Lonnie Graham: A Conversation with the World (San Francisco)
Curator. San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries: City Hall. November 2007 - May 2008
Lonnie Graham’s international project A Conversation with the World arrives in San Francisco through three interconnected components: an exhibition at City Hall, a series of downtown kiosk posters, and recorded interviews with residents across the city. Since 1980, Graham has traveled throughout Asia, Africa, and North America, documenting people’s beliefs, cultural traditions, and perspectives on life. In 2007, he continues this global dialogue in San Francisco, interviewing dozens of citizens and visitors in diverse neighborhoods while asking the same eight questions that have guided his work worldwide. The resulting images and audio recordings are displayed on large-scale banners at City Hall and on 24 kiosks along Market Street, while the full project is available online.
Graham’s work combines visual art with elements of socio-anthropology, revealing both the particularities of individual experience and the shared bonds of humanity. Through these candid portraits and conversations, A Conversation with the World illuminates the fundamental motivations and desires that connect people across cultures and continents. By turning the city itself into a stage for dialogue, Graham invites viewers to reflect on the universality of human experience, creating a bridge between San Francisco and communities around the globe.
About Lonnie Graham
Lonnie Graham is an artist, photographer, and cultural activist whose work explores the artist’s role as a catalyst for social change and creative problem-solving. A Pew Fellow and Professor of Art in Photography at Pennsylvania State University, Graham has held leadership roles at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, PhotoAlliance of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Art Institute. Earlier, as Director of Photography at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, he developed innovative programs merging art and academics for at-risk youth, recognized by First Lady Hillary Clinton as a national model for arts education. His socially engaged projects include the African/American Garden Project (1996), facilitating cross-cultural exchange between Pittsburgh single mothers and Kenyan farmers, and A Change in the Making (2009) in Cape Town, South Africa.
Graham’s practice spans photography, installation, and cultural exchange projects, with work presented internationally at institutions including the Goethe Institute in Ghana, La Maison de États-Unis in Paris, the Toyota City Museum in Japan, and the Smithsonian Institution. His photographs and collaborations are held in major collections such as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Datz Museum in Seoul, and the National Portrait Gallery, which acquired Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me, created with Carrie Mae Weems. His ongoing project A Conversation with the World combines portraits and interviews from across continents to reveal shared humanity, while recent fieldwork documents the endangered culture of the Turkana people of East Africa. Graham’s honors include the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Artist of the Year, multiple Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowships, and a Creative Achievement Award from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.