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Inaugural Speech
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
On behalf of the participating artists--who have, actually, been
seated way in the back . . . Hi! [The speaker waves.]
Good evening and welcome to inSITE97.
As an art exhibition, inSITE97 is focused on the exploration and
activation of public space.
I think I can speak for all of the artists when I say that this
is an extremely important aim. Especially now, when here and throughout
the Americas all aspects of the public sphere are under attack,
when the public sector is being downsized, public services privatized,
public space enclosed, public speech controlled, and public goods
of all kinds exchanged for the currency of private goals, be they
prestige, privilege, power, and profits.
Public art cannot forestall the forces foreclosing on our public
lives. But it can remind us of what we are loosing, like the casual
democracy of everyday encounters, when we find ourselves equal before
places and things that needn't be paid for and can't be purchased,
or the practical democracy of forums of public speech, where differences
of status do not determine our places at the podium.
All the more reason why it is such a special opportunity
for me to address you here this evening.
This is a perfect example of what makes inSITE97 so rewarding for
its artists. As an exhibition of public art works and community
engagement projects, it gives us the opportunity to address people
who would otherwise never stop to look or listen. There are all
of you here this evening, but that's just the beginning. There are
the tens of thousands of people expected to tour the exhibition
sites. There are the hundreds of thousands who will just happen
upon our work, unawares, in their parks and plazas, on their streets.
You will encounter our work as you walk along beaches, sit in cafes,
go to elementary schools or see adult films, wait for buses, get
tattoos, fish, cruise and, of course, cross the border.
You are residents, tourists, students, sailors, migrants; you are
young and old, gay and straight, U.S., Mexican, and Chicano; you
are upper- middle- and working class, you are unemployed; you live
in walled estates, gated communities, condominiums, trailer parks,
shanties, and doorways.
inSITE97 depends on the active involvement of its audiences. You
are our audience this evening, and it is with great enthusiasm that
I thank you for your participation.
Finally, I think that I can speak for all of the artists when I
express my gratitude for the tremendous support that we have received
from the exhibition's organizers.
Thanks to them, we will achieve a new level of recognition--locally,
nationally and internationally, within the art world, and beyond.
[The speaker turns to her right.]
Thank you.
[She turns back to the audience.]
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
And thank you, Andrea, for that thoughtful introduction.
As one of the exhibition's organizers, I can say that Andrea is
truly exemplary of the artists participating in this event. An internationally
recognized and emerging talent, she has delved into the commotion
and poetic pause of this discontinuous urban sprawl, probing, digging,
tracking, traversing and intervening in public space, discerning
domains of dialogue and reverie.
And, Andrea is only one of over 50 artists and authors from 11 countries
participating in our exhibition and events. As a group they represent
the most influential cultural figures of the Americas. It is their
extraordinary achievements that we celebrate here this evening.
We find ourselves this evening in a restlessly metaphoric place.
It's a place of conflict and contradiction, disparity and division,
rift and entanglements, all poised at a juncture of economies, labor
forces, languages, artistic cultures and urban communities.
It is a matrix of forces which tends to strain relationship and
threatens to pull us apart.
This exhibition demonstrates the enormous potential in working together.
The participation and support of so many federal, state, and municipal
agencies, national foundations, and international corporations demonstrates
a shared belief that the arts are a uniquely powerful means of promoting
understanding across borders, of building bridges between groups
and discovering common ground in a multicultural and increasingly
transnational society.
This is indeed the terrain in which the new arrangements of "global
culture" are being formed.
It isn't possible to thank all of the many people who have contributed
to this event. But we do want to say a special word of thanks to
our board of trustees. They are a deeply devoted group of individuals
who have generously volunteered their time, knowledge and wealth,
networking, promoting, opening their homes for exclusive parties.
Who could forget that evening!
A black-tie benefit gala that equaled the raw creativity, exuberance
and international flavor of the exhibition itself. There was music,
dancing, live performance and superb cuisine, all in a lavish and
dramatic setting.
And that's just one example of the many ways that our trustees have
marshaled their extensive resources in support of our project. In
their long and distinguished careers they have served as directors,
executive vice presidents, state appointees, partners, brokers,
planners, director generals, secretary generals, consul generals,
vice- presidents of development, co-founders, chairmen, owners,
significant shareholders, registered principals, chief financial
officers, chief executive officers, and presidents throughout the
Americas.
[The speaker turns to her right.]
To our trustees I would like to say, we are all deeply in your debt,
and I thank you.
[She turns back to the audience.]
Thank you.
