California Humanities is proud to build international bridges with France through the arts and humanities in partnership with Villa San Francisco.
The project includes these major components:
- A comprehensive publication (co-edited by Villa San Francisco and Légendes Urbaines) released in September 2020 which further defines the cultural exchange and offers examples of how arts and cultural institutions work with cities
- A short documentary film about the exchange by filmmaker Camille Servan-Schreiber, with funding from California Humanities
- SPACES, immersive performance that merge contemporary dance with local storytelling; these will take place in the Basilique in Saint-Denis, and at Oakland City Hall in 2021
- A series of public conversations with Villa San Francisco in the United States and France to further expand the ideas and solutions raised by the initiative; we will update this list as dates are confirmed:
- October 13, 2020 – City/ Cité: Translating Cities and Cultures
- November 12, 2020 from 1:3opm to 2:30pm PT – City/Cité: The Humanities at a Global Crossroad at the 2020 National Humanities Conference (paid registration required)
- January 14, 2021 –City/ Cité: Two Cities, Two Mayors, One Goal
Learn more:
- A Tale Of Two Cities: The Oakland-Saint Denis Cooperation Project – CBS San Francisco
- Empowering culture in our cities – The Urbanist 464 – Radio | Monocle
- The best trips for culture vultures – an art lover’s guide | Financial Times
- A San Francisco, une « résidence » pour artistes français
Read more:
Thanks to Our Partners!
Oakland/Saint-Denis is a cooperation project of Villa San Francisco, in co-production with the French American Cultural Society, The Institut Français and California Humanities. The project is developed in collaboration with the Agency Légendes Urbaines.
Thank you to all the people who made this project possible:
In France…. Pierre-Emmanuel Becherand, General Manager/Grand Paris Express, Julien Beller, Founder and Director/Le 6b, Juliette Bompoint, Director/Mains d’Oeuvres, Didier Coirint, Cultural Affairs Manager/City of Saint-Denis, Louise Fourquet, CEO/Baluchon, Simón Adinia Hanukai, Artistic Director/Kaimera Productions, Ben Lamyne, Artist, Julia Lopez, Artist & Founder/Maison Jaune, Emilie Moreau/APUR – Atelier parisien d’urbanisme, Valentine Roy/Territoire Culture et Création, Plaine Commune.
In California…. Roberto Bedoya, Cultural Affairs Manager/City of Oakland, Benjamin Burke, Founder/Shade Tree, Sarah Crowell, Artistic Director/ Destiny Arts Center, Moy Eng, CEO/Community Arts Stabilization Trust, Lori Fogarty, Director/Oakland Museum of California, Ben Frost, Music Director/Youth Radio Media, William Gilchrist, Director/ Planning and Building Department/ City of Oakland, Shannon Jackson, Vice Chancellor Arts + Design/UC Berkeley, Kelley Kahn, Policy Director, Art and Economic Development/City of Oakland, David Keenan, Safer DYI Spaces, Robert Ogilvie, Former Director/Spur Oakland, Kelly McKinley, CEO, Bay Area Discovery Museum, Matthew Passmore, Artist & Founder/Morelab and Steven Raspa, Associate Director/Burning Man Project.
Thank you to Oaklandish for their graphic design for this project.

