In the role of special project director for the FOR-SITE Foundation, Marnie Burke de Guzman led the integrated exhibition planning, interpretation, and marketing communications for the unprecedented exhibition @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz. Burke de Guzman managed the project team as well as the integral partnerships with the National Park Service and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. As director of all online and on-site interpretation and communication elements, she hired and supervised the team of editorial, interactive and web production, videography, graphic design, and public relations professionals who worked to create the landmark project, which brought 896,657 visitors to the exhibition on Alcatraz.
The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is internationally renowned both as a maker of potent and provocative art and as a passionate advocate for human rights and freedom of expression. His art and ideas found a compelling context in this exhibition of works created specifically for Alcatraz — a 19th-century military fortress, a notorious federal penitentiary, a site of Native American heritage and protest, and now one of America’s most visited national parks.
The exhibition was honored as an outstanding public art project by the 2015 Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Network Year in Review; nominated for “Best Presentation in an Alternative Venue” by the International Association of Art Critics (AICA-USA); and included in “Best of 2014” lists by the Huffington Post, Architectural Digest, Artsy, and Kickstarter.
Project Team
Albino Crow Photography
Jan Stürmann, Video Production
ArtRise Projects
Marnie Burke de Guzman, Principal — Special Projects Director
Ivy Young, Program Associate, ArtRise Projects
FOR-SITE Foundation
Cheryl Haines, Executive Director — Exhibition Curator
Alison Konecki, Development & Outreach Associate
Tyler Reed, Content Manager
Miegan Riddle, Development Consultant
Jackie von Treskow, Program Director
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
HelloARI Design
Ari Salomon, Web Developer
Independent Consultant
Juliet Clark, Writer and Editor
Industry
Jennifer Burke, Industry, Principal — Visual Design
Resnicow Schroeder & Associates
Hanna Gisel, Account Executive
David Resnicow, President
Alina Sumajin, Account Supervisor
Related Links
- FOR-SITE Foundation
- Ai Weiwei’s Website
- “Inside @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz” short film
- Press Coverage
- New York Times coverage: Read online or download PDF.
- SF Chronicle, “10 San Francisco art events that mattered in 2015”: Read online or download PDF.
- The Guardian coverage: Read online or download PDF.
- PBS NEWSHOUR coverage: Read online or download PDF.
- Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn: Read online or download PDF.
Image Credits
- Top: Ai Weiwei, Trace, 2014 (installation detail, New Industries Building, Alcatraz); photo: Jan Stürmann, courtesy FOR-SITE Foundation.
- Middle: Exhibition Identity: @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, courtesy FOR-SITE Foundation.
- Bottom left: Alcatraz Island; photo: Jan Stürmann, courtesy FOR-SITE Foundation.
- Bottom right: FOR-SITE Foundation Executive Director Cheryl Haines with Ai Weiwei at the artist’s studio in Beijing, June 2014; photo: Jan Stürmann, courtesy FOR-SITE Foundation.