Beverages at our lecture are sponsored by:
Fort Point Beer Company and Winery Sixteen 600

All photos © John Divola

John Divola has taught photography and art at numerous institutions since 1975, and since 1988 he has been a Professor of Art at the University of California, Riverside, where he is currently Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

His most well-known projects include “Zuma” (1977-78), documenting an abandoned beachfront house and its degradation and transformation through time, "Vandalism" (1973-75), an exploration of his own mark-making in abandoned spaces, “As Far as I Could Get” (1996-97), where the artist set his tripod and self-timer and took off running, and “Dogs Chasing My Car in the Desert" (1996/98), humorous images of blurred canines in hot pursuit shot from his car window. 

Divola's work has been featured in more than seventy solo exhibitions in the United States, Japan, Europe, Mexico, and Australia, and more than 200 group shows. Among Divola's Awards are Individual Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1973, 1976, 1979, 1990), a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship (1986), a Fintridge Foundation Fellowship (1998), a City of Los Angeles Artist Grant (1999) and a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship (1998).

Currently, John Divola works primarily with photography and digital imaging. While he has approached a broad range of subjects, he is now focused on “moving through the landscape looking for the oscillating edge between the abstract and the specific”.

All photos © Austin Leong

Austin Leong is an Oakland-based artist whose work includes equal parts humor, empathy, and nostalgia to produce photos from a keen eye trained on the street. Not one to overlook the mundane, Austin looks for moments where the everyday offers some moment of greater significance. He has exhibited widely, with recent solo and group shows at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Minnesota Street Project, Pier 24 Photography, the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, and The Museum at The Cliff.

Leong’s photographs are held in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Pier 24 Photography. His work was published in the book, Soft Eyes (Deadbeat Club, 2024), a collaboration with photographers Adrian Martinez and the late Henry Wessel, and builds on earlier publications including On the Fence (2020) and Our Time Together (2017). His writing and photographs have appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Juxtapoz, PHMuseum, and SFMOMA Open Space.

He received his BA in Sociology from San Francisco State University and co-directs Book and Job Gallery, a photographer-run studio, darkroom, and gallery space in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

Winery Sixteen 600 is a vineyard-focused winery founded in 2007 by Phil Coturri, along with his wife Arden Kremer and sons, Max and Sam.

The winery produces small-batch, single-vineyard wines exclusively from certified organic vineyards farmed by Phil and his vineyard management company, Enterprise Vineyards. Their portfolio includes wines they love to drink and collect—Grenache, Rhône varietals, field blends, as well as Cabernet and Zinfandel, honoring Sonoma’s rich heritage.

Sixteen 600’s success is built on the dedication of its exceptional team, particularly the vineyard crew, winery staff, and the passionate individuals who work alongside Sam in the office and tasting house.

Fort Point was inspired by a love for San Francisco and a desire to make craft beer more accessible. Over the years, it has grown to become one of the city’s best-known independent producers, creating a wide range of new beers and even a line of ciders along the way. No matter the favorite Fort Point brew, one thing remains true — every can hits that sweet spot between interesting and easy to love.