GET INVOLVED
GET INVOLVED

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.

Comic Art Gallery


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 Artist Events

Join Creative City artist Yolanda Franklin for the culminating event of her Creative City project called Legacy Renaissance Project. The artist and participants will gather and share legacy stories, uplifting black voices. Attendees can participate in conversations about arts and culture as a tool for understanding and tour the Elks Lodge, a nearly 100-year-old Black-owned establishment, and learn more about its rich history and its connection to “Harlem of the West” the artist has uncovered as part of the project to help build the Southeastern community from the legend ancestors and local living legends to the future bridgers. Refreshments will be available.

Saturday,  October 28 - 12 p.m.  - 2:30 p.m.
Clementine McDuff Elks Lodge #598
6 Hensley Street, San Diego, CA 92102
Everyone is welcome

Past Events

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

Saturday,  August 26 - 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Carmel Mountain Ranch Branch Library

Sunday,  August 27 - 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Thumbprint Gallery with D2Go Sushi


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

PDF iconCreative 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.
PDF iconCreative 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.
PDF iconView Flyer

Wednesday, July 26 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Bread & Salt
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
Spanish interpretation available.
PDF iconView 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.
PDF iconView Flyer

Thursday, July 27 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
WorldBeat Cultural Center
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
Spanish interpretation available.
PDF iconView Flyer

Saturday, July 29 - 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Rancho Peñasquitos Branch Library
Everyone is welcome and RSVP appreciated.
PDF iconView 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.
PDF iconView Flyer

Wednesday, June 21 - 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Light Box Theater
Everyone is welcome and RSVP is appreciated.
PDF iconPop-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.
PDF icon 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.
PDF iconPop-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.

 

Check out some of the insights shared during recent Creative City public events!

 

Made with Padlet

 

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.

Past Discussion Group Events

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.


Balboa Park Fountain Artwork

ONLINE SURVEY

ONLINE SURVEY

Raise your creative voice. We want your input!

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR INPUT WITH US.

This survey is closed.

Creative City Survey

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS TOOLKIT

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS TOOLKIT

Thank you for hosting 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.

While the Community Conversations engagement period is closed, 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)

Community Conversations Toolkit (Vietnamese)

Community Conversations Toolkit (Somali)

Pom Pom Project

CREATIVE CITY ARTIST INVOLVEMENT

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS TOOLKIT

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.

 

Photos from top to bottom:
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).
 

Creative City Logo

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