Suzanne Lacy is a pioneer of socially engaged art and public practice, promoting dialogue and collaborations with communities — artists, activists, organizations, schools — throughout her prolific career. Since the 1970s, she has used community organizing strategies and media interventions to galvanize discussions about pressing social issues including feminism, violence against women, racism, and labor rights. These projects often culminate in large-scale, highly choreographed performances that bring together diverse groups of participants to share their stories. Co-organized by SFMOMA and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), Suzanne Lacy: We Are Here was the first full retrospective of the Los Angeles–based artist. At SFMOMA, visitors explored Lacy’s entire career, from her earliest feminist work to her latest immersive video installations. Several projects honored the voices and contributions of women to public life.
Suzanne Lacy: We Are Here
“It is an honor to be part of The Warhol Foundation’s mission to support the visual arts coupled with its commitment to specifically support the voices of women, POC, Native Americans, and LGBTQ. It is simply thrilling to be part of an organization where we get to see these values writ large and implement real change in real life ways in the visual arts community that still so needs to move forward in terms of social justice, equality, and diversity. We put our money where our mouth is. How many institutions actually do that?”
Deborah Kass, Artist