As part of its mission to create a forum for civic engagement through the arts, 18th Street Arts Center proudly presents “The Future of Nations,” their 2008 season of exhibitions dedicated to examining the issues related to the 2008 presidential campaign. While doubling as a legal polling place throughout 2008, 18th Street is the only arts center in southern California devoting an entire season to artists who are addressing issues surrounding the election.

18th Street Arts Center concludes our 2008 exhibition series, The Future of Nations, with War as a Way of Life. Curated by 18th Street Artistic Director Clayton Campbell, in conjunction with the exhibit, Artist Fellow, Amitis Motevalli debuts Haram eh Massoumeen va Shohad ha (Threshold of the Innocents and Martyred) in our Project Room Gallery.

In this election year, who will turn “saving energy” from a mere ad campaign to a real lifestyle change, who will step up to the plate to make radical changes from green washing media hype into revolutionary living beyond crude oil and other accepted fossil burning “necessities” – and what will be the impact on the future of the nation?

In this election year, who will vote, who will be counted, who won’t be, who will be left out – and what will be the impact on the future of the nation? 18th Street Arts Center delves into these and other questions in “100% Other: Artists and Psycho-Demographic Transitions,” an art exhibition that tracks the connections and separations between our changing cultural landscape and our oftentimes lagging civic outcomes.

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