BOXBLUR 2026 / Catharine Clark Gallery
Founded in 2016, BOXBLUR is a fiscally sponsored project of Dance Film SF, developed in close partnership with the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. BOXBLUR activates the intersection of performing and visual arts through performances, time-based programs and screenings, and lectures situated in galleries and other non-proscenium environments. Its work is socially engaged, experimental, and often ephemeral, shaped through collaboration with artists and arts organizations.
At Catharine Clark Gallery, BOXBLUR presents annual film screenings curated by the San Francisco Dance Film Festival in dialogue with the gallery’s exhibitions. In parallel, BOXBLUR commissions and presents new works by performers and their collaborators, extending the possibilities of performance across disciplines and spaces.
Since 2016, these events have included:
2025: Monique Jenkinson (performance art) Down the Path in response to Moving Pictures: A Survey Exhibition of Work by Deborah Oropallo and Collaborators at di Rosa Art Center, Napa (2025); Whether You Fly, an Ekphrastic Poetry Happening with Annice Jacoby (writer) and Maw Shein Win (poet), Yiskah Rosenfeld (poet), Heather June Gibbons (poet), Jennifer Futernick (poet), James Cagney (poet), and Adrian Arias (poet and performance artist) in response to Whether You Fall, artwork by Julie Heffernan (2025), Hope Mohr (performance installation) in collaboration with Karla Quintero and Melissa Lewis Wong (dancers) and Zachary James Watkins (sound artist) care/stamina in response to Codice del Perdedor/The Losing Man’s Codex, artwork by Arleene Correa Valencia (2025); San Francisco Opera Orchestra (musicians: Craig Reiss & Mariya Borozina, violins, Emily Liu, viola, Peter Myers, cello, Ben Brogadir, oboe) and Adler Fellow Olivier Zerouali (baritone) perform Still Life, After Life: Women Disrupting Tradition in Art and Music works by Jessie Montgomery, Joan Tower, Dmitry Shostakovich, Missy Mazzoli, and Caroline Shaw in response to artwork in the exhibitions by Nanci Amaka, Lenka Clayton, and Katherine Vetne (2025); Andy Rappaport (musician and artist) AI generated performance of Ephemeral Poetry Generators based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Shamus Heaney, Patti Smith, Sylvia Plath, William Shakespeare, a compendium of cowboy poetry, and writings by Susan Sontag, Gilles Grelet, and Frederic Remington in response to Rope and Revolver: Artists Respond to Frederic Remington’s ‘The Broncho Buster’, artworks by Sandow Birk, Michael Goldin, Charles Lee, Deborah Oropallo, Andy Rappaport, Stephanie Syjuco, Wanxin Zhang (2025)
2024: Tracy Bonham (composer, guitar, piano, and voice) in response to Whether You Fall, artwork by Julie Heffernan (2024); Daniel Handler (writer) in conversation with Julie Heffernan (2024); Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, Ph.D (curator and writer) in conversation with Wanxin Zhang (2024); Sarah Cahill (piano) in response to Listening Chamber, artwork by Amy Trachtenberg’s work (2024); talk by Bradley McCallum (social practice) in conversation with Charles Whitacker (Dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University) about James Foley, safety for journalists, and freedom of the press (2024); Shinji Eshima (bassist and composer) with musicians Ani Bukujian (violin), Steve D’Amico (cello), bass players: Soren Davick, Evan Hillis, Alexandria Kelley, Jon Lancelle, Yuchen Liu, Michael Minor, Carlos Valdez, and Christopher Yick, and chanting by members of the San Francisco Zen Center in response to Chris Doyle and Chester Arnold’s exhibitions and to poems read by Anton Stuebner and Chester Arnold (2024); Norma Cole (writer), Forrest Gander (writer), Robert Glück (writer) in response to Listening Chamber, artwork by Amy Trachtenberg (2024)
2023: Andrew Evans (magician) magic performance in response to Sorted Books: Look Who’s Talking and What I Know About Magic, artwork by Nina Katchadourian; Emily Keeler (writer and playwright) with actor and dramaturg Andrea Snow and Jael Weisman in EXiT; Monique Jenkinson (dance and performance art) in response to Waves and Plagues, Redux, artwork by Masami Teraoka (2023); BOXBLUR and Minnesota Street Project Foundation at Stern Grove for Patti Smith concert and as a fundraiser for all three organizations (2023)
2022: Viktoria Naraxsa (Pussy Riot performer and author), with readers A. Madison Cario, Tony Bravo, Monique Jenkinson (reader and production organizer), Matt Sussman (reader), Zeina Barakeh (reader), Liliya Rattari (reader and editor/translator), and Jason Dewees (reader), organized as a fundraiser for Queer Studio and International Rescue Committee’s work in Ukraine in response to exhibitions about the impact of war on artists’ practices in response to exhibitions with artwork by Al Farrow, Masami Teraoka, and Zeina Barakeh (2022); The Edge of Distance with original choreography and music by Shinji Eshima (composer) with musicians Charles Chandler (bass), Samuel Schlosser (trombone), and Amos Young (cello) with dancers Adji Cissoko and Michael Montgomery (choreography and dance) in response to exhibitions about migration and borders by Arleene Correa Valencia and Ana Teresa Fernandez (2022); Cliff Hengst (writer), Vincent Katz (writer), Yedda Morrison (writer), and Anton Stuebner (writer) with Small Press Traffic in response to violet june of autumn, artwork by Amy Trachtenberg (2022)
2021: Emma Lanier and Cauveri Suresh (choreography and dance) in response to the artwork in the exhibition Open Field: The Legacy of Black Mountain College on Contemporary Artists’ Work (2021); Phyllis Chen (piano and composer) with Ligorano/Reese (music boxes) in response to the artwork by Ligorane/Reese in the exhibition Open Field (2021); Amy Trachtenberg (artist and event curator) with Vincent Katz, (writer), Tongo Eisen-Martin (writer), Cliff Hengst (writer), Scott Hewicker (writer), Tanya Hollis (writer), Duncan McNaughton (writer), and Ebti Shedid (writer) in response to the artwork in the exhibition Open Field (2021); a fashion show organized by Leilah Talukder (fashion designer) in response to the artwork in exhibition Open Field (2021); Catherine Galasso (choreography and dance) in response to Doing and Undoing by Jen Bervin (2021); Shimon Attie’s Night Watch on the San Francisco Bay and at numerous Bay Area locations, including Fort Mason and sites along the SF Bay and Oakland Estuary in collaboration with Immersive Arts Alliance and 40 different arts organizations, artists, non-profit organizations serving refugees, and the cities of San Francisco and Oakland (2021)
2020: Benjamin Freemantle (choreography and dance) with SF Dance Film Festival in response to The Parables of Correction, artwork by Chris Doyle (2020); Monique Jenkinson/Fauxnique (performance art) in response to Muse, artwork by Timothy Cummings (2020); Rufus Wainwright (piano, voice and composer) in response to Muse, artwork by Timothy Cummings (2020); Metropolis (film screening) accompanied by Club Foot Monument Machines (orchestra) in response to Kal Spelletich and Chester Arnold’s exhibitions (2020); Monument to the Unelected (installation and performance) with Nina Katchadourian at Catharine Clark Gallery and in collaboration with University of Wisconsin’s Odyssey organization at the home of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson at the Abrahamson Family Home, Madison; Roots Community Health Center, Oakland; Pace Gallery, New York; Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; mOca, Cleveland; Grand Central Arts, Santa Ana; and Transformer Station, Cleveland (2020); Mullowney Printing (master printmaking demonstration) for the exhibition The Broadside in Action: A LIVE Letterpress Experience with artists Wanxin Zhang, Deborah Oropallo and Andy Rappaport, Julia Goodman and Michael Hall, Katherine Vetne, Masha Kachaeva, and Julie Heffernan (2020)
2019: Ellen Sebastian Chang, Maya Gurantz and SunHui Chang (theater, performance- art, and film) as part of the installation/performance piece and exhibit titled How to Fall in Love in A Brothel and activated by performers Odeya Nini, DaEung Jung, and Marvin K. White, and the students of SF Arts Education Project, as a fundraiser for The Players production of Mathilde (2019)
2018: Kaveh Rastegar in response to Beside Me, artwork by Josephine Taylor and Jon Bernson (2018); Jon Bernson in concert with his exhibition and performance at Catharine Clark Gallery and at Minnesota Street Project (2018); Dance Kaiso (drum and dance) and Folsom50 in response to We Tell Ourselves Stories…in Order to Live (2018); Anton Stuebner (writer, curator) selected stories by Leonora Carrington read and performed by actors and performance artists Helen Shumaker, Indira Allegra, and Monique Jenkinson in response to artwork in We Tell Ourselves Stories…in Order to Live (2018)
2017: EOS Ensemble (string quartet) performed the score by Jeremy Turner (composer) for Chris Doyle’s film Swell (2017); Alice Gray Stites (Museum Director and Chief Curator of 21c Museum Hotels) in conversation with Chris Doyle for the exhibition Swell (2017)
2016: Margaret Jenkins Dance Company in response to What Endures by Kambui Olujimi (2016); Fauxnique (dancer, performance-artist) in response to What Endures artwork by Kambui Olujimi (2016); the students of SF Arts Education Program (fashion and dance) in response to What Endures, artwork by Kambui Olujimi (2016); Words on Dance (non-profit organization), film program and conversations with filmmakers and dancers Damian Smith, Margaret Jenkins, Kristine Elliott, Amie Dowling, Weston Krukow, and My-Linh Le in conversation with the ideas is What Endures, artwork by Kambui Olujimi (2016); off-site exhibition partner presenting artworks by Kambui Olujimi, California College of the Arts, Hubbell Street Galleries (2016); Oliver Halkowich (choreography and dance) in collaboration with Chris Doyle’s video animation projections Circular Lament at Texas Contemporary, Houston (2016)
Thank you for your support of BOXBLUR, which is invaluable to our ongoing programming.
Catharine Clark, Founding Director of BOXBLUR
Catharine Clark Gallery’s BOXBLUR Initiative is a fiscally sponsored program by Dance Film SF, a California-registered 501(c)(3) arts organization (EIN: 45-5001060). All donations to BOXLBUR are tax-deductible.
BOXBLUR has received donations from the Abrahamson Charitable Fund, Candy Jernigan Foundation, The Lipman Family Foundation, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, Janet Mohle-Boetani Charitable Fund, Pew Charitable Trust, Rappaport Family Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Paul and Megan Segre Family Charitable Trust, Skyline Public Works, LLC, Wattis Foundation, and numerous anonymous and private donors. We thank everyone for their gift of performance.