to all.
Check back often for updated event information!
Creative City Performances
Join Creative City artist Yolanda Franklin for the culminating performance of the Legacy Renaissance Project. The artist and community participants will perform and share legacy stories, uplifting black voices. These stories helped build the Southeastern community from the legend ancestors and local living legends to the future bridgers.
Saturday, September 2 - 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Valencia Park/Malcolm X Branch Library
Everyone is welcome
Creative City Workshops
Join Creative City artist Cat Chui Phillips’ fiber art workshops inspired by Kamayan or a Filipino feast where food items are served on banana leaves and without utensils as a communal way to share a meal and build trust and intimacy among the diners. You can contribute to making food for this faux food experience at the workshop. All levels of crochet experience are welcome! The artist will introduce other textile methods to participants so all can contribute to the collaborative community feast and participate in conversations about arts and culture as a tool for understanding of and successfully weaving cultures together in the diverse city of San Diego. Fun for all ages!
Saturday, August 19 - 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Serra Mesa-Kearny Mesa Branch Library
Everyone is welcome
Saturday, August 26 - 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Carmel Mountain Ranch Branch Library
Everyone is welcome
Sunday, August 27 - 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Thumbprint Gallery with D2Go Sushi
Everyone is welcome
Creative City Virtual Forum
Monday, July 24 - 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Online
Everyone is welcome. Join the forum.
To join by telephone: +1 669 254 5252, +1 415 449 4000 US (US Spanish Line), 833 568 8864 US Toll
When prompted, input Webinar ID: 160 293 7846
Or an H.323/SIP room system: H.323: 161.199.138.10 (US West) or 161.199.136.10 (US East)
Meeting ID: 160 293 7846; SIP: 1602937846@sip.zoomgov.com
Creative City Virtual Flyer - July
Creative City Forum
Tuesday, June 20 - 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Soap Factory
Everyone is welcome and RSVP is appreciated.
American Sign Language, Spanish, and Tagalog interpretation available.
Creative City Forum Flyer
Past Pop-Ups
Tueday, July 25 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
San Ysidro Branch Library
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
Spanish and English interpretation available.
View Flyer
Wednesday, July 26 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Bread & Salt
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
Spanish interpretation available.
View Flyer
Wednesday, July 26 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Mira Mesa Recreation Center
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
Mandarin, and Vietnamese interpretation available.
View Flyer
Thursday, July 27 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
WorldBeat Cultural Center
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
Spanish interpretation available.
View Flyer
Saturday, July 29 - 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Rancho Peñasquitos Branch Library
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
View Flyer
Saturday, July 29 - 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Malcolm X Branch Library
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
Spanish and Tagalog interpretation available.
View Flyer
Wednesday, June 21 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Light Box Theater
Everyone is welcome and RSVP is appreciated.
Pop-up Light Box Flyer
Wednesday, June 21 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Ocean Air Recreation Center
Everyone is welcome and RSVP is appreciated.
Pop-up Ocean Air Flyer
Thursday, June 22 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
City Heights Performance Annex
Everyone is welcome and RSVP is appreciated.
Spanish, Vietnamese, and Somali interpretation available.
Pop-up Performance Annex Flyer
Thursday, June 22 - 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Mission Trails Visitor Center
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
Spanish and Tagalog interpretation available.
Other services and interpretation may be requested. See below for details.
INDUSTRY / SECTOR DISCUSSION GROUPS
Targeted discussion groups with arts, cultural and creative sectors. Check back for updates!
In July, targeted discussion groups take place at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Downtown located at 1100 Kettner Ave., San Diego unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, July 27
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Festivals, Arts and Entertainment Event Organizers
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.: Climate + Sustainability - Community and Social Service Organizations
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. : Barrio Logan Cultural District
3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Film/Digital Media Industries
Friday, July 28
8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m. : Artist Housing/Artist Spaces
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Visual Arts Industry
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. : Higher Education
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. : Individual Artists - All Disciplines
Saturday, July 29
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.: Chicano Park at the Chicano Park Museum and Cultural Center, 1960 National Ave.
Tuesday, July 25
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Music Industry
11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. : Convoy Pan Asian Cultural and Business Innovation District
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.: Transborder Artists/Arts organizers at The Front Arte Cultura, 147 W San Ysidro Blvd.
3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. : Creative Sector - Individual Creatives
3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. : Black Arts + Culture District
Wednesday, July 26
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Local Arts Agencies
12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. : Funders, Other Than Arts
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. : Homelessness - Community/Social Service Organizations
3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. : Community/Social Services Organizations related to Immigrant Affairs, Child and Youth Success and Military/Veterans
Tuesday, June 20
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Arts/Cultural Organizations
(with annual operating budgets $249,999 and below)
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Arts/Cultural Organizations
(with annual operating budgets between $250,000-$1,499,999)
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. : Arts/Cultural Organizations
(with annual operating budgets between $1.5M-$4.99M)
12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. : Arts/Cultural Organizations
(with annual operating budgets $5M and over)
Wednesday, June 21
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Individual Artists, All Disciplines
12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. : Creative Youth Development
(organizers/young people)
3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. : Economic Development/Creative Economy
Thursday, June 22
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Tourism (hoteliers)
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Tourism Sector (broader tourism sector)
12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. : Creative Sector Employers/Professional Associations
Friday, June 23
8:30 a.m. - 10 a.m. : Arts Education Service Providers
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. : Community Development
12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. : Arts Funders
12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. : Senior Service Providers/Arts Engagement
Thursday, June 29
5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. : Kumeyaay artists and cultural bearers/practitioners at The Front Arte Cultura, 147 W San Ysidro Blvd.
Raise your creative voice. We want your input!
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
Get talking. Host your own group discussions about what makes San Diego culture unique, what you value about it, what you think can be improved or different, and what your specific priorities are for this arts and culture planning process.
You are encouraged to use the hashtag #CreativeCitySanDiego and tagging the City via Instagram @sdartsculture.
Community Conversations Toolkit (English)
Community Conversations Toolkit (Dari)
Community Conversations Toolkit (Farsi)
Community Conversations Toolkit (Korean)
Community Conversations Toolkit (Tagalog)
Community Conversations Toolkit (Chinese)
Community Conversations Toolkit (Spanish)
Local artists Diana Cervera and Josemar Gonzalez, Yolanda Franklin, Jacole Kitchen, and Cat Chiu Phillips are conducting additional community conversations, through targeted outreach activities in August, from a legacy renaissance project with Black/African American artists in Southeastern San Diego to narratives on the creative lives of military veterans, to in-depth engagement with community members and cultural stakeholders in City Heights activated through poetry and storytelling to fiber art workshops inspired by Kamayan or Filipino communal feast to garner insights on the arts as a tool for understanding of and successfully weaving cultures together in the diverse city of San Diego.
Local artist Katie Ruiz and Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego also facilitated art-making at Creative City public events. San Diegans across the city created colorful pom poms for a Creative City piece, which will be displayed at the Civic Center Concourse later this summer to celebrate Creative City.
NTC Foundation (photo credit: Jackie Wonders Photography), Journey to Aztlan, Einar and Jamex de la Torre (photo credit: Philipp Scholz Rittermann), Mario Torero and Sarah Bella Mondragon, Toltec Totems (photo credit: Stacy Keck Photo), Mario Mesquita, Paletas Communal Social Club, a mobile lab (photo credit: Stacy Keck Photo), Katie Ruiz, Pom Pom Project (photo credit: Pablo Mason).
A cultural planning project of the City of San Diego, 2023-25.
The City of San Diego is committed to providing an equitable and inclusive environment for all individuals. Consistent with these principles and applicable laws, the City reasonably provides translation, interpretation, alternative formats, disability-related modifications or accommodations. Requests for these services at cultural planning public events may be made by email to arts@sandiego.gov at least five business days’ notice prior to the event.
arts@sandiego.gov Traducción e Interpretación | Been Dịch và Thông Dịch | 口笔译服务 | خدمات ترجمه کتبی و ترجمه شفاهی | خدمات الترجمة التحريرية والفوري | خدمات ترجمان مکتوب و شفاهی, 번역 및 통역 서비스, | Serbisyo ng Pagsasalin at Interpretasyon