All participants arecitizen journalists andhave assembled tocreate the first issueof The IMAGININGTimes. We have athree-hour pressdeadline to write andillustrate a newspaperfilled with headlines,articles and collagedpages that describeour community twentyyears from now, withart and culture at thecore of all initiatives.

Citizen journalistsarrive and get startedmaking decoratedname badges thatalso explore the idea“ART is __________.”

Our USDAC Chief Policy Wonk, ArleneGoldbard honors the opening of the firstSan Francisco Bay Area IMAGINING witha typewriter ribbon cutting ceremony andCultural Agent Beth Grossman invokes thewords of our Deputy Secretary, NormanBeckettʼs speech at USDAC Launch PressConference, Delivered October 5, 2013.

“We inhabit a planet on the verge. Theproblems are complex, the solutionsuncertain, but there is one truth we can holdonto: if we are going to keep our society andplanet healthy, all people must be empow-ered to imagine and enact alternatives for

a better world. In order to dothis we must deepen ourinvestment in the tools thatgrow empathy, imagination,and the capacity to collabo-rate. We must encouragecreative risks. We mustnourish the artist in us all”.

“The USDAC starts here. Itstarts now. It starts with you.”

The group of 50+ citizenjournalists assembles ingroups led by editors headingup editorial departments ofImmigrant and Human rights,the Natural World and Envi-ronment, Technology, SocialSystems, Health, PublicSpace, Faith, Spiritualityand Community Celebrations,Education and Anarchy.

We begin by picturing our-selves waking up on July13th, 2034 and spend 5 min-utes free association writingon the following questions:

• Where are you?• Who is with you?

Living the News WeWant to Read…

Typewriter Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to launch the first Bay AreaImagining. Ceremonial honors were done by USDAC Chief PolicyWonk, Arlene Goldbard, with Beth GrossmanPhoto credit: Teresa Camozzi

Welcome sign designed byAngelisse Karol. Photo credit: Dan Ryan

Citizen Artist Activists Envision Our World withArt & Culture at the Core of All Initiatives

VOL 1 U.S.DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE SAN FRANCSICO BAY AREA IMAGINING BRISBANE CALIFORNIA 13 JULY 2O34

• Freedom of communi-cation is a human rightacross all borders andPigeon languagesfunction as a linguafranca.

• The Department ofAnarchy reports thatHollywood has beendestroyed along withits confining imagesof body and genderstandards.

• Our social systemsare a “sweet crazymonsoon of life,” witheasily available healthyfoods, affordable andsustainable housingand energy. Mentalhealth issues arenow a thing of the pastbecause people feelconnected working incommunity.

• Technology has nowcreated billboardsthat have a dual func-tion of advertising andcleaning air. Robotsprovide beach and city

• How can we make itreal using the power ofart and culture?

Following an hour ofworking together onindividual pages thatenvision our future,the pages are sharedamong the editorialgroup, so the editorcan report back to thelarge group. Notes aretaken on large paperon the wall. Here aresome highlights:

• Public spaces aresustainably designedand provide naturalenvironments for com-munity interaction.

headline, short articleand collage/drawingthat describes ourcommunity in twentyyears, with art and cul-ture at the core of allinitiatives. Write it inthe present as is it washappening when youwake up to read thenewspaper in 2034.

• What do you hope tosee, right here in ourcommunities?• What could this placelook like if we broughtour full creative selvesto envisioning andbuilding it?

• What are you havingfor breakfast?• What are you doingtoday?• How do you getthere?• What is the most im-portant thing on yourmind?• What do you value?

After reflecting andsharing the highlightsof our notes, partici-pants get right downto writing collaging andcreating the newspa-perʼs editorial material.

The directions are:Imagine that you arein the present moment20 years from todayand your job as acitizen journalist is torepresent what ourcommunity and theworld looks like tosomeone who knowsnothing about it. Createa page for our a news-paper filled with a

The IMAGING TimesSan Francisico Bay Area 2014

Citizen Journalists with their pages. Photo credits: Teresa Camozzi

Imagining Times Editors Pre-Imagining Planning meetingBeth Grossman, Maria Rogers Pasqual, JungHae Kim, Norma Ro-driguez, Teresa Camozzi. Editor/Facilitators not pictured: AngelisseKarol, Christa Harader, Jeff Weathers, Andi Wong, Joel, Kurtz,Debi Horen, Stella Rubenstein Photo credit: Angelisse Karol

Imagining in Editorial departments of Immigrant and Human rights, theNatural World and Environment, Technology, Social Systems, Health,Public Space, Faith, Spirituality and Community Celebrations, Educationand Anarchy. Photo Credit: Angelisse Karol

sweeping clean-up. Ingeneral, technologyhelps people be morerational.

• The Health editorialdepartment reportsthat wrinkles are nowa fashion statementand grandparents areinvolved with raisinghealthy grandchildren.Big Agriculture andBig Pharma are dead,replaced by small plot

organic farming andthe return to ancientherbal knowledge forall health care needs.

• The editorial depart-ment of the Natural

World declares that wehave everything weneed right here. Allknowledge of ourenvironment is avail-able if we listen andconnect with networksof nature to educateourselves, heal andcreate in harmonywith nature.

• Education is com-pletely free and acces-sible to all individuals

of all ages. It is notstandardized, there isno teaching to thetest,and art and thewonders of science arecentral to all aspects ofeducation.

In closing, we proposethe idea to print the2034 newspaper andbury it on San BrunoMountain in a TimeCapsule. There will bea burial celebrationwith David Schooley,Founder of San BrunoMountain Watch in Fall2014.

Finally we stand upand say one word thatsignifies the day foreach citizen journalist.We remain standinguntil everyone is stand-ing together andgather for groupphoto/video, exclaiming

all together: THIS ISAN ACT OF COLLEC-TIVE IMAGINATION!!!My amazing groupof Editors/facilitatorsstayed on into theevening to debrief, helporganize and scan thepages of the IMAGIN-ING Times. It will beposted online for publicviewing.

A special thanks to my coregroup of editors/facilitators ,Angelisse Karol, MariaRogers Pasqual, JungHaeKim, Norma Rodriguez,Teresa Camozzi, ChristaHarader, Jeff Weathers,Andi Wong, Joel, Kurtz,Debi Horen and StellaRubenstein.

Keith Moreau and JoelKurtz are filming this eventand Teresa Camozzi andAngelisse Karol are photo-graphing.

This is an act of collective imagination! Photo credit: Teresa Camozzi

Immigration and Human Rights Editorial Department shown in frontPhoto credit Teresa Camozzi

A sampling of pages from the Health Editorial Dept. including agreen kitchen that can be eaten in times of famine.Photo credit: Teresa Camozzi

The IMAGING TimesSan Francisico Bay Area 2014