UC San Diego Helen Edison Lecture Series, the San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture and the San Diego Tourism Authority present “Contemporary Art and Performance in Public Spaces” on Monday, October 7 at 6pm, at the Museum of Photographic Arts, Balboa Park. San Diego is poised to re-imagine some of its most iconic public spaces, such as HortonPlaza Park and Balboa Park, and many other locations are also ripe for increased public engagement. Join us for a conversation with three innovative curators who have created change-making arts programming for public spaces in cities across the U.S. They will talk about their vision to boost audience engagement and the practical implications of contemporary arts production in high-volume public spaces. Moderated by Jonathon Glus, Executive Director of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, the panel will feature: Marc Pally, Independent Curator, Los Angeles, perhaps best known in Southern California for the dynamic GLOW Festival on Santa Monica’s beach; Susanne Theis, Program Director, Discovery Green Urban Park, her work has ranged from interpreting outside art for large-scale audiences to providing a platform for international contemporary artists in a high-traffic downtown park; Karen Farber, Executive Director, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, best known for creating partnerships among arts institutions and artists in unique and unexpected spaces. Through the CounterCurrent Festival, she brings some of the world’s most experimental artists to Houston’s urban core. The San Diego Commission for Arts & Culture and the San Diego Tourism Authority are honored to partner in the production of this conversation. Helen Edison lectures are free. For more information, visit http://helenedison.ucsd.edu