ABOUT

Mission
REV- is a non-profit organization that furthers socially-engaged art, design, and pedagogy. REV- produces projects that fuse disciplines, foster diversity, and vary in form (workshops, publications, exhibitions, design objects, etc.). Engaged with different communities and groups, REV-‘s projects involve collaborative production, resource-sharing, and a commitment to the process as political gesture. The organization derives its name from both the colloquial expression “to rev” a vehicle and the prefix “rev-“ which means to turn—as in, revolver, revolution, revolt, revere, irreverent, etc.

History
Founded in 2009, -REV traces its trajectory from the many collaborations between its founders—Marisa Jahn, Rachel McIntire, and Stephanie Rothenberg. REV- is an outgrowth of ‘Pond: art, activism, & ideas;’ ‘BreakArts,’ an organization that grew in response to a growing need for dialogue and exchange among artists and teachers world-wide; and individual art practices.

Pond (www.mucketymuck.org), was an organization co-founded by Marisa Jahn & Steve Shada that was dedicated to experimental and socially-engaged public art. From 2000-2009, Pond produced 25 exhibitions, over 50 events, 3 public art projects, and various publications including ‘Invisible 5’, an ecojustice audio tour of California’s Interstate 5 led by Amy Balkin; ‘OneTrees’, an ongoing collaboration with Natalie Jeremijenko; ‘ShopDropping’, an exhibition of reverse shoplifting; and ‘Kits for an Encounter,’ an exhibition of artists' kits that instigate or trouble the notion of a (social) encounter. Pond’s work was presented in public spaces and venues such as the The MIT Museum, ICA Philadelphia;, ISEA/Zero One, Eyebeam, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, etc. and other venues in Serbia, Estonia, Honduras, Japan, and North America. Pond received recognition by media such as Frieze, Punk Planet, NY Arts Magazine, Clamor, San Francisco Chronicle, the Fader, Artweek, Cluster (Italy), Metropolis, the Discovery Channel, NPR, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Need & Solution
Communities organized around a struggle or campaign often find themselves with limited resources and/or against rapid deadlines. In this accelerated process, what is left out are those elements that enliven an issue—compelling design to garner public attention and spark the imagination, well-crafted research and writing that locates a campaign within a wider context, an examination of the subject’s relevance in other struggles and disciplines, and the outreach that results in truly diverse perspectives. Drawing from over a decade’s worth of experience, REV- leverages the skills from creative disciplines and the on-the-ground experience from community organizing to produce dynamic projects.