Present Tense Artist Talks

Quarterly | Next Submission opens December 16, 2024

Event date: February 22, 2025, 2:00 - 5:00 pm

Present Tense Artist Talks are in-person, quarterly events hosted by Medium Photo, showcasing work from four selected photographers.

During each Present Tense Artist Talk, participating photographers share up to 20 slides of a singular body of work projected on a large screen in a repeating loop. Each photographer will discuss their work throughout the slide show and responds to a Q&A during a 15-minute period.

Present Tense Artist Talks are an informal, conversational environment moderated by Medium Photo. There is no cost to submit your work.

Present Tense Artist Talks, February 22, 2025

Point Loma/Hervey Library - Community Room
3701 Voltaire St, San Diego, CA 92107

Event Timeline

• 2:00 - 2:50 Open Portfolio Walk with artists selected by Guusje Sanders (details below)

• 3:00 - 4:00 Present Tense Artist Talks

• 4:00 - 5:00 Peer networking

Call for Submissions

Submissions for Present Tense Artist Talks are free of charge. All types of photography may be submitted. Everyone may submit, including both established artists, emerging photographers, and students. You don’t have to be from San Diego or Tijuana, but you do have to be PRESENT at the event as it is a live and in-person event.

• Submissions deadline – January 12, 2025.

• Selected artists announced – January 27, 2025.

• Artists will present in person, in San Diego – February 22, 2025.

Present Tense #4 Juror: Guusje Sanders, Curator, Mingei International Museum

Each edition of Present Tense Artist Talks will have a different juror of note drawn from across North America, and each juror will select three presenters for the talks, and four additional artists for the portfolio walk. The fourth presenter at each Present Tense talk is a student selected by the faculty of a participating college.

About Guusje

Guusje Sanders, originally from the Netherlands and residing in the United States since 2006, joined Mingei International Museum's curatorial team as Curator in August 2023. Most recently she co-curated the current show on view, Blue Gold: The Art and Science of Indigo, presented as part of Getty's PST ART: Art and Science Collide. Prior to this position, she served as the Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego, formerly Lux Art Institute for 6 years. 

Approaching her curatorial practice as a platform for diverse voices, she places a strong emphasis on accessibility and curatorial and institutional accountability. Sanders holds a Master's in Exhibition and Museum Studies from the San Francisco Art Institute and a Bachelor's in Art History from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Visit mingei.org for more information or follow the Museum on Instagram @mingeimuseum