_ART l URBAN DESIGN

/About
Sarah Filley is an artist, urban designer, writer and public speaker on urban innovation, creative placemaking and retail trends.  Her interdisciplinary background serves as a foundation to bring design thinking to city scale with success in marketing authenticity of place and creative makers.  She was a panelist and at the 2012 Venice Biennale for Architecture as well as included in the exhibition with Popuphood, an award winning social enterprise she Directs and Cofounded in 2011.  Popuphood's unique approach has been profiled in SPUR's Urbanist magazine. Understanding how cities can integrate creative and technology based solutions to increase civic participation for inclusive and sustainable growth is her passion.  

Popuphood incubates small businesses to revitalizes neighborhoods, block by block.  Working with strategic partners the company has garnered recognition for the independent retailers in international press like Fast Company, the New York Times, Sunset Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic.  Their success is now being replicated in additional neighborhoods in Oakland and internationally. 
Photo credit: Eva Kolenko
/Events
    /Bio

    Filley studied Sculpture and Photography at California College of the Arts in Oakland, CA.  She is a social entrepreneur, designer, artist, curator, and speaker.  She is addicted to civic hackathons, succulents, and big ideas.  Her work has been included in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. She has designed and implemented science and art exhibitions for over a decade and has put this experience to work through cross sector partnerships for positive social impact with Popuphood. 

    Her slant towards participatory urbanism paved the way for civic engagement projects that bend technology in the service of wonder.  

    Recent independent projects include LinkedInybca #blkrope, Creative Disruptions, Dragonfly at ybca, GOODbuildings, Drop and Wonderarium 
    including +Succulent Circus!, and the Mobile Plant Ambassador Unit (with Yvette Molina).
     
    /Think Tanks
    Future. Soul.Think. Tank,  SF YBCA
    The future of retail, MSFW, Melbourne, AU

    /Residencies
    University of California Botanical Gardens at Berkeley (Berkeley, 2010) with Wonderarium.
    GAFFTA, goodbuildings.info (2011)
    Kala Art Institute (Berkeley, 2008)

    /Instituions
    Yerba Buena Center For The Arts (ybca)
    Santa Clara Museum
    Seattle Art Museum
    California Academy of Science
    University of California Botanical Gardens at Berkeley
    Exploratorium
    Chabot Science Center
    the Oakland Museum of California
    The Richmond Art Center
    The Asian Art Museum
    PAHMA at UC Berkeley
    Mills College, and Zeum (select list)