As a longstanding entrepreneurial presence in the San Francisco Bay Area, Glenn Bucksbaum has led The Baum Foundation as its president for more than 15 years. With a commitment to efforts that foster artistic creativity and help protect the environment, Glenn Bucksbaum’s early vision supported the Baum Award for An Emerging American Photographer.
In 2017, the 2005 Baum Award winner Lisa Kereszi had her exhibit, “Joe’s Junk Yard,” show at Mike Kelley’s Mobile Homestead within the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). The show reflected the artist’s longstanding fascination with junkyards, one of which her grandfather ran during her youth.
Through portraying used vehicle parts and crushed cars, the MOCAD exhibit explored changing American societal values and economic norms, as well as the challenges a family of first-generation immigrants faces in achieving the American Dream. It also touches on resiliency in the face of tragic events that have befallen the family, some due to overarching trends and others within their control.
The work of Lisa Kereszi, an alumna of the Yale School of Art with an MFA in photography, is housed in a number of prominent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Since 2003, Glenn Bucksbaum has served as president of The Baum Foundation in San Francisco. Under the leadership of Glenn Bucksbaum, The Baum Foundation supports a variety of programs in the areas of art, education, and the environment.
In the summer of 2017, a Baum Award winner premiered her latest art project. Lisa Kereszi presented “Joe’s Junk Yard” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.
The project touched on a number of timely and locally relevant topics, including the evolving economy of the automotive industry and the elusive, nebulous concept of the American Dream. Ms. Kereszi based the project on her own family, particularly the professional triumphs and personal setbacks of her grandfather.
Ms. Kereszi studied photography at the Yale School of Art. She has had her work displayed in numerous public and private shows and has received several honors and awards, including the 2005 Baum Award for an Emerging American Photographer.
Glenn Bucksbaum serves as president of The Baum Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that supports programs related to education, the environment, and the arts. Among the groups that have received support from Glenn Bucksbaum’s foundation is Sites Unseen. A public-arts project, Sites Unseen endeavors to bring arts programming to underused areas of San Francisco’s South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood.
On November 9, 2017, Sites Unseen unveiled its second public art installation of the year and third overall. Displayed on an exterior wall on Annie Street, close to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, “Love Over Rules” is a large, text-based neon artwork by Hank Willis Thomas. Mr. Thomas, who holds an MFA from the Bay Area’s California College of the Arts, has deep connections to San Francisco.
To celebrate the unveiling, Mr. Thomas discussed the installation during a free presentation at the California Historical Society during Sites Unseen’s “Love Over Rules” launch party, which also included the first illumination of the artwork.
Sites Unseen funded “Love Over Rules” with the help of a grant from The Baum Foundation. To view a picture of the installation, visit thebaumfoundation.org.