Thank you so much and thank you from the bottom of my heart
for this. . . .
I am privileged.
I am truly privileged.
Working with such an accomplished and multi-talented group of artists
and art experts has indeed been a rare and rewarding experience.
This warm evening is an apt metaphor for how I feel about these
wonderful creative people.
I am very proud of them and what they have done for us.
For us, this event is a unique opportunity to step up to the world
stage. We want people to realize that there is a lot going
on down here.
We're home to many internationally respected institutions, to Nobel
Prize winners, authors, artists, celebrities, custom ocean-view
homes, boutiques, luxury, charm, sophistication, and jet-setters
from around the globe.
If you don't believe me, just look around this evening. This is
not your regular crowd. This is very cutting-edge.
This is very much big time, on an international level!
We are not provincial.
We're the gateway to the Pacific and Latin America. We're the information
hub of NAFTA. We're a major center for high-tech, software, media
and financial services.
We should also be a major center for art.
Our binational strength can help to get us there.
But first we have to put aside parochial interests and realize that
our power lies in the relationships we forge and the common goals
we establish.
Citizenship and national origin have never stood for much in our
cosmopolitan community. In this new age of global culture and capital,
they mean less and less.
As more and more of our Latin American friends are joining our museum
boards and country clubs, and purchasing estates in our neighborhoods,
we are discovering that we have more in common than art, golf and
horsemanship. There are also political and economic interests that
we share. Through cooperative projects such as this we are testing
the soil for new hybrids; planting seeds which will blossom into
beautiful joint ventures, election victories, and influence on policy
throughout the hemisphere.
Of course, we could not approach these goals without the support
of governments here and abroad. That is why I want to say a special
word of thanks to our friends at city, state and federal agencies
who have helped to make this effort a success.
Representing our public sponsors this evening, I am delighted to
introduce a man who was elected and overwhelmingly re-elected by
a small minority of the voting-age population.
Throughout his career, he has shown optimism and courage.
He is the national leader in the drive to stop illegality.
He has made tough choices necessary, cutting our income taxes.
His toughness was proven yet again when, recovering from a burst
appendix, he was wheeled onto the floor to cast a tie-breaking vote
on budget reduction.
He enjoys reading history and cheering for the Chargers.
I think that we all owe him a vote of thanks.
[The speaker turns to her right.]
Thank you.
[She turns back to the audience.]
(Applause.) Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you.
Won't you all sit down, please?
Thank you very, very much. Thank you.
It is a high honor and a rare privilege for me to join you in kicking
off this tremendous effort.
And, I have to say that am quite intrigued with many of the art
projects that I have seen so far.
But I can only begin by acknowledging my wife. A "career volunteerist,"
she is a shining example of just how much one woman can achieve--and
achieve with grace, with style, and with class. She's been so active,
in fact, that I haven't seen her in months. It is wonderful to have
her with us here this evening.
Gayle and I are strong supporters of the arts, and we applaud you
for your efforts to bring quality art reflecting our diverse cultures
into all of our lives. It is our exciting and distinctive art that
keeps us on "the cutting edge." And there is no better
place to be on "the cutting edge" than here.
Our region is a diverse region, populated by many different kinds
of people. There are people who work in our fields and flower shops,
hotels and factories. There are people who vote. There are people
who pay taxes. There are people who establish foundations. There
are people who send their children to public schools. There are
people who vote.
And yet, despite this diversity, we are held together by our belief
in diversity. We are devoted to that myth. It's our myth. It's all
that many of us have.
Throughout our history, we have always answered adversity
with a dream.
West! over desolate prairie and frozen mountains, we risked our
lives crossing the mighty, until one day we found ourselves gazing
down from the heights upon a golden valley of promise, inviting
us to partake of the good life.
Quality communities, quality lifestyles, prime location. Benches
and landscaping. Family-friendly neighborhoods and vibrant, multi-purpose
districts. California Casual, Renaissance England and Palazzo Italiano
in 49 different colors.
Multilevel. Stunning.
Within the next three years, no single race or ethnic group will
make up a majority of this region's population.
We know what we'll look like. Just look around at this crowd tonight!
Yes! That's right!
I'm the redneck son of a poor dirt farmer! But even I can understand
the benefits of cultural diversity our new global society.
With just 5% of the world's population, but 20% of the world's income,
we must sell to the other 95% just to maintain our standard of living.
Because we are drawn from every culture on earth, we are uniquely
positioned to do it.
We will meet the challenge of building the first society to embrace
every ethnic group on the planet.
We will share a common future.
We will invent that future--and export it.
We are now the world leader in television set production and golf
course design. 117 golf courses in our city alone. That's good news!
We have made your lives more livable, with tougher penalties for
graffiti taggers. We now prohibit young people from loitering in
public places. There's the Juvenile Curfew Enforcement Policy and
the Anti-Cruising Ordinance. We confine demonstrations to parking
lots!
We listened to what you wanted. We heard what you said: Stop the
raw sewage flows that have plagued our residents!
We are now an advocate for business, not an adversary. We cut business
taxes in half and then in half again.
Ours is a growth economy, built on the low-wage labor of people
motivated to perform. With little or no unemployment and welfare
benefits, a job is their only chance for survival. That equals a
savings to you of up to 80% on your labor costs.
Our success is because of you. You: business, hotel and restaurant
owners, investors and professionals.
Legitimate members of the community.
You are the ones who have made it happen and I thank you.
Our corporate sponsors also deserve a special word of thanks for
our success.
Representing our corporate sponsors this evening, I have the honor
to introduce to you a man whose outstanding leadership at the helm
of a remarkable organization is deserving of special praise. Thanks
to his vision, his competitive spirit, his tenacity and his uncompromising
commitment to excellence, he has made this flagship Enterprise a
global champion.
We are proud to count him as one of us.
[The speaker turns to her right.]
Thank you.
[She turns back to the audience.]
Thank you. Good morning. And welcome to those of you who are from
out of town. I'm happy to see so many of my old friends here today.
It's also exciting to see so many new faces.
I must say that I swell with pride and satisfaction in your accomplishments.
Too many of us have been told, "You can't, you shouldn't, you
won't." But you found a way around those obstacles. You can,
you should and you did!
Increasingly, as public expenditures are reduced, corporate philanthropy
is being called on to support the building blocks of our diverse
communities. We view our contributions as an investment in regions
where our company has a presence.
The globalization of culture makes this an especially favorable
time for us. Films, TV programs, music, sports and classic products
are proliferating and spreading around the world.
We must maximize our tie-ins with culture.
We may be the world's largest, but the world market still offers
tremendous potential for growth.
We must act aggressively, making inroads with a strong presence
and significant investment.
But in our zeal for global success, we must also be willing to discover
and appreciate the uniqueness of each market. In this we have been
able to draw on the diversity of our work force, people who understand
other cultures and who speak other languages.
We have hired local people. We have developed local
partnerships. We clearly picked the right partner in Mexico, in
Brazil. Argentina is growing rapidly. Our partner is the leader
in Chile.
And, as personal incomes rise in developing countries, more and
more people will be able to spend money on "luxury" items,
like ours.
We will work to transform regional identities, indigenous cultures
and stable communities into differentiated markets.
We will work to create the future that we imagine. A future in which
everywhere around the globe, we will symbolize the good things in
life.
We are the world . . . 's beer company--"la compan’a
cervecera del mundo."
Gracias!
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___Primary
Sources:
inSITE94 exhibition catalog.
inSITE97 press releases.
inSITE97, Guide/Gu’a.
The Rockefeller Foundation, Annual Report, 1996.
Fodor's 97: San Diego.
"Biography of Governor Pete Wilson."
"Biography of Gayle Wilson, First Lady of California."
California Arts Council, "Message from Governor Pete Wilson,"
1997.
"Remarks By President Ford, President Bush and President Clinton
at Luncheon," Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1997.
Governor Pete Wilson, "California: Forging America's Future,"
second Inaugural Address, Sacramento, California, January 7, 1995.
Iris H. W. Engstrand, San Diego, Gateway to the Pacific: A Christopher
Columbus Quincentennial Commermorative,1992.
President Bill Clinton, "Remarks By The President At University
of California At San Diego Commencement," June 14, 1997.
Mayor Susan Golding, "The City of Infinite Possibility,"
fifth State of the City Address, San Diego, California, December
4, 1996.
Alfa Southwest Corporation, "Maquila Workers at a Tijuana Electronics
Assembly Plant Are Typical of the Efficient Employees Who Characterize
the Industry."
Thomas d'Aquino, "Globalization, Social Progress, Democratic
Development and Human Rights: The Responsibility of An International
Corporation," address delivered to the Academy Of International
Business, Annual General Meeting, Banff, Canada, September 27, 1996.
Sol Trujilo, "American Hispanic Population: Reaching New Heights,
Seeking New Horizons," address delivered to the U.S. Hispanic
Chamber, Denver, Colorado, September 20, 1996.
BankAmerica Foundation, Report, 1992-1993.
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., Annual Report, 1996.
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