Institute for Unpopular Culture
Institute for Unpopular Culture (also known by the acronym, IFUC) is an alternative and outsider culture organization based in San Francisco, California.
History[edit]
It was founded in 1989 by David Ferguson. IFUC's stated objective is to provide a range of services necessary for non-mainstream artists to fulfill their goals of artistic expression: public relations, counseling, business opportunities, and access to equipment. Ferguson said that IFUC provides artists with grants and other funding for their projects.[1]
Ferguson called his approach to arts patronage "new philanthropy".[citation needed]
Much of the business that takes place at IFUC is volunteer-driven, or works given in trade.[2]
Ferguson has said that IFUC arranged exhibitions of William Noguera's pen and ink photorealism—a sponsorship that raised eyebrows due to Noguera's status as a death row inmate at California's San Quentin State Prison.[3] Ferguson claimed that IFUC had also been associated with performance artist Holly Hughes, one of the infamous NEA Four, a quartet of artists who saw their NEA funding cut off because of concerns of indecency.[4] Other talents Ferguson claimed to have benefited from IFUC backing including graffiti artist Barry McGee (a.k.a. "Twist") and installation artist Joe Mangrum.[5][citation needed] Ferguson stated that The Institute helped launch the Punk Rock Orchestra, a San Francisco Bay Area music group which performs orchestral arrangements of punk rock classics.[6][7][8]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Martine, Lord. Ferguson finds unconventional fits him just right San Francisco Chronicle, March 29, 2002.
- ^ "In Pen and Ink".
- ^ Lawrence, Ella. In Pen and Ink SF Weekly, December 27, 2006. Retrieved on April 3, 2008.
- ^ Feinstein, Julie. Just Think SF Weekly, August 16, 2000. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Kalem, Stefanie. Chamber Punk.East Bay Express, April 16, 2003
- ^ NPR Weekend Edition Punk Rock Orchestra
- ^ Osgood File PRO feature Archived 2007-04-27 at the Wayback Machine