Next in our series of chats at the Newsstand, we welcome Creative Mean, a local community conversation series that connects the dots between diverse Bay Area artists and creatives across different mediums and industries. The theme for the night is “Relationships” — we’ll hear from Pete Brook, Sam Vernon, and Rita Bullwinkel for three short talks and readings as we explore the influence of important bonds, both personal and professional, that inform creative work. A lively panel discussion moderated by Jeff Enlow, founder of Creative Mean, will follow.

Pete Brook is a writer, curator, and educator focused on prisons, photos, and power. Sam Vernon is an artist exploring personal narrative and identity, combining xeroxed drawings, photographs, paintings, and sculptural components. Rita Bullwinkel is a writer and author of the story collection Belly Up, which won the 2018 Believer Book Award. Join us as we challenge and clarify notions around our creative practices.

Creative Mean started in 2016 as a way to encourage different kinds of creatives to meet up and break out of their artistic silos for a night. We have hosted wide ranging talks with over 40 creatives including writers, artists, industrial designers, gallery directors, radio producers, photographers and more.

Wednesday, April 10, from 6–8pm at the Newsstand

• Food and drink: 6–6:30pm
• Talk begins at 6:30pm

Tickets include admission, Tartine Manufactory bites, Fort Point beer, Alter Eco treats, and a special gift from Aesop.

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Our guests:

Jeff Enlow is photographer, curator, and founder of Creative Mean. Jeff’s work has been shown in San Francisco, Sacramento, Boston, and New York, and his editorial work has appeared in publications such as NPR, VICE, Wired, VSCO, Off Screen, and more.

Pete Brook’s work has appeared in Aperture, The British Journal of Photography, NY Times, LA Times, The Atlantic, ICP, The Marshall Project, and more. Pete also curates shows, including Prison Obscura (2014 - 2016) which presented images outside of traditional documentary photography.

Sam Vernon has exhibited with Ashara Ekundayo Gallery, We Buy Gold, Interstitial Gallery, Coney Art Walls curated by Jeffrey Deitch, Brooklyn Museum, Queens Museum, Fowler Museum at UCLA and Seattle Art Museum. Sam lives in Oakland, CA and teaches printmaking as an Assistant Professor at California College of the Arts.

Rita Bullwinkel is the author of the story collection Belly Up, which won the 2018 Believer Book Award. Her writing has been published in Tin House, Conjunctions, BOMB, Vice, NOON, and Guernica, and she is an editor at large for McSweeney’s.